Augmented Reality-Assisted Reconfiguration and Workspace Visualization of Malleable Robots: Workspace Modification Through Holographic Guidance

Malleable robots are a type of reconfigurable serial robot capable adapting their topology, through the use variable stiffness malleable links, to desired tasks and workspaces by varying relative positioning between revolute joints. However, reconfiguration is nontrivial, lacking intuitive communication human robot, method efficiently aligning end effector position. In this article, we present design an interactive augmented reality (AR) alignment interface, which helps understand user’s task requirements, visualizes user requested robot’s configuration its workspace, guides in reconfiguring achieve that configuration. Through motion tracking physical two degree-of-freedom (2 DoF) can infinite number workspaces, compute accuracy system terms initial calibration overall accuracy, demonstrate viability. The results demonstrated good performance, with average repositioning 9.64 ± 2.06 mm base 10.54 4.32 environment size 2,000 × 1,200 mm.