EMG-based robotic arm controller

• Main Authors: Angeles, Dan Anthony, Castillo, Alvin Joseph, Cheng, Julius Aaron, So, Marx Benedict
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: Electromyography; Robotics; Robots > Control systems; Computer interfaces > Design and construction
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/14606
• Institution: De La Salle University

In robotic arm control, the robot-user interface is undoubtedly a component of high importance. The interface defines the degree of control the user has over the machine. Traditional controller devices include buttons, levers and knobs. These interfaces rely on a tangible form creating an indirect connection resulting in a hypothetical barrier between the user and the machine to be controlled. One way of direct control is by determining the articulation of the human arm through EMG signal acquisition and processing and using these signals in robotic arm control. Different muscles are used to drive the four degrees of freedom of the CRS robot. EMG control is achieved by detecting the electrical impulses generated when the muscles of the upper limb are neurologically activated. Sensor pads are placed on the arm of the user above the optimal detection points for the muscles responsible for the limb's articulation. Electrical potential detected by the pads is then passed through filters and amplifiers to reduce noise and increase the voltage levels high enough to be detected by a PIC microcontroller. A PIC microcontroller converts the Analogue signal to digital bytes and sends the information to a PC via serial port. Instrumentation software, LabVIEW, then sorts the signals and performs calculations to determine the kinematic relation of the muscle force and robotic arm movement. Upon conversion of the muscle force to link values, LabVIEW then sends these values via a second serial port to the A255 controller.