Publication

Abstract : Autonomous and remotely controlled mobile robots are used extensively in industries and are slowly becoming a norm in day-to-day life. They can be manually controlled using devices such as joysticks or by using mobile phone applications, through Bluetooth or similar technologies. In this paper, the authors propose usage of leap motion device which can track hands of human users. By using the gestures, the human can operate a mobile robot. For the demonstration, the authors propose its usage on a three omni-wheel-based mobile platforms. First, the mathematical model of the robot was formulated and simulated in V-REP software for various types of motion. Then, a physical prototype was developed, which was integrated with both Bluetooth-based mobile phone application and leap motion device. Field trials and survey of 30 people were carried out, where both methods were perceived to be of similar ease of use and intuitiveness. However, the authors feel the results of leap motion control may improve with subsequent usage by the users.