Hand trigger system for bi-lateral gripping control in teleoperation

A new device for human operator control of a robotic gripper has been developed and preliminary evaluation has been performed. The JPL Force Reflecting Hand Trigger system features: an instrumented index finger trigger with load cell detection of finger force. A servo controlled, lead screw driven backdrive capability by which the trigger´s position can be made to follow that of the remotely controlled gripper. And a novel feedback mechanism by which clamping force or some other signal can be fed back via a swiveling motion, also servo controlled, of the trigger surface (force reflection). This system has undergone preliminary testing in which the amount of force reflection is varied and dynamic force tracking response is observed.