Remote manipulator

A remote manipulator, also known as a telefactor, telemanipulator, or waldo (after the 1942 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, similar to the operation and play of a claw crane game.

Manipulator arms inside the Hot Bay of the Engine Maintenance Assembly & Disassembly Facility, in Area 25 of the Nevada Test Site.

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 claimed 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."

gollark: _ENV
gollark: I should allow you to call numbers.
gollark: No, I mean if I make 2 + 2 be 5 it'll probably break some applications.
gollark: I worry that this will break much backwards compatibility... maybe behind some sort of annoyingly global flag?
gollark: Ah, yes, a wise suggestion.

See also

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 (ed.), The Science Fiction Novel, Chicago: Advent (published 1959)
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