1954 – ElectroMechanical Manipulator – Ray Goertz (American)

1954 – ElectroMechanical Manipulator by Ray Goertz (pictured) An early experimental model – this one also showing the head-mount camera controller Brussels Exhibition – US Pavillion demo. Model E4a Slave unit. Diagram by Goertz showing the various control modes of Master-Slave arms. Patent information: Publication number    US2846084 A Publication date    Aug 5, 1958 Filing date   …

1925 – Teledactyl Remote Manipulator – Hugo Gernsback (German/American)

I'm having difficulty in obtaining a copy of this magazine, so I have used the original article and illustrations from Matt Novak's wonderful Paleofuture/Smithsonian article here. Hugo Gernsback’s device was called the "radio teledactyl” and would allow doctors to not only see their patients through a viewscreen, but also touch them from miles away with spindly …

1997 – Robotic Master-Slave Manipulator – Mark E. Rosheim (American)

Patent number: 5845540 Filing date: Sep 25, 1997 Issue date: Dec 8, 1998 See full patent here. Patent Abstract: A pair of connected joints is provided in a master-slave robotic system each operated by a plurality of force-imparting means. Such force imparting means for the second joint supported on a member controlled by the first …

1991 – TOPS TeleOperator/telePresence System – Smith and Shimamoto (American)

TeleOperator/telePresence System / Concept Verification Model (CVM) The TeleOperator/telePresence System/Concept Verification Model (TOPS/CVM)[34], was developed as the successor to the 'Greenman'. The TOPS/CVM consisted of a 3-DOF (degrees-of-freedom) head, a 3-DOF torso and a dexterous, force-reflective 9- DOF hand coupled to a force-reflective 7-DOF arm. Fig. 1 TOPS from Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San …

1983-88 – “Greenman” Teleoperator – Smith & Armogida (American)

“Greenman” (1983-1988) – The first anthropomorphic (human configured) manipulator developed at SSC San Diego was the Remote Presence Demonstration System, nicknamed “Greenman”. It was assembled in 1983 using MB Associates arms and a SPAWAR Systems Center San Diego-developed torso and head. It had an exoskeletal master controller for the human operator’s torso, arms, and head. …