It allows its user to "feel" over vast distances and could revolutionise how education institutions provide remote learning.
A pioneering robotic arm developed by Glasgow researchers will enable students, regardless of their location, to work virtually on practical, lab-based tasks alongside lecturers and classmates.
The teleoperated device is connected via 5G to a haptic feedback controller that is designed to reproduce instantaneous, real-time sensations of motion and pressure. It means individuals located far away can participate in activities while feeling physically present.
Professor Muhammad Imran, who leads the Glasgow University research team, said the technology's importance lay in its ability to make advanced practical work a feature of digital teaching. It could also give students around the world significantly increased access to state of the art facilities such as Glasgow's James Watt Nanofabrication Centre.
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Prof Imran said: "The potential for 5G is remarkable and we have attracted interest from universities in the USA, China, the Far East and the Middle East. The higher quality of user experience offered by 5G connectivity enables us to offer specialised training without students entering the physical space. This has been particularly beneficial during the pandemic and coping with the restriction of movement."
He explained that the robotic arm works by generating digital pressure measurements based on the physical properties of objects. A 5G network is then used to send these, in real time, to the haptic device, enabling a much smoother interaction than would be the possible through pre-programming or mouse and keyboard-based control.
"The 5G connection is sending digital measurements of pressure," Prof Imran said. "It is communicating that instantaneous pressure that [the arm] is experiencing and, at the haptic controller end, you can reproduce exactly that pressure. If there is no delay, it’s happening in real time. If there’s a delay, you lose your hand-eye coordination."
He added: "Our aim is to use haptic gloves. But what we have just now is a controller that looks like a pen fixed into a physical structure. So when you’re controlling the robotic arm remotely with this pen, the pen becomes more rigid or relaxed depending on what rigidity or relaxation the arm is experiencing at the other end."
Prof Imran said students could borrow controllers or be given access to them at secured locations. "The advantage of this is that the student will have a much more flexible use of the lab space," he added.
The professor stressed that work on making the technology part of a fully immersive learning experience was well advanced. "Currently we are on a mode of 2D visuals," he said. "So you see a picture of me. It’s converted into a video by a series of pictures - but I also see just a picture of you. If I want to see what is behind you or in front, I can’t. But, with extended reality headsets, I could do that and you could do that as well.
"So the next step we are working on with eCom Scotland, an SME in Fife, is to combine this robotic control with virtual reality. That involves a haptic feedback glove [and] an extended reality headset. It’s work in development but the vision or the final end looks much more promising and interesting. Maybe in a year or so we will have a working prototype."
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Researchers say the technology has a range of possible applications. These include remote medical diagnosis and allowing learner drivers to carry out hazard perception tests without being in a car.
Thanks to £1.6 million in funding from the Scotland 5G Centre, Glasgow University experts, also led by Prof Imran, have attracted international attention after developing an urban test bed mobile network to support future progress.
Paul Coffey, the 5G Centre's chief executive, said: “The test bed built at the University of Glasgow is creating a major step change in ideas and adoption of 5G technology... We are able to create multiple use cases which generates an ecosystem for 5G and leads to further applications across manufacturing, healthcare and education sectors.
"The market for remote solutions in the robotic market alone is predicted to be worth 16.8 million dollars by 2023 - the potential for use of 5G across sectors is of enormous economic benefit.”
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