Development and user testing of the gestural joystick for gloves-on hazardous environments

For controlling robots in an urban search and rescue (USAR) application, a wearable joystick is presented with improved sensing capability as well as a Giant Magneto-Resistance (GMR) sensor model for use with rare-earth magnets. Scientists have been studying a variety of existing human/robot interface devices to control USAR robots in a disaster. Due to the stresses involved in USAR environments, the selection of an appropriate interface device out of the numerous interactive devices available has to be carefully considered. Furthermore, the total burden to the user of human/robot interface devices in USAR tasks includes not only the periods of interaction, but also the burden of transporting and remotely setting up the devices. The wearable joystick presented is developed with the design goal of minimizing total encumbrances. The features of this wearable joystick include easy and wire-free installation into regular gloves. An improved hardware structure for the sensor pad and the alignment of magnets is described that completely wraps the wrist. This band-type mechanism provides more robust data acquisition than previous prototypes. To evaluate performance, time-to-complete tests are performed, with a comparison to a metric for path tortuosity. The fractal dimension of the resulting path is analyzed to represent the degree of control the user has over the interface device. Experimental results are provided from both computer screen tess and real USAR robot driving tests.