consortium of four university research groups (Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas) in a program aimed at In this paper, we discusscooperativework by Oak Ridge robotics for advanced nuclear power stations and other National Laboratory and Remotec®, Inc., to automate hazardous environments. components of the operator's workload using Remotec's Andros telerobot, thereby providing an Remotec is a world leader in research and development enhanced user interface which can be retrofitto existing of

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... mote robotictechnologyfor hazardous operation in fielded units as well as being incorporated into new nuclear plants, police/military explosive ordnance production units. Remotec's Andros robots are presently disposal, and fire fighting. The company's family of used by numerous electric utilities to perform tasks in robots have found a worldwide clientele. They are reactors where substantial exposure to radiation exists, being used by several nuclear utility industries and as well as by the armed forces and numerous law national research laboratories to perform waste enforcement agencies. The automation of task handling, surveillance, and surveying. This paper components, as well as the videographicsdisplay of the describes the additionof a system of sensors, encoders robot's position in the environment, will enhance all and the required computing power to integrate the tasks performed by these users, as well as enabling information gleaned from these sensors to enhance the performance in terrain where the robots cannot teleoperation of a successfulindustrialmobile robot. All presently perform due to lack of knowledge about, for hardware additions are performed in a manner which instance, the degree of tilt of the robot. Enhanced preserves the factory-designedresistanceof the chassis performance of a successful industrial mobile robot to environmental contamination. Moreover, as will be leads to increased safety and efficiency of performance described in detail below, the functional additions which in hazardous environments. The addition of these enhance the teleoperation of this robot are done in a capabilities will greatly enhance the utility of the robot, manner which preserves the original factory as well as its marketability, functionality. This is desirable because the retrofittingof an enhanced interfaceto existing robots should require