Development of Tele-Presence Mobile Robots for Disabled People

Disabled people have encountered a number of physical challenges. The mobility impairment is one of the categories  of disability having limitations in mobility. These limitations become an obstacle for working and living in public space, especially when universal design has not been considered. Robotic technology, as an assistive technology, can take into account to improve the way of working and living. In this project, tele-presence mobile robots are designed to item handling task indoor and outdoor. With tele-operation capability, the robots can operated by the user, in this case, the disabled person from the distance away. This system consist of two mobile robots.

First, “FIMOA” is an autonomous mobile manipulator (AMM). It is an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) platform integrated with an articulated robot. The AMR is equipped with lidars for localization and allow the robot to free-navigate around the working area. This articulated robot is a 6-DOF collaborative robot. It is equipped with a gripper for manipulating items. In regard to the tele-presence, the user can control the AMR, robot arm, and gripper.

Second, “CARVER-JB” is a mobile robot that is converted from an 500 kg payload 3-wheel electric tow truck. This robot is modified from an industrial grade truck, so that it is endure enough to work both indoor and outdoor. A drive-by-wire module is installed for enabling automatic and remote steering control. A computer is used as the main controller which also connect to the cloud server on the internet. The tele-operation is done via CARVER-Webapp which is connected to the cloud server also.

For the case study, the disabled person, as a user, was assigned a task to transfer an item from one building to another. The user controlled these robots with a tele-operation platform which is a computer in the lab. In the experiment, the first robot used its arm to pick up an item and place in a bin on the AMR. It moved to the meeting point with the second robot in the same building, and then pick the item and place in the bin on the second robot. The second robot transferred the item to another building by operating outdoor. Eventually, the task was completed. In conclusion, this project can prove the concept of tele-presence robot system that can help improving the way of working and living for the disabled persons.