Teleoperation
Encyclopedia
Machine
A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...
at a distance. It is similar in meaning to the phrase "remote control
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
" but is usually encountered in research, academic and technical environments. It is most commonly associated with robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
and mobile robots but can be applied to a whole range of circumstances in which a device or machine is operated by a person from a distance.
Teleoperation is standard term in use both in research and technical communities and is by far the most standard term for referring to operation at a distance. This is opposed to "telepresence
Telepresence
Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance of being present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location....
" which is a less standard term and might refer to a whole range of existence or interaction that include a remote connotation.
History
The history of Teleoperation can be traced back to the beginnings of radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
communication and Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
. Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
developed some of the first principles and systems to perform Teleoperation in the late 1800s as outlined in such documents as U.S. patent 613,809 (Method of and Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving Vessels or Vehicles .
Teleoperation is now moving into the hobby industry with FPV equipment. FPV equipment mounted on hobby cars, planes and helicopters give a tv style transmission back to operator extending the range of the vehicle to greater than line of site range.