Human-Robot Interaction through Wearable device - A Wireless Glove System for Teleoperated Control of 7-DoF Robotic Arm

Manolescu, Vasile Denis and Mutinda, Bryan and Secco, Emanuele Lindo (2024) Human-Robot Interaction through Wearable device - A Wireless Glove System for Teleoperated Control of 7-DoF Robotic Arm. Academia Engineering. ISSN 2994-7065 (Accepted for Publication)

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Abstract

Significance - The ability of any robotic arm system to become tele operational is essential for advancing remote work and various future applications. Existing solutions often require complex setups, specialized training, and expensive hardware, limiting their adaptability and usability. Developing a simplified wearable device that can be rapidly integrated and deployed with these systems can significantly enhance versatility and accessibility for a wider range of tasks. Such devices are particularly crucial in environments where remote control, accuracy, and reliability are paramount, including healthcare for remote surgeries, manufacturing in automating processes, or hazardous environments like safe handling of materials or space exploration.
Aim and Approach - This work presents the design and development of a wireless glove-based control system for remotely operating a robotic arm. The primary objectives are not to focus on extremely previse estimation of the glove posture, rather to create a reliable, responsive, and user-friendly control system that seamlessly fuses user input with robotic motion capabilities. The system offers scalability, customization options, intuitive interaction, and ergonomic comfort to facilitate better human-robot collaboration. The approach combines advanced motion sensing using a 9-DoF Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and real-time data processing to achieve teleoperation control. The IMU estimates roll, pitch, and yaw, directly controlling the translational movements (x, y, z) of the robotic arm's end effector. Depending on button states, these inputs can also switch to control the end effector's rotations. This approach provides instinctive control, enabling users to operate the system effectively with minimal training.
Results - The developed glove demonstrated user compliance, with operators reporting ease of use and intuitive maneuverability during testing. The system is also rapid to deploy, taking an average of 30 seconds to set up and engage. The wireless device successfully captured real-time gesture control data from the IMU and redirected it to the robotic system with an average latency of 185ms. The total latency from IMU data capture to robotic movement was approximately 200ms, faster than the average human reaction and lower than many existing wired glove-based control systems. This low latency, combined with the responsive control, enabled the system to conduct a range of manipulations, including pick-and-place, reaching, and grasping objects. The performance of this system demonstrates its potential to enhance efficiency and accuracy in various applications compared to traditional control methods.
Conclusions - This research presents a robust and efficient teleoperation system, offering a viable solution for future advancements in remote robotic arm control. This innovation bridges the gap between the full potential of complex robotic systems and user interaction, unlocking new possibilities across various fields while being able to generate invaluable training data for further supervised machine learning integration.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > Mathematics and Computer Science
Depositing User:	Emanuele Secco
Date Deposited:	16 Sep 2024 10:41
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2024 10:41
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4365

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