Design Guide of Master Arms Considering Operator Dynamics

In this paper, a design guide of master arms for teleoperation is discussed. The quality of the master arm design has a considerable influence on the maneuverability of master-slave systems. A quantitative measure of the manipulative ability of master arms is proposed, and is obtained by extending the concept of the dynamic manipulability. It is pointed out that the directional property of the manipulability ellipsoid in the work space is an important factor. A second quantitative measure is proposed which evaluates the similarity of the manipulability ellipsoids produced by two situations—when the operator maneuvers the master arm and when he has no payload. Numerical examples and several guidelines for master arm design are shown.