Mechatronic Design of a Human Robot Coupling Interface for Teaching by Demonstration

:In this paper, we have developed a mechatronic human-robot coupling interface for kinaesthetic guidance based human robot teaching interface, by integration of a 6-axis force sensor, a coupling mechanism and wearable electromyography (EMG) arrays. Our design aims to transfer human operator's arm kinematics, force as well as human upper limb stiffness estimated from EMG signals to robot manipulators. Experiments have been carried out to test the teaching by demonstration performance of the coupling system in two scenarios: i) human teaching a robot for lifting up task; ii) human-robot skill transfer for one joint motion. Experimental results indicated that the coupling design nearly caused no disturbance to human upper limb stiffness estimation. Moreover, human arm kinematics and force/torque in task space can be transferred to the robot in a natural way with guaranteed safety. This coupling interface design can be easily extended to other robot platforms and has great potentials in application of human robot skill transfer.