Design and Development Part 2 of
Dexto:Eka: - The Humanoid Robot
Sulabh Kumra
Department of Electronics and
Instrumentation Engineering
ITM University
Gurgaon, India
Mayumi Mohan
Department of Computer Science
Engineering and IT
ITM University
Gurgaon, India
Sumit Gupta and Himanshu Vaswani
Department of Electronics and
Communication Engineering
ITM University
Gurgaon, India
Abstract- Through this paper, we elucidate the second phase of
the design and development of the tele-operated humanoid robot
Dexto:Eka:. Phase one comprised of the development of a 6 DoF
left anthropomorphic arm and left exo-frame. Here, we illustrate
the development of the right arm, right exo-frame, torso,
backbone, human machine interface and omni-directional
locomotion system. Dexto:Eka: will be able to communicate with
a remote user through Wi-Fi. An exo-frame capacitates it to
emulate human arms and its locomotion is controlled by joystick.
A Graphical User Interface monitors and helps in controlling the
system.
Keywords- teleoperation, humanoid, robot control, human machine
interface, anthropomorphic
I. INTRODUCTION
In the never-ending quest for mechanization, automation
and cybernation, the field of robotics claim precedence over
others amalgamating all three factors with impeccability.
Robots have played an integral role in assisting human beings
in every sphere of life. The allure of today lies in humanoid
robots and their anthropomorphic capabilities. Perhaps within
the span of a decade or two, a humanoid robot can be expected
to become a part of every household, aiding in daily chores.
Not only at home but also in offices, factories, hospitals etc.,
these robots can easily integrate themselves into society.
Through the means of this paper, we present the second
phase of the design and development of ‘Dexto:Eka: - The
Humanoid Robot’. The robot at its present stage of
development can be seen in Fig. 1. Our main objective is to
achieve tele-presence. Dexto:Eka: is capable of omni-
directional movement and has arms of 6 degrees of freedom
each [1]. This enables the robot to navigate compact spaces
and irregular environments. The first phase saw the
development of an anthropomorphic robotic arm of six
degrees of freedom. Second phase involved the development
of the torso and chassis of the robot along with an easy to use
human machine interface and right robotic arm.
A robot such as this has diverse applications, from
traversing uncharted terrain to bomb detection and diffusion,
this nifty robot promotes safety and simplicity [2]. They can
play an integral role in inter-planetary missions where they
would be used for explorations or in preparing a landing site
for subsequent operations. In high radiation zones and nuclear
power plants these resourceful beings can work in conditions
unsuitable to humans.
Fig. 1 Dexto:Eka:
II. RELATED WORK
Robots that can co-exist with humans and perform
variegated tasks have been a source of intrigue for several
research groups worldwide. Some notable robots like ASIMO
[3], iCub [4], WABIAN-2 [5] and its successor SABIAN [6]
have truly changed the universe of humanoid robots. But a
major setback in most of the humanoids developed today is
the extremely high cost in production. This challenge needs to
be overcome if the dream of “one robot per home” is to be met.
Thus at every stage of design, we aimed to identify the most
versatile components that can be purchased at very low costs.
When developing the human machine interface and
robotic arm, an optimised design which provided enough
freedom of movement had to be chosen. The exoskeleton
presented by Joel C. Perry [7] presents an interesting option
for the choice of DOFs. Hence, we opted for 6 of the most
common movements made by the human arm.
A biped robot was an intriguing design option but as
highlighted by Mike Stilman[8], bipeds may develop safety
and stability issues. Hence a quest for an ideal locomotion
system which can move in every possible direction ended in
the choice of the Omni-directional mecanum wheel drive.
Another trying task would be to choose the ideal
controller to that can handle the entire system. The tele-
operated humanoid presented in [9] uses the Arduino Fio
867 978-1-4673-5560-5/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE
Proceedings of 2013 IEEE
International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation
August 4 - 7, Takamatsu, Japan