Perception of Approaching Objects in Bilateral Control Using Proximity Sensor

In this paper, a new method for the perception of approaching objects in bilateral control using a hybrid proximity/force sensor is proposed.Recently, a demand for teleoperation which can accomplish safe, compliant and complicated tasks in a remote area is increasing. One method for teleoperation is bilateral control which can control both position and force in the master and the slave side. In bilateral control, an operator usually gets the environmental information of the slave side with vision sensors. However, in typical conditions, for example, when the interrupting objects exist between the vision sensor and end-effector like the body of the manipulator, the operator cannot observe the objects near the end-effector. So in this paper, for getting the complimentary information about environments, a new method for the perception of approaching objects in bilateral control using a hybrid proximity/force sensor is proposed. The hybrid proximity/force sensor can measure both distance between end-effector and objects and contact force. The approaching objects can be detected before objects touch the end-effector with this sensor. The operator can feel the approaching objects by vibrating only the manipulator on the master side. Hence, the operator can realize safe and soft contact with the hybrid sensor even when information of the vision sensor cannot be used. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the experiments.