DexCap Teleoperation

Use DexCap gloves for dexterous hand teleoperation.

Internal Access Required

DexCap components require access to private repositories. Contact your team lead for access.

Overview

DexCap teleoperation enables:

  • High-fidelity hand tracking via glove sensors

  • Finger joint mapping to robot hands

  • Combined arm + hand teleoperation

Components

The DexCap system consists of:

Component

Repository

Purpose

dexcap-ros2-control

Private

DexCap V4 driver

dexcap_teleop_ws

Private

Deployment workspace

teleop-joint-mapper

Private

DexCap to robot mapping

Setup

1. Clone Workspace

git clone <internal>/dexcap_teleop_ws.git
cd dexcap_teleop_ws

2. Initialize Environment

Follow that private workspace’s README for its init / setup scripts.

3. Initialize Connection

First connection should disable commands for safety:

ros2 launch dexcap_ros2_control driver.launch.py publish_command:=false

Launch Order

Important

Launch components in this order:

  1. Robot control stack (arm + hand)

  2. DexCap driver

  3. Teleop joint mapper

Launch order, package names, and topics: the private README.

Topics

Topic

Type

Description

/dexcap/joint_states

JointState

Raw glove joint angles

/dexcap/hand_pose

PoseStamped

Hand position/orientation

/teleop/target_hand_joints

JointState

Mapped robot hand targets

Joint Mapping

The mapper translates DexCap joint angles to robot-specific joints:

# Example mapping config
mapping:
  dexcap_thumb_mcp: robot_thumb_base
  dexcap_thumb_pip: robot_thumb_proximal
  dexcap_index_mcp: robot_index_base
  # ...

Safety

Calibration Required

Before each session:

  1. Calibrate gloves in neutral position

  2. Verify joint limits are enforced

  3. Test with mock hardware first

Verification

  1. DexCap driver shows connected status

  2. /dexcap/joint_states publishes hand joint angles

  3. Robot hand follows glove motion

  4. Arm follows hand position (if arm teleop enabled)

Troubleshooting

Driver fails to connect

  • Check USB/Bluetooth connection

  • Verify firmware is deployed

  • Check device permissions

Hand motion reversed

  • Check left/right hand configuration

  • Verify joint mapping signs

Latency issues

  • Use wired connection

  • Reduce update rate

  • Check for dropped packets