Adaptation of Teleoperation and Robotics for Data Acquisition in an Altitude Chamber used for Decompression Sickness Research

Removing an Inside Observer (IO) from an uncomfortable and potentially hazardous vacuum chamber while preserving the IO's “presence” in the chamber by way of a remotely operated robot arm and camera is evaluated. This approach is proving itself effective in performing non-invasive echocardiography during high-altitude Decompression Sickness (DCS) research. For robots in environmental isolation applications to be considered viable, it must be safe (especially when operating in proximity to humans), it should be easy and intuitive to operate, and it should be adaptable to meet changing operational needs. This paper describes the considerations involved, approach taken, and results obtained in this novel robotic engineering application.