KARES: Intelligent wheelchair-mounted robotic arm system using vision and force sensor

KARES, an acronym of KAIST Rehabilitation Engineering System, is the intelligent rehabilitation system with a 6 DOF robotic arm mounted on the powered wheelchair. It is developed to assist the disabled and the elderly for the independent activities. Human-machine interaction is a key issue of design for intelligent systems such as KARES. A special attention is paid in bestowing certain degree of autonomy to the robotic sub-system since the direct control of the robotic arm takes a high cognitive load on the user part while physically disabled persons may have difficulties in dexterously operating a joystick or push buttons for delicate movements. To perceive environment, one color vision sensor and one force/torque sensor are mounted on the end-effector of the robotic arm of KARES. To test the system, four basic tasks are defined as picking up a cup on the table, picking up a pen on the floor, moving an object to the user's face, and operating a switch on the wall. These tasks are performed autonomously in a semi-structured environment.