Human-machine interface for a master-slave hydraulic manipulator with vision enhancement and auditory feedback

This paper proposes a novel human-machine interface (HMI) for addressing the operational inefficiency problem owing to the asymmetrical workspace mapping in master-slave hydraulic manipulators. An augmented reality-based head-mounted display system combining binocular vision with real-time virtual modeling was designed for demonstrating the commanded motion, and a hidden-appearance visualization rule was established for reducing visual interference, caused by the occlusion effect. An auditory feedback interface was designed for providing an additional cue for the master-slave position error. Eighteen participants were required for executing two typical tasks for validation. The test results indicated that the task completion time was reduced using the proposed HMI, and the number of collisions with surrounding items was reduced. Although the subjective feeling evaluation showed no statistical improvement owing to the visual fatigue and limited definition of the augmented reality scene, the proposed HMI is a practical method for improving the operational efficiency of hydraulic manipulators. • A human-machine interface is proposed for a master-slave hydraulic manipulator. • It consists of a vision enhancement system and an auditory feedback interface. • A hidden-appearance visualization rule is designed to show the master's motion. • Auditory feedback is to give an additional cue of the master-slave position error. • The effectiveness is proven to improve the operational efficiency and safety level.