Wearable Arm Motion Sensor for Robot Teaching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for teaching robots to mimic human motion are inefficient, prone to errors, and lack precision, especially when dealing with complex arm movements, due to limitations in existing motion capture devices and control systems.
Innovation Solution
A wearable apparatus with multiple joints providing various degrees of freedom, including rotational and straight-motion capabilities, equipped with sensors and actuators that allow precise measurement and transmission of arm movements to a controller, enabling intuitive learning of robot motions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a 6-axis force sensor is used to transmit 3D position and rotation information to a robot, then the user can control the robot's position, but the robot may take undesired postures due to redundant degrees of freedom
Solution Approach 1:
The wearable apparatus segments the measurement system into multiple independent joint units (shoulder, elbow, wrist joints) with specific degrees of freedom. Each joint is equipped with sensors to measure rotation angles independently, allowing precise control of each segment while accounting for the robot's redundant degrees of freedom. This segmentation enables accurate posture specification despite the robot having more degrees of freedom than the 6-axis controller can directly control.
2Measurement precision
If torque sensors are attached to every joint to teach a robot desired postures, then the robot can make desired postures, but it takes long time to make the robot learn complicated motions
Solution Approach 1:
The wearable apparatus directly copies human arm motion trajectories by measuring the rotation angles of shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints with sensors. Instead of using torque sensors to teach the robot through force application and path planning, the system captures the instructor's natural arm movements and directly transfers them to the robot. This copying approach eliminates the time-consuming trial-and-error learning process while maintaining high posture accuracy.
3Adaptability or versatility
If motion capture devices are used to recognize human motions, then animations can be created, but the devices cannot measure human motions with high precision
Solution Approach 1:
The wearable apparatus applies local quality by placing specific sensors at key joint locations (shoulder, elbow, wrist) rather than using general-purpose motion capture markers. Each sensor is positioned to measure the rotation angle of its specific joint, providing localized high-precision measurements. This approach achieves superior measurement accuracy for arm motions compared to general motion capture systems while maintaining versatility in capturing various arm movements.
4Measurement precision
If an exoskeletal wearable device is used to measure motions, then motions can be measured relatively precisely, but the device is complicated and difficult to design for 7-degree of freedom shoulder
Solution Approach 1:
The wearable apparatus extracts and measures only the essential motion parameters (rotation angles of shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints) using simple sensors at each joint. Instead of attempting to mechanically replicate the full 7-degree of freedom shoulder structure with complex mechanisms, the system takes out the measurement function and uses sensors to directly detect joint angles. This extraction approach achieves high measurement precision while dramatically reducing device complexity compared to full exoskeletal designs.
Data Source
AI summary
A wearable apparatus for measuring position and action of an arm includes: a main frame worn on an upper body of a user; and an arm motion-measuring unit connected to a side of the main frame, having a plurality of joints, and worn on an arm of a user, in which at least any one of the joints of the arm motion-measuring unit has a straight-motional degree of freedom. Accordingly, an instructor can conveniently move both arms in the apparatus, can precisely instruct a two-arm robot in motions of the instructor's arms, can reduce learning time of the robot, and can make the robot quickly and accurately learn the motions.