Semi-autonomous Robotic Manipulation by Tele-Operation with Master-Slave Robots and Autonomy Based on Vision and Force Sensing

Abstract

In the current social production activities, many operations in dangerous environments need to be completed manually. For example, on high-altitude power grids, inspection or replacement of parts; maintenance of equipment under high temperature or radiation environment, etc. The operator’s physiology and psychology are under tremendous pressure and risks. Therefore, robots are needed to assist operators in their work. In this article, we propose a robot control system that combines teleoperation and autonomous motion based on vision and force sensors. In this system, the robot arm that performs the job first performs the motion control in the global environment through master-slave remote operation. When the robot arm reaches the ideal working position, it then performs local autonomous fine operations by visual processing and force feedback. In the entire operation process, teleoperation frees workers from the dangerous working environment. At the same time, the robot’s autonomous operation based on vision and force improves the accuracy and efficiency of the operation. The nut-tightening operation experiment in the article verifies the feasibility of this semi-autonomous operation system.

The work in this paper is supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2019B090915001) and the Frontier and Key Technology Innovation Special Funds of Guangdong (Grant No. 2017B050506008, 2017B090910008).