Comparing Two Kinematics Methods for Telerobotic Control Applications

Two inverse kinematics algorithms were implemented in a tele-operated robot system and evaluated with a user performance study. The kinematics algorithms were designed such that the point of resolution (POR) of the robot arm's wrist and the end-effector was controlled by joysticks, one each for rotation and translation. Operator performance was evaluated with "peg-in-the-hole" type tasks using both the wrist and end-effector POR modes. Wrist kinematics resulted in faster performance times, however, with longer average distances traveled while the opposite effect was observed with end-effector kinematics. Reversal errors were present equally in both modes, while the end-effector mode showed higher 1-axis use of the joysticks. Implications for remote robotic operation design and kinematics are discussed.