An arm exoskeleton system for teleoperation and virtual environments applications

The control of exploratory and manipulative procedures in teleoperation and virtual environments requires the availability of adequate advanced interfaces capable not only of recording the movements of the human hands and arms, but also of replicating sensations of contact and collisions. In this paper the problem of replicating external forces acting against the remote/virtual arm is addressed. The design of an arm exoskeleton system developed in the authors' laboratory is presented. The exoskeleton consists of a 7 DOF actuated and sensorized mechanical structure wrapping up completely the human arm and directly supported by the shoulders and the trunk of the human operator. Emphasis is given to the implemented control procedures and to the description of the transputer-based control architecture.>