Control of redundant robot arms for human-robot interaction

The new generation of robots should be intrinsically able to share the operating environment with humans. Physical interaction often occurs, which may happen at any part of the manipulator's body. The contact can be intentional (i.e., required for collaborative tasks) or accidental (i.e., unexpected collisions). Suitable control strategies must be adopted to guarantee a safe robot reaction to physical interaction, which may require measuring or estimating exchanged forces and moments. A dynamic controller is designed to accomplish the task without needing exteroceptive sensor information. A rigorous stability analysis is provided to confirm the developed theory.

Proposed solutions:

• F. Vigoriti, F. RUGGIERO, V. Lippiello, L. Villani, Control of redundant robot arms with null-space compliance and singularity-free orientation representation, in Robotics and Autonomous Systems, vol. 100, pp. 186-193, 2018, DOI: 10.1016/j.robot.2017.11.007.
• F. Vigoriti, F. RUGGIERO, V. Lippiello, L. Villani, Tracking control of redundant manipulators with singularity-free orientation representation and null-space compliant behaviour, in Human Friendly Robotics. 10th International Workshop, Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics, F. Ficuciello, F. Ruggiero, A. Finzi (eds), vol. 7, pp. 15-28, Springer, Cham, 2019. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-89327-3_2.
• J. Cacace, F. RUGGIERO, V. Lippiello, Hierarchical task-priority control for human-robot co-manipulation, in Human Friendly Robotics. 12th International Workshop, Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics, F. Ferraguti et al. (eds.), vol. 12, pp. 125-138, Springer, Cham, 2020. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-42026-0_10.