In order to achieve more delicate and safe manipulation, a telemanipulator that reflects gripping force of the manipulator to the human operator was implemented, and a simple experiment was performed. A force sensor for measuring gripping force was constructed using a composite material called FSR, the resistance of which is inversely proportional to the force applied to the sensor. Master and slave manipulaters are grippers each of which contains DC motors for its actuation. Two servoing subsystems were constructed to drive these two manipulating grippers. So as to vary the control algorithm based upon operator's judgment, an interfacing circuit was designed and a control computer was used with it. Finally, the implemented system was tested in restricted condition of collision with hard contact to evaluate the peformance of the telemanipulator. High performance was obtained by switching between unilateral control in free space and bilateral control in contact condition.
