Switching control signal for bilateral tele-operation of a mobile manipulator

This paper presents both the design and the implementation of a bilateral teleoperation system for a mobile manipulator, allowing a human operator to perform complex tasks in remote environments. Two teleoperation operation modes are proposed: the locomotion mode (mobile manipulator) and the manipulation mode (robotic arm). The human operator can select the modes through the switch located on a haptic device. The user receives visual and force feedback from the remote site, and it sends velocity or position commands to the slave, according to the operation mode. Furthermore, the redundancy control of the system for obstacle avoidance is considered by the mobile platform, and the singular configuration prevention through the system's manipulability control. Finally, experimental results are reported to verify the performance of the proposed system.