Virtual Master Device for Telemanipulation

The article presents a telemanipulation system, in which the operator´s movement is not transmitted to the slave site in a mechanical way by a real master device, but by image processing. The system on the master site uses cameras as sensors, subtracts the background from the images, and recognizes the skin color of the operator in real time. The 3D position of the operator´s hand is determined by stereo vision and it becomes traceable by the color of the skin. This way the virtual master device comes to existence. The virtual master device does not have force-feedback, but it has a much larger freedom in movement than a joystick, its possibilities can be extended. This way in many cases it can be used more effectively than a simple force-feedback joystick