Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!ria!ria.ccs.uwo.ca
From: hugh@ria.ccs.uwo.ca (Mr. Hugh Jack)
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Subject: Re: High Accuracy Manipulators
Message-ID: <986@ria.ccs.uwo.ca>
Date: 10 Sep 90 02:48:17 GMT
Sender: news@ria.ccs.uwo.ca
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Organization: University of Western Ontario, London
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I have only briefly noticed the on-going arguments in this
column about high accuracy manipulators, and it has 
reminded me about some discussion I have seen in papers.
The cornerstone of the problem can be described as
'Human/Super Human'.  The problem typically involves trade
offs between high accuracy and high flexibility.  As
humans we tend to concentrate on accuracy, flexibility,
power, or some combination thereof.

Many current robotics researcher have attempted to get the
best of both.  This is not to say that it is not possible,
but the best robotics systems we have seen to date
(i.e. humans) are never super.

Thus, I would like to bravely conclude that the question
of which is better or more useful is not the issue.  What
researchers should be moving towards is a system that is
able to use compromises between the different domains.

Hugh Jack
Graduate Student
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada
hugh@engrg.uwo.ca

p.s. Anybody who takes these opinions seriously is as twisted as i am.