IRMI (Intuitive Remote Manipulation Interface)

IRMI makes use of the Leap Motion to transmit precise hand movements to remote areas for humanoid robot applications.

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Inspiration

With IRMI (Intuitive Remote Manipulation Interface), we aim to:

  • Remove humans from life-threatening situations
  • Give humans access to otherwise inaccessible areas

What it does

Allows users to transmit precise hand movement data to remote locations through the use of:

  • The Leap Motion
  • Long-range data transmission
  • JSON data parsing
  • A dexterous robotic hand

How we built it

Since we were unable to obtain a robotic hand, we built a simulation in Unity to model a potential use for our product. We chose a bomb defusal because we observed the following issues with current bomb defusal techniques:

  • Limited range of motion in robots
  • Non-intuitive control structure We were able to improve on these limitations with IRMI by adding:
  • Precise movements
  • A natural and intuitive interface
  • Distance between diffuser and bomb

Challenges we ran into

We ran into some issues with networking. Although C# offers a built in library for TCP/UDP, we had trouble serializing/deserializing the data. We were unable to get this to work, due to lack of integration of deserialization in Unity. There was also no Unix support for Unity/Leap Motion.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • The unity interface and blender models function well and look good.
  • Seamless integration of Leap Motion and Unity over USB

What we learned

  • Leap Motion custom gesture recognition
  • Basic network data transfer

What's next for IRMI (Intuitive Remote Manipulation Interface)

There are several future applications of IRMI: Military

  • Bomb defusal
  • Training simulation

Medicine

  • Long-range surgery
  • Microscale surgery

Space Operations

  • Space station repairs
  • Scientific analysis

Remote Earth Operations

  • Hazmat
  • Volcanic analysis
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