RAT20 Teleoperated Argentine Robot

Abstract

This paper presents the design of the robot RAT20 (Teleoperated Argentine Robot), a mobile dual-arm robot system developed as a research platform for studying multidisciplinary aspects about remote mobile manipulation. The robot allows in a single platform, to perform research in most of the areas involved in autonomous and teleoperated robotics such as: navigation, mobile and dual-arm manipulation, planning, active compliance and force control strategies, collision detection, human-robot interaction, delay compensation and force feedback, among others. RAT has 20 degrees of freedom, including 12-DOF for two arms, 2-DOF torso, 1-DOF head, and a mobile base equipped with four in-wheel brushless motors. The sensors include a 360 camera, depth camera, laser lidar, current, position and velocity sensors, and a mapping and localization system based on visual SLAM. The robot can be driven from a base station composed for haptic devices and a wireless joystick or pedals. The paper provides an overview of the design, especially in the control area, as well as of its development, the sensors incorporated in the system, and its software, achieving a prototype system for research, education and base platform for possible extensions and adaptions to applications in field from disinfection and cleaning tasks until explosive neutralization.