Intuitive operation of a wheelchair mounted robotic arm for the upper limb disabled: The mouth-only approach

A new interfacing device that enables intuitive operation of a wheelchair mounted robotic arm is proposed. Three kinds of physical signals: jaw movement, breathing strength and head movement are captured using this device, and then be used to drive motion primitives of robotic arm in an intuitive way. This device is designed to operate in a mouth-only manner, thus enables usage for the upper limb disabled. Experiments are also conducted making use of this device and wheelchair mounted robotic arm to complete tasks in activities of daily living.