A HapticArm: A low-cost 6-DoF motion-controlled robotic manipulator with wearable IMU/Flex sensing and vibrotactile haptic feedback

This work presents HapticArm, a low-cost gesture-based teleoperation system consisting of a 3D-printed six-degree-of-freedom (6-DoF) robotic manipulator and a wearable sensing glove. The wearable glove integrates inertial measurement, flex, and force sensors to capture hand orientation, finger articulation, and operator-applied pressure, transmitting processed signals wirelessly to an embedded controller for real-time actuation of six servo-driven joints. Event-based vibrotactile feedback is generated from operator-applied pressure measured by force-sensitive resistors (FSRs) on the glove, providing discrete grasp-intent cues to the operator during object manipulation. Experimental evaluation demonstrated stable and synchronized gesture-to-joint command generation across all six joints, including consistent multi-joint coordination and repeatable gripper actuation. At an approximate hardware cost of US$200, the prototype achieved a task success rate of approximately 90-95% in light-load pick-and-place trials (n≈20), while operator-pressure-triggered vibrotactile cues were generated with a response time of approximately 90-110 ms. Identified limitations include limited actuator torque under sustained load, sensitivity of wireless communication range, gradual IMU drift during extended operation, and the restricted expressiveness of vibrotactile-only haptic feedback.