View source for Remote manipulator

[[Image:WaldoNTS.jpg|thumb|right|300px|'''Manipulator arms''' inside the Hot Bay, Area 25, [[Nevada Test Site]] ]]

A '''remote manipulator''', also known as a '''telefactor''', '''telemanipulator''', or '''waldo''' (after the short story "[[Waldo (short story)|Waldo]]" by [[Robert A. Heinlein]] which features a man who invents and uses such devices),<ref>[http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=23 Technovelgy telemanipulator page]</ref> is a device which, through [[Electronics|electronic]], [[hydraulic]], or [[Machine|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]].

==History==
In 1945, the company Central Research Laboratories<ref>[http://www.centres.com/nuclear/manip/maniphis.htm CRL history]</ref> was given the [[contract]] to develop a remote manipulator for the [[Argonne National Laboratory]].  The intent was to replace devices which manipulated highly [[radioactivity|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<ref>[http://www.centres.com/nuclear/manip/manip.htm Telemanipulator page]</ref> seen in newsreels and movies, such as the ''[[The Andromeda Strain (film)|Andromeda Strain]]'' or ''[[THX 1138]]''.

==See also==
* [[Hot cell]]
* [[Dextre]]
* [[Teleoperation]]
* [[Telerobotics]]
* [[Avatar (computing)]]
* [[Pantograph]]

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|waldo}}
* Central Research Laboratories [http://www.centres.com web site]
* A video of a Remote Manipulator being used to make an origami crane [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5997080660276538391]
* Master-slave manipulator at Argonne National Laboratory [http://www.anl.gov/Science_and_Technology/History/Anniversary_Frontiers/16master.html]
* {{cite book
  | last =Zeleny
  | first =Milan 
  | authorlink =
  | coauthors =
  | title =Human systems management: Integrating Knowledge, Management
  | publisher =World Scientific
  | year =2005
  | location =
  | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=Tbb3O5uigCAC&pg=PA142&dq=waldo+nuclear+teleoperated&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=3hP0rWyQDRWq35cLUfWiS6NTgLc
  | doi =
  | id = isbn=9810249136
  | page =142 }}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Remote Manipulator}}
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Nuclear technology]]


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[[it:Manipolatore remoto]]
[[ru:Манипулятор (грузоподъёмное устройство)]]
[[Category:2Fix]]