Teleoperation master arm system with gripping operation devices

This paper presents the development of a master arm system with gripping operation devices in a tele-operation platform system that was developed in the national project, “Humanoid and Human Friendly Robotics System.” The tele-operation platform system is connected to a humanoid robot with communication links. An operator can remotely operate the robot by using the platform system with reality of existence at the remote site. The master arm system in the tele-operation platform system can provide the operator with reacting force sensation of the robot arms. The gripping operation devices, which are installed on each master arm, can also provide the operator with gripping sensation. The master arm system will be used to investigate various applications as for humanoid and human friendly robot in the second term of the project. It is expected that the system can serve realistic tele-presence when tele-operating a humanoid and human friendly robot in the near future.