Low-cost teleoperable robotic arm

A low-cost robotic arm and controller system is presented. The controller is a desktop model of the robotic arm with the same degrees of freedom whose joints are equipped with sensors. Manipulating the controller by hand causes the robotic arm to mimic the movement in master–slave fashion. This is accomplished simply and at low-cost by taking advantage of widely available hobby radio control components. The system uses the trainer (“Buddy Box”) function available on common radio control transmitters as a simple interface between microcontroller and transmitter. The microcontroller produces a time-division multiplexed signal comprising three channels in proportional pulse modulated (PPM) format. The arm design could be used for various light-duty applications and this paper describes a version fitted with a video camera. The arm prototype is designed for an under-vehicle inspection robot. In this application, the video camera mounted on the robotic arm allows inspection of difficult-to-view locations under vehicles. The master–slave operator interface provides an easy-to-learn method for robotic arm manipulation.