Sensor Fusion-Based Anthropomorphic Control of a Robotic Arm

Bioengineering (Basel). 2023 Oct 24;10(11):1243. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering10111243.

Abstract

The main goal of this research is to develop a highly advanced anthropomorphic control system utilizing multiple sensor technologies to achieve precise control of a robotic arm. Combining Kinect and IMU sensors, together with a data glove, we aim to create a multimodal sensor system for capturing rich information of human upper body movements. Specifically, the four angles of upper limb joints are collected using the Kinect sensor and IMU sensor. In order to improve the accuracy and stability of motion tracking, we use the Kalman filter method to fuse the Kinect and IMU data. In addition, we introduce data glove technology to collect the angle information of the wrist and fingers in seven different directions. The integration and fusion of multiple sensors provides us with full control over the robotic arm, giving it flexibility with 11 degrees of freedom. We successfully achieved a variety of anthropomorphic movements, including shoulder flexion, abduction, rotation, elbow flexion, and fine movements of the wrist and fingers. Most importantly, our experimental results demonstrate that the anthropomorphic control system we developed is highly accurate, real-time, and operable. In summary, the contribution of this study lies in the creation of a multimodal sensor system capable of capturing and precisely controlling human upper limb movements, which provides a solid foundation for the future development of anthropomorphic control technologies. This technology has a wide range of application prospects and can be used for rehabilitation in the medical field, robot collaboration in industrial automation, and immersive experience in virtual reality environments.

Keywords: Kalman filter; anthropomorphic control; joint angle snapping; robotic arm; sensor fusion.

Grants and funding

This research was partially funded by the Project of Shandong High-end Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Community, grant number 2022-SGTTXM-018; the Open Project Program of Key Laboratory for Cross-Scale Micro and Nano Manufacturing, Ministry of Education, Changchun University of Science and Technology, grant number CMNM-KF202103.