Teleoperation of a Robotic Arm Over 5G

Professor M. Imran’s research group at the University of Glasgow have accomplished the following teleoperation at the Scotland 5G centre Urban testbed.

This video demonstrates a bi-directional, low latency teleoperation of a robotic arm over 5G. In the forward direction, a touch haptic device is used to control the robotic arm, while in the reverse direction, the forces “felt” by the robot are fed back to the user through the haptic device. Haptic feedback is critical in teleoperation as it not only closes the control loop (for accurate manipulation), but also provides information for pressure sensitive tasks executed by the remote robotic arm. In addition to force feedback, a video link over 5G was used to provide synchronized visual feedback to the remote controller for guided teleoperation. The tasks demonstrated in the video are:

1. Remote manipulation of the robotic arm via a haptic device
2. Using the haptic device to write from a remote location
3. Using the haptic device to draw from a remote location.

This successful teleoperation demonstration will support applications across several verticals including, but not limited to, Industry 4.0, healthcare, creative arts, and will be a key enabler for the Internet of Skills paradigm.

Watch the video here: