Master-slave control of a teleoperated anthropomorphic robotic arm with gripping force sensing

This paper details the design and development of a low-cost control rig to intuitively manipulate an anthropomorphic robotic arm using a bilateral master-slave control methodology. Special emphasis has been given to the ease of operation and sonic form of force sensation. The control rig is fitted to the user's arm, and the forces exerted by the robotic arm's various joints are fed back to the user. Of special significance is the force feedback from the slave when its gripper is in contact with a real object. Several methods of force sensing have been explored and detailed. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by experiments on a commercially available robotic arm, which is controlled by a prototype three-axis master unit. The robotic arm mimics the dexterity of the human hand, wrist, and fingers. The proposed master control unit is cost effective and will have wide-ranging applications in the fields of medicine, manufacturing, security, extreme environment, entertainment, and remotely operated vehicle teleoperation in undersea recovery or extraterrestrial exploration vehicle.