3-471: 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), 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
6-873: 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 seen in newsreels and movies, such as The Andromeda Strain or THX 1138 . Robert A. Heinlein claimed a much earlier origin for remote manipulators. 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." An article in Science Robotics on robots, science fiction, and nuclear accidents discusses how
9-480: The operation and play of a claw crane game. In 1945, the company Central Research Laboratories 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
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