A six DOF master-slave human-assisted manipulator arm with relaxation of kinematics similarity

The development of a 6-DOF master-slave human-assisted manipulator arm with relaxation of kinematics similarity is proposed with experimental results. The manipulator system consists of a tendon-pulley train, master-arm and the 6-DOF Chula III slave arm with five-bar linkage. The maneuverability of the manipulator system is improved by using a virtual guidance and position gain (G_p). The virtual guidance, implemented in the master arm, will improve the maneuverability for the operators, while the G_p will improve the accuracy of positions and orientations of the system. The experimental results shown that the operator with virtual guidance can control the slave arm very effectively. The accuracy of positions and orientations will depends on the gain G_p used for the path generation, which is the gain for amplifying the error signals of the master and slave system.