Bilateral Teleoperation with a Shared Design of Master and Slave Devices for Robotic Excavators in Agricultural Applications

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to develop a shared design of master and slave devices for bilateral teleoperation mechanisms used for robotic excavators in agricultural applications. In robot teleoperation research, many potential applications within controlled and hazardous environments come to light. Robots, with their capacity for remote control by human operators through master devices, often employ the master-slave teleoperation approach. This strategy finds frequent use across manufacturing, construction, and agriculture industries. The master-slave system necessitates two interdependent components that collaboratively steer the robot in real time. However, challenges arise when manipulating the robot arm proves challenging due to structural differences between the master device (such as a joystick) and the slave device (the robot arm). A stable operational framework must be established for the robot to function optimally. This teleoperation system employs a master device to govern the actions of the slave device, a dynamic that heavily influences the operational complexity. Hence, the focal point of this study is to enhance the master-slave algorithm for teleoperation applications that rely on controlling robot arm movements. Despite the differing dimensions of the master and slave devices, they both share a common structure. The kinematic model bridging these components must be intelligible to ensure user-friendliness, facilitating effortless robot control. Calculating the robot arm's end effector movement and positioning involves employing the forward kinematics of the arm, determined through Denavit-Hartenberg parameters and transformation matrices. By mitigating communication delays between the master and slave devices using a technique centered around the robot arm's end effector position, the effectiveness of teleoperation can be significantly improved. Our designed robot arm attains 80% to 100% precision across joints. In summary, streamlining the robot arm's structure and minimizing delays offers a route to bolstering both stability and efficiency in robotic movement.