Telediagnosis and remote maintenance system through the Internet for the Manus robot

The aim of this research work is to develop a telediagnosis and remote maintenance system for rehabilitation tools. This project is based on the use of the MANUS II arm robot which is mounted on an electrical wheelchair and which permits the telemanipulation of objects in an nonstructured environment. Part of the European Commanus project (Biomed-Craft DG XII),based on robotics and telecommunication, brings together the Netherlands, Great Britain, and France. This research project, started in November 1998 and continuing for two years, will develop deep hardware and software organisation of the Manus as the current hardware and software structure is expensive, old-fashioned, and prevents further functional upgrades. An additional problem is that it's long and difficult to maintain as the Manus is custom-made and there is only a limited number of technicians in Europe able to repair it. As ii is desirable to be able to maintain Manus at a distance in a short time, one of the aims of this project is to have Manus remotely maintainable. To reach this goal, a technical task was defined in oder to innovative remote maintenance device which would enable the manufacturer or/and the provider to maintain Manus via the Internet network.