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No description available.

Robotic haptics has been and continues to be an area of intense research, primarily in medical and exploration industries. This is due to an ability to provide high data throughput between human and machine. In medical applications, it is possible to detect and compensate errors such as a hand tremor in a surgeon. It is possible to apply scaling factors to assist in microsurgery situations, and can allow leading experts to perform procedures from anywhere on the globe. As part of a collaboration to develop a robotic method of femur fracture realignment between Auckland University, Auckland District Health Board, and Massey University, the project seeks to provide a haptic driven HMI for the realignment system. To reduce construction required, an existing manipulation arm (Mitsubishi RV-M1) is used as the hardware interface device. A new motor controller is designed to provide additional functionality as the standard controller provides no force control or real-time feedback of position. A software interface is developed (using version 3 of the C# programming language, developed by Microsoft, and version 3.5 of the Microsoft .NET Framework) with the ultimate specification of becoming being the primary interface platform for the realignment system. The interface has been implemented to the point of providing a simulated environment for the haptic device. It was found that the configuration of the RV-M1 provides a tight area of high dexterity as a haptic device, and as such, similar kinematic configurations are poor candidates for practical implementation. The implication of which, is that a new manipulator should be designed which grants a larger volume of high dexterity space.

Modern Rapid Prototyping (RP) technology has been available for more than a decade and has aided in shortening product development times and costs in the manufacturing sector. Stereolithography (SL), the most mature of RP technology, has primarily been used to build small to medium sized parts although there are largescale applications i.e. the automotive industry that uses “mammoth SLA”. Recent developments in SL have been aimed at increasing the speed of the additive process of most SL apparatus (SLA). Developments include the chemistry of photopolymer resins, integral-curing processes as opposed to vector-by-vector processes, and what is now called microstereolithography. Integral curing has been made possible by the advent of dynamic masking generators such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and digital micromirror devices (DMDs). Much of the theory for this new layering process has been applied to the micro-scale and awaits application for medium to large sized parts. The Limaye Model was applied to a microstereolithography apparatus (µSLA) and used as a process planning method for curing dimensionally accurate micro parts. Examination of the results of this mathematical model shows an irradiance map simulating the irradiances on the resin surface. The light is expected to attenuate from the central axis according to a measured irradiance curve. Improvements can be made to the Limaye Model to make it applicable for the process planning of medium to large parts. It is the aim of this research to present an improved mathematical model of the Limaye Model, so that a given irradiance map will produce an evenly distributed irradiance and account for errors in the optical imaging system. It is hoped that the field of exposure of 200mm x 270mm or larger will be achieved.

This thesis describes a system which is able to track and imitate human motion. The system is divided into two major parts: computer vision system and robot arm motion control system. Through the use of two real-time video cameras, computer vision system identifies the moving object depending on the colour features, as the object colour is matched within the colour range in the current image frame, a method that employs two vectors is used to calculate the coordinates of the object. After the object is detected and tracked coordinates are saved to a pre-establish database in the purpose of further data processing, a mathematical algorithm is performed to the data in order to give a better robotic motion control. Robot arm manipulator responds with a move within its workspace which corresponds to a consequential human-type motion. Experimental outcomes have shown that the system is reliable and can successfully imitate a human hand motion in most cases.