Remote manipulator

Manipulator arms inside the Hot Bay, Area 25, Nevada Test Site

A remote manipulator, also known as a telefactor, telemanipulator, or waldo (after the short story "Waldo" by Robert A. Heinlein which features a man who invents and uses such devices),^[1] is a device which, through electronic, hydraulic, or mechanical linkages, allows a hand-like mechanism to be controlled by a human operator. The purpose of such a device is usually to move or manipulate hazardous materials for reasons of safety.

History

In 1945, the company Central Research Laboratories^[2] was given the contract to develop a remote manipulator for the Argonne National Laboratory. The intent was to replace devices which manipulated highly radioactive materials from above a sealed chamber or hot cell, with a mechanism which operated through the side wall of the chamber, allowing a researcher to stand normally while working.

The result was the Master-Slave Manipulator Mk. 8, or MSM-8, which became the iconic remote manipulator^[3] seen in newsreels and movies, such as the Andromeda Strain or THX 1138.

Robert A. Heinlein claims a much earlier origin for remote manipulators.^[4] He wrote that he got the idea for "waldos" after reading a 1918 article in Popular Mechanics about "a poor fellow afflicted with myasthenia gravis ... [who] devised complicated lever arrangements to enable him to use what little strength he had."

See also

Robotics portal

• Hot cell
• Dextre
• Teleoperation
• Telerobotics
• Avatar (computing)
• Pantograph

External links

• Central Research Laboratories web site
• A video of a Remote Manipulator being used to make an origami crane [1]
• Master-slave manipulator at Argonne National Laboratory [2]
• Zeleny, Milan (2005). Human systems management: Integrating Knowledge, Management. World Scientific. p. 142. isbn=9810249136. http://books.google.com/books?id=Tbb3O5uigCAC&pg=PA142&dq=waldo+nuclear+teleoperated&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=3hP0rWyQDRWq35cLUfWiS6NTgLc. 

References

1. ^ Technovelgy telemanipulator page
2. ^ CRL history
3. ^ Telemanipulator page
4. ^ Heinlein, Robert A. (1957), "Science fiction: its nature, faults and virtues", in Davenport, Basil, The Science Fiction Novel, Chicago: Advent, 1959