MEMICA: a Concept for Reflecting Remote-Manipulator Forces

The term "mechanical mirroring using controlled stiffness and actuators" ("MEMICA") denotes a developmental concept for reflecting contact forces, displacements, mechanical damping, and temperature from the hand of a remote robotic manipulator back to the hand of a human operator who controls the manipulator. The MEMICA concept is expected to result in improvements in the remote control of robots in hostile environments, and may make it possible to perform remote surgery. The concept could also be applied to providing tactile sensations of objects in computationally simulated environments ("virtual reality") and to exercise machines. The MEMICA concept could be implemented by means of various operator interfaces (e.g., joysticks, knobs, or gloves). The purpose of developing MEMICA is to enable a human operator to feel, more realistically, the stiffness, temperature, vibration, and other tactile characteristics of objects to be remotely or virtually manipulated, thereby enhancing dexterity in remote manipulation or increasing the degree of perceived realism in a simulated environment.