Efficient and Precise Homo-Hetero Teleoperation Based on an Optimized Upper Limb Exoskeleton

Teleoperation has been widely used to expand human working capability in remote, unstructured, and dangerous environments, such as explosive disposal and rescue tasks. In such scenarios, both large-scale flexible obstacle avoidance and small-scale refined operations are often required. However, existing teleoperation devices rarely manage to meet both of these requirements at the same time. This article proposes a new exoskeleton capable of functioning in homogeneous and heterogeneous teleoperation to achieve efficient and precise human-like teleoperation. Regarding hardware design, the exoskeleton fully considers the motion coordination of the human arm. It covers all degrees of freedom of the human arm, including the sternoclavicular motion. A new elbow structure and special overall layout are implemented to reduce the motion inertia and enhance the range of motion. Regarding teleoperation control, a novel teleoperation framework is proposed that seamlessly switches between homogeneous (phased posture mapping) and heterogeneous (workspace operation). With this, the operator can quickly avoid obstacles, approach the target position in a homogeneous manner, and then perform precise operations in a heterogeneous manner. Thorough analyses and experiments demonstrate that our proposed exoskeleton system and teleoperation method exhibit superior performance in rapidity with high success rates in complex teleoperation tasks.