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KUKAloha: A General, Low-Cost, and Shared-Control based Teleoperation Framework for Construction Robot Arm

Yifan Xu, Qizhang Shen, Vineet Kamat, Carol Menassa

Abstract

This paper presents KUKAloha, a general, low-cost, and shared-control teleoperation framework designed for construction robot arms. The proposed system employs a leader-follower paradigm in which a lightweight leading arm enables intuitive human guidance for coarse robot motion, while an autonomous perception module based on AprilTag detection performs precise alignment and grasp execution. By explicitly decoupling human control from fine manipulation, KUKAloha improves safety and repeatability when operating large-scale manipulators. We implement the framework on a KUKA robot arm and conduct a usability study with representative construction manipulation tasks. Experimental results demonstrate that KUKAloha reduces operator workload, improves task completion efficiency, and provides a practical solution for scalable demonstration collection and shared human-robot control in construction environments.

KUKAloha: A General, Low-Cost, and Shared-Control based Teleoperation Framework for Construction Robot Arm

Abstract

This paper presents KUKAloha, a general, low-cost, and shared-control teleoperation framework designed for construction robot arms. The proposed system employs a leader-follower paradigm in which a lightweight leading arm enables intuitive human guidance for coarse robot motion, while an autonomous perception module based on AprilTag detection performs precise alignment and grasp execution. By explicitly decoupling human control from fine manipulation, KUKAloha improves safety and repeatability when operating large-scale manipulators. We implement the framework on a KUKA robot arm and conduct a usability study with representative construction manipulation tasks. Experimental results demonstrate that KUKAloha reduces operator workload, improves task completion efficiency, and provides a practical solution for scalable demonstration collection and shared human-robot control in construction environments.
Paper Structure (29 sections, 16 equations, 4 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 29 sections, 16 equations, 4 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Teach Pendant Teleoperation
  4. 3D Mouse and Motion-Based Input Devices
  5. VR/AR-Based Teleoperation
  6. Research Gap
  7. Methodology
  8. Stage I: Leader–Follower Teleoperation Using a Leading Arm
  9. Mechanical Design of the Leader Arm
  10. Joint-Space Mapping and Motion Planning
  11. Gravity Compensation on the Leader Arm
  12. Friction Compensation
  13. Joint Difference and Limit Compensation
  14. Trigger-Based Gripper Control
  15. Overall Leader Arm Torque Command
  16. ...and 14 more sections

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: The current ways of teleoperation of construction robot
  • Figure 2: KUKAloha system overview
  • Figure 3: Custom 7-DoF leader arm used as the teleoperation interface. The tabletop device is approximately $1\!:\!7$ scale relative to the KUKA follower manipulator and is operated kinesthetically by the user via the contoured handle at the distal link.
  • Figure 4: Experiment Setup