Biomimetic robotic arm remotely controlled by IMU sensor for hazardous chemical experiment

Background In recent years, the importance of chemical experiments has increased, and the frequency of chemical experiments has also increased. As the frequency of chemical experiments increases, the number of chemical experiment-related accidents increases proportionally. Objective Accordingly, we design a remote control biomimetic robotic arm that can safely and actively handle hazardous chemicals on behalf of human to reduce human casualties caused by chemical experiment accidents without compromising the autonomy of experimentation. Methods This biomimetic robotic arm can identically mimic the operator arm's movement. The robotic arm moves with 6 degrees of freedom (DOF). The inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor we designed ourselves is based on micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technology, and in the IMU sensor the accelerometer-gyroscope sensor and the wireless communication module are integrated. This IMU sensor calculates its own instantaneous angle on a particular axis. The micro controller unit (MCU) controls motor using the angle data of the IMU sensor so that the robotic arm moves in the same movement as the operator arm to which the IMU sensor is attached. Results Three IMU sensors were attached to the operator's upper body, upper arm, and lower arm, enabling the robotic arm to accurately replicate the operator's movements. Performance evaluation through comparative experiments confirmed that the robotic arm closely tracked the operator's joint motion and overall trajectory. Although a time delay of approximately 1.4 s was observed due to communication and processing latency, the system maintained stable performance under various motion and load conditions, with joint angle errors remaining below 5.2%. Conclusion The proposed system enables biomimetic motion of a robotic arm using IMU-based sensing and wireless control, allowing hazardous chemicals to be handled safely during chemical experiments.