Investigation on the six-axis robotic arm with tactile sensing for throat swab sampling

To overcome the risk of healthcare workers getting infected during the collection of respiratory infectious virus samples, this study investigates a remotely controllable mechanical arm with tactile sensing capabilities for nucleic acid collection. We constructed a hardware platform based on a serial bus interface and developed a motion control system using STM32. Additionally, we designed an end tactile sensing device that utilizes a Hall sensor to establish a linear relationship between the output voltage and the distance to a magnet. This device was integrated with the mechanical arm to enable tactile perception. Experimental results demonstrate that the device exhibits excellent motion path planning capabilities, and the tactile sensor can effectively perceive end-point pressure, allowing for the re-planning of the mechanical arm’s motion path accordingly. The experimental results show that the positioning error at the end of the mechanical arm is less than 3mm, and the tactile force measurement error is less than 0.5N. This indicates that the proposed method can be applied to the collection of respiratory infectious samples in practical scenarios. This research provides an innovative solution for respiratory infectious sample collection.