Proceedings Article | 16 April 2008
KEYWORDS: Servomechanisms, Control systems, Robotics, Statistical analysis, Resistance, Inspection, Chemical analysis, Robotic systems, Mobile robots, Sensors
This paper describes progress toward robotic arm system to collect swab samples for trace chemical analysis. Collecting
a swab sample requires bringing the swab in contact with the target object, maintaining adequate pressure against the
object while dragging the swab tip across the surface, conforming to the surface compliance, curvature and irregularities.
It also requires detecting when the swipe motion is blocked, when it has reached the end or edge of the object, and when
the normal swipe excursion has been completed. Remote or robotic swab sample collection is complicated by the fact
that key physical properties of the target object, e.g., its location, surface contour, compliance, friction, are unknown or,
at best, uncertain. We are pursuing a two-fold approach to computer assisted robotic examination swab sampling. We
are developing a force-feedback master-slave puppet arm control system in which the operator manipulates and receives
force feedback through a scale model of the remote arm. We are also developing adaptive motion behaviors for
autonomous swab sample collection, in which the arm feels its way over the surface, adjusting its configuration to
conform to the surface contour, while maintaining pressure and keeping the swab tip in the desired orientation with
respect to the surface as it drags the swab across the target object. Experiments with the master-slave system will
provide data on human operator adaptive motion behaviors, and provide a baseline for evaluation of the automatic
system. This paper describes the force-feedback master-slave puppet arm control system, presents example teleoperated
swab dynamics data, describes the emerging framework for analysis of adaptive motion behaviors in swab sample
collection, and describes our approach to autonomous swab sampling adaptive behavior and control.
