Virtual Reality-based Teleoperation with Robustness Against Modeling Errors

This article investigates virtual reality (VR)-based teleoperation with robustness against modeling errors. VR technology is an effective way to overcome the large time delay during space robot teleoperation. However, it depends highly on the accuracy of model. Model errors between the virtual and real environment exist inevitably. The existing way to deal with the problem is by means of either model matching or robot compliance control. As distinct from the existing methods, this article tries to combine model matching and robot compliance control. On one hand, the status of the virtual robot is corrected by using the position sensor data from robot joints before and during teleoperation, and the pose of the virtually manipulated object is obtained with visual recognition technology. On the other hand, compliance control algorithms of impedance control based on joint torque sensors and hybrid position/force control based on a wrist sensor have been executed in order to eliminate the small sustaining model errors. A VR-based teleoperation system of satellite on-orbit self-serving is built up. In order to verify the proposed method, an experiment deploying the solar panel troubled by malfunction is carried out through teleoperation. It shows that the large model errors are removed with the model matching method and the adopted compliance control is robust against the remaining small model errors.