Title: Wireless manual control for human adaptive mechatronics

Authors: Kalevi Tervo, Maurizio Bocca, Lasse M. Eriksson, Aino Manninen

Addresses: Aalto University School of Science and Technology, Department of Automation and Systems Technology, P.O. Box 15500, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland. ' Aalto University School of Science and Technology, Department of Automation and Systems Technology, P.O. Box 15500, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland. ' Aalto University School of Science and Technology, Department of Automation and Systems Technology, P.O. Box 15500, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland. ' Aalto University School of Science and Technology, Department of Automation and Systems Technology, P.O. Box 15500, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland

Abstract: This paper describes the implementation of a generic wireless joystick control for human adaptive mechatronics applications. The proposed implementation uses state-of-the-art wireless sensor node technology and it is easily installed and modified for the needs of different applications. The inherent drawbacks arising from the use of wireless communications, namely packet losses in the controller-to-actuator link, are tackled by introducing a novel compensation method that contributes to the stability and performance of the manually controlled system. The compensation consists of a human controller identification procedure and PIDPLUS-type of algorithm for decreasing the control effort during packet losses. Furthermore, the issues related to signal noise reduction and filtering at the joystick end are addressed as we propose and embed an advanced filtering scheme in the wireless joystick. The joystick control is tested in two laboratory processes and the proposed compensation algorithm is implemented and tested in a trolley crane simulator. The results will serve as a basis for developing human adaptive mechatronics (HAM) methods for human operated machines with wireless communications.

Keywords: human adaptive mechatronics; HAM; wireless control; manual control; packet loss; networked control systems; variable time delay; jitter margin; joystick control; wireless sensor nodes; wireless joysticks; wireless communications; trolley cranes; simulation; compensation algorithm.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAMECHS.2010.033611

International Journal of Advanced Mechatronic Systems, 2010 Vol.2 No.4, pp.254 - 270

Published online: 08 Jun 2010 *

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