ABSTRACT

Robotic arms are widely used for industrial robotics and automation. The robotic arm
exactly mimic the motions of the human arm. Human-robot controlled interfaces provides
services to people with special needs such as elderly, people with impairments or people with
disabilities. This project aims at developing a movable robotic arm that is controlled by the
EMG signals taken from the muscles of the upper limb. Using these EMG signals, the interface
between user and the robotic arm can be controlled. The system consists of arm control part
and an accelerometer controlled car that bears the arm. The operator can control the arm
motions using the arm control part. The microcontroller is used to generate signals to control
the mechanical arm based on the EMG input signals. The accelerometer controlled car is used
for the movement of the arm so that the arm can pick up and manipulate objects at a distance.
The arm motions of the operator can be estimated with a high degree of accuracy using the EMG
signals and the manipulator can be controlled smoothly. Parametric sensors like temperature
and gaseous sensors are additionally added to the circuit. An LCD display is also added so as
to display the recorded values from the temperature and gaseous sensors. The arm can be used
for multiple tasks such as bomb diffusion, aid for needy people, surgical purposes etc.





The presented work is based on the faithful extraction of EMG signals from human
body. The EMG signal acquired is maintained under the range of 0 to 5 volts and can be accessible
by any ADC unit. The digital data obtained after conversion is utilized to read by
microcontroller unit. The data received from the microcontroller port is further tested on various
class of motors like stepper motors, servo motors and DC motors resulting in a mechanical
model which is designed to organize the robotic arms versatility with respect to number of position
and rotation in various applications. The threshold selection is a careful task and depends
upon the end application. The thresholds given above are general one and may not suit to every
application. But a model may be developed for any particular application like typing, lifting
parts or any repetitive tasks. The scope of the design can further be advanced in the area of arm
prosthesis, rehabilitation engineering, diagnosis in the medical and sports science.

The use of bio-signals is of very high significance in human computer interaction or human
machine interaction. EMG itself has a wide range of possible applications. The possible
projects that can be extended from our project are given below:
• Hand-written character recognition - Hand-written characters can be recognized using
EMG signals obtained from the forearm of the writer.