Hand system of robotic manipulator with human interface using laser pointer

A hand system of a robotic manipulator operated by a human interface with positioning control using a laser pointer is proposed in this paper. A bedridden user can easily manipulate his/her belongings by using the robotic manipulator. When a bedridden user wishes to catch a target object, a user exposes the target object to the laser beam spot by manipulating a lever. Then, a user pushes a switch of the lever. After this simple operation, a robotic hand moves automatically to the target object following a laser beam trajectory, and a user can capture the target object. The robotic manipulator used in our research does not require an installation area because it is installed on the ceiling of a house. Two linear motion actuators are fixed to a ceiling of the house, and the carriage is moved horizontally. The robotic hand is suspended from the carriage. The hand system proposed in this paper can capture a can, a magazine, a tissue paper box, and so on. This paper describes the concept of the robotic system, the human interface using the laser pointer, the follow algorithm of the laser beam trajectory, the target detection algorithm, and the hand system. The proposed hand system can capture both a cylindrical object, such as a can, and a large-plate-like object, such as a magazine, using only one mechanism. The validity of the proposed robotic system was confirmed by the experimental results.