Improving Teleoperation of High Degree-of-Freedom Robots with a Dual-Mode System and Variable Admittance Controller Using IMU-Based Tracking

Admittance control allows for teleoperation with compliant performance by using external force signals driven by the operator. However, low-cost teleoperation solutions for high degree-of-freedom (DoF) robots using constant admittance controllers are mainly affected by the accuracy of sensors and jitter from operators, which can be avoided with cost-prohibitive solutions. We firstly propose a dual-mode teleoperation system with variable admittance controller and analysis the stability. To accurately track the operator's intention, an open-loop IMU-based method is designed. Our low-cost system enables operators to effectively perform complex tasks in the workspace by smoothly switching between two modes: an operating workspace to ensure teleoperation accuracy, and a moving workspace to improve efficiency of movement. We validate the proposed system through experiments using the UR5 robot in a controlled environment. Results show that our approach outperforms the constant admittance controller in terms of accuracy and efficiency.