An empirical study with simulated ADL tasks using a vision-guided assistive robot arm

In this paper, we describe an empirical study with healthy subjects with simulated ADL tasks using UCF-ARM - a 6-DOF assistive robot that is visually guided through a calibrated stereo camera system fitted in the gripper of Exact Dynamics' Manus ARM. The goal of the research is to reduce time to task completion and cognitive burden for users interacting with an unstructured environment via a Wheelchair Mounted Robotic Arm (WMRA). Our WMRA, UCF-ARM, provides access to a multimodal user-customizable human computer interface and accomplishes visual servoing through an in-hand stereo rig as well as adaptive grip force application through force sensing resistors embedded in the fingers of the gripper. Choice of user interface is dependent on the user's functional level and injury. Two level object grasping tasks are used to assess the time to task completion and cognitive burden for users evaluating the system under different tasks, control modes, and interface modalities. Results of the statistical analysis are provided to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the evaluated options.