Hand-based tracking animatronics interaction

Natural user interfaces are becoming more affordable and are changing how people interact with daily activities. These interfaces take advantage of human ergonomics increasing comfort, accuracy and performance during several tasks. New trends in user interfaces allow developing innovative forms of interaction in different scenarios; such is the case of robot teleoperation where joysticks, voice command, inertial sensors, haptics, and even Kinect sensors are easing their usage in educational contexts where people is getting familiar with robotics. This project presents the development of hand tracking application whose motion controls different servos on an animatronic; the goal is to motivate better understanding of robot morphology, sensors, actuators and kinematics for beginners. The system was tested using the hand and fingers as the controller while basic concepts were presented. After using the application and the animatronic device, users found the idea compelling and expressed their motivation for more knowledge regarding robotics.