Haptically-enabled robotic vehicle

The Centre for Intelligent Systems Research at Deakin University has developed a mobile platform with a controllable arm that gives operators a sense of the weight and solidity of an object being manipulated.

This technology improves the ability of operators working at a safe distance to identify and manipulate hazards such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by providing a sense of how the object feels. The robotic arm is fitted with strain gauges that meter the force being applied to manipulate the object. This force is reproduced via actuators mounted in the hand controls that push back on the operator’s hands according to the force being applied by the arm, thereby producing the sense of feel. Stereo camera vision gives the operator depth perception that improves the accuracy of arm control and also enhances the realistic sense for the operator of being right at the scene.

This technology has been very successfully demonstrated three times to date, and Defence is looking to progress it further.

(Image courtesy of Deakin University's Centre for Intelligent Systems Research.)