The autonomous robot performs a task with a high degree of autonomy. They are particularly desirable in fields of spaceflight, household maintenance, waste water treatment and delivering goods & services. At the other hand, semi-autonomous robots are operated by their programming. They act independently but at some instant only. More specifically, semi-autonomous robots share control with a human.
Now UK consortium is developing intelligent, teleoperated semi-autonomous robots. According to reports, the robots can squeeze into difficult or hazardous spaces to highlight maintenance and inspection work.
The Shadow Robot Company is leading an Innovate UK-funded project to develop a semi-autonomous teleportation (SAT) system. It will be easy to use and more intelligent than existing systems.
The company’s managing director Rich Walker said, “The way teleportation systems have historically worked has been quite limited, they’ve been very mechanical, very direct-drive.”
This project which will take almost 13 months involves the use of Shadow Robot Company’s Dexterous Hand. The Dexterous robotic Hand is a robotic equipment that has the capabilities as a human hand.
For this project, the company is working along with OC Robotics, Cambrian Intelligence, and UCL.
The Cambrian Intelligence will aid in to provide augmented reality interface. At the other hand, UCL researchers will install a vision system. UCL researchers will install a vision system.
When the Augment Reality will get combine with OC Robotics’ snake arm and Dexterous hand, the system will make a remote inspection, maintenance, and assembly in most simpler and cost effective manner.
Walker said, “When a large plane is assembled, for example, there are various ports throughout the wing, where you stick your hand in to fasten a nut inside. If you could use a snake arm with a (robotic) hand at the end of it, those ports could be placed a lot further apart, which would improve structural integrity and decrease the number of ports, thereby reducing weight.”