Robotic Shoulder and Elbow Mimicry using Orbbec Astra Camera

The purpose of this study was to control a robotic shoulder and elbow that follows the movement of an actual human arm, through utilizing a depth-sensing camera with a Quaternion algorithm. The Orbbec Astra Pro camera was used by the system to track the movements of the user's arm. Using the NuiTrack SDK's Skeletal Tracking, the user's joint positions were determined. The angles were then converted into signals for the Arduino microcontroller's serial communication, for movement of the actuators of the robotic shoulder and elbow, using Visual Studio. The servo motors moved in accordance with the input angles. The researchers concluded that the system proves effective in tracking the user's shoulder and elbow movements for the objective of mimicking the robotic prototype. Likewise, the researchers considered that the user’s actual shoulder and elbow movement angles are close to the robotic arm’s angle movement.