Set point trajectory and internal force control in redundant dual-arm manipulation

A nonlinear decoupling and linearizing feedback control is considered for dynamic coordination of two planar robot arms manipulating an object. A general inverse dynamics-based method is presented that assures an exact feedback linearization for simultaneous control of the object trajectory on the plane and internal efforts transmitted from the robot end-effectors to the object. The method takes the manipulator dynamics and object dynamics into consideration. A method for parameterizing the grip matrix null space is proposed, which has formed a basis for developing a new method for calculating the internal efforts. The procedure is invariant with respect to the change of the torque origin and units of length, and provides the force distribution without internal squeezing effects. A comparison between the approaches known so far and the new method is presented. No previously published method assures noninvariance and nonsqueezing properties for all possible contact configurations. Control algorithms are developed for a system of robotic arms that has more degrees of freedom than necessary for given tasks, exhibiting both actuation and kinematic redundancy. The implementation of this method is demonstrated for the case of a system of two planar three-link arms with the end-effectors manipulating an object, with different constrained task configurations. Practical aspects of discrete-time inverse dynamics control, such as influence of the computational time delay and robustness to model imperfections, are discussed. It is demonstrated that it is possible to achieve high-precision tracking of object position and internal force profiles, even if a system imperfect model is used for controller design. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Nonlinear feedback control of robot manipulator and compliant wrist

Many robotic applications require the direct contact of the end-effector with the environment. Passive compliance attached to the robot wrist, hand, or finger is desirable to produce smooth transitions between the free motion and contact, as well as to allow self-correction in order to accommodate geometric uncertainties in assembly and manufacturing. However, the use of passive compliance degenerates the positioning capability of the manipulator when the robot moves in free space. When the robot makes contact on workpiece, active adjustment of stiffness for various tasks in different directions is needed. We proposed to use passive compliance that is instrumented so that the system provides the necessary flexibility and also sensing to actively control the contact forces or to compensate the positioning error during motion and contact. In this article, the dynamic control of the manipulator with a compliant wrist is addressed. The measured deformation information of the instrumented compliant wrist is utilized in the feedback loop to increase the stiffness of the overall system in position control and to decrease the stiffness in force control. The dynamics model for both unconstrained and constrained cases is established. Applying nonlinear feedback control techniques, the dynamics of the manipulator-wrist system is linearized and decoupled, which allows the controller design to be carried out by using the linear system theory. Editor: J.M. Skowronski     

空间机器人抓捕目标后基于任务相容性的消旋策略

针对双臂空间机器人抓捕自旋目标后的镇定操作,在考虑机器人系统输入约束的条件下,提出了一种基于任务相容性的消旋规划与控制方法。首先,给出空间机器人抓捕目标后的组合系统的动力学模型,作为规划与控制的基础。然后,根据动力学可操作度和任务相容性设计了目标的快速消旋策略,其期望加速度的方向和大小分别取作速度的反方向和机器人系统输入约束允许的最大值。最后,基于所推导的运动学和动力学模型,通过对目标和机械臂末端分别建立柔顺度等式,提出了一种跟踪期望运动轨迹同时对末端接触力进行调节的柔顺控制方法。通过双臂7自由度空间机器人消除目标自旋运动的仿真结果,验证了所提方法的有效性。     

Mathematical modeling of a robot collision with its environment

In this article the collision of a robot with its environment is studied. In normal applications of a robot arm, a collision takes place because of the velocity of the end effector relative to the object at the time of contract. The collision has effects on the velocities and internal forces of the robotic system. Firstly, the generalized velocities representing joint rates have abrupt changes at the moment of collison with the environment. The mathematical model is derived to establish the quantitative relationship between this abrupt change and the severity of the collision. The latter is represented by either an external impulsive force or the instantaneous change of the linear velocity of the contact point. Secondly, internal to the system, large impulsive forces and torques of constraint may develop at each joint because of the collision. These impulses cause possible damages to the system. The mathematical model is also derived to establish a quantitative relation between the impulsive forces and torquest of constraint and the collision. These two models are applied to a Stanford Arm designed to pick up an object by its end effector, and the consequences of the collision are analyzed.     

A noninverting algorithm for path tracking of two cooperating robot arms and its parallel implementation

This paper presents an algorithm for path tracking of two robot arms with end-effectors gripping a common inertial load. The path is generated as a sequence of elementary motions. The most important feature of the present algorithm is that it avoids singularities, because there is no need of using the inverse kinematics. Direction and proximity criteria are introduced. Holonomic constraints are formulated for the position and orientation of the two end-effectors.The application of parallel processing methods to path tracking according to the previous algorithm is presented. The algorithm is implemented in the Alliant FX/80 parallel machine.     

机器人力装配操作的顺应综合与实验验证

本文提出并实现了一种机器人装配顺应综合方法．装配操作过程可以表示为一列离散 的几何接触状态的改变和转移．通过对不确定性下所有机器人形位进行仿真,得到每一接触 形式对应的静态接触力特征．由对基本接触元的分析,求解实现接触状态转移的机器人运动 方向,构成顺应的力 错误修复运动方向映射,为规划的装配运动实现提供顺应．并在PUMA 562机器人上完成了一类简单装配实验对本文的方法进行了验证．     

A compliant end-effector coupling for vertical assembly: design and evaluation

Many manipulation tasks require compliance, i.e. the robot's ability to comply with the environment and accomplish force as well as position control. Examples are constrained motion tasks and tasks associated with touch or feel in fine assembly. Few compliance-related tasks have been automated, and usually by active means of active compliance control: the need for passive compliance offered by the manipulator itself has been recognized and has led to the development of compliant end-effectors and/or wrists. In this paper we present a novel passively compliant coupling, the compliant end-effector coupling (CEEC), which aids automated precision assembly. It serves as a mechanical interface between the end of the robot arm and the end-effector. The coupling has 6 degrees of freedom. The design of the coupling is based on a “lock and free” assembly idea. The coupling is locked and behaves like a stiff member during robot motion, and is free (compliant) during constrained motion. It features an air bearing, a variable stiffness air spring and a center-locking mechanism. The end-effector assembly, being centrally unlocked, will float within the designed compliance limits assisted by the air bearing. These frictionless and constraint-free conditions facilitate a fast correction of any initial lateral and angular misalignments. In a peg insertion assembly, such accommodation is possible provided that the tip of the peg is contained within the chamfer of the hole. A variable stiffness air spring was incorporated in the design to allow variable and passive vertical compliance. This vertical compliance allows the accommodation of angular and vertical errors. The center-locking mechanism will return the end-effector assembly to its initial position upon an error correction. In a robot application program, the CEEC can be locked during rapid motion to securely transport a part or be set free during assembly or disassembly processes when the motions are constrained.     

Updating workpiece geometry using robotic sensor information gathered during contact tasks

During robotic contact tasks, geometric information of the workpiece is used to specify the position of the robot’s hand on the workpiece and the direction of force control. This geometry is idealized in a typical CAD file, but due to manufacturing precision or wear, the actual workpiece geometry is inevitably deviated from the desired geometry. Furthermore, when the workpiece is mounted, position and orientation inaccuracies emerge. In this paper, we investigate two questions: (1) Can the workpiece geometry in the CAD file be used to control a robot in contact with an inaccurately placed workpiece?; and (2) Once the task is performed, how can the robot’s sensor information be used to update the geometry of the workpiece? A methodology is developed to solve robotic control problems with workpiece position and geometry inaccuracies. Once performed, the CAD file image is displaced to fit the sensed trajectory of the robot’s hand. Finally, the workpiece image geometry is modified using a least squares approximation to fit the sensed data more accurately. In the end, the robot performs the contact task while gathering information that is used to update the original CAD file geometry. The methodologies are demonstrated through a simulation experiment that requires a robot to shave a geometrically altered face that is inaccurately positioned.     

Experiments in contact control

This article describes the implementation, experimentation, and application of contact control schemes for a 7-DOF Robotics Research arm. The contact forces and torques are measured in the sensor frame by the 6-axis force/torque sensor mounted at the wrist, are compensated for gravity, and then are transformed to the tool frame in which the contact task is defined and executed. The contact control schemes are implemented on the existing robot Cartesian position control system at 400Hz, do not require force rate information, and are extremely simple and computationally fast. Three types of contact control schemes are presented: compliance control, force control, and dual-mode control. In the compliance control scheme, the contact force is fed back through a lag-plus-feedforward compliance controller so that the end-effector behaves like a spring with adjustable stiffness; thus the contact force can be controlled by the reference position command. In the force control scheme, a force setpoint is used as the command input and a proportional-plus-integral force controller is employed to ensure that the contact force tracks the force setpoint accurately. In the dual-mode control scheme, the end-effector approaches and impacts the reaction surface in compliance mode, and the control scheme is then switched automatically to force mode after the initial contact has been established. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate contact with hard and soft surfaces under the three proposed control schemes. The article is concluded with the application of the proposed schemes to perform a contact-based eddy-current inspection task. In this task, the robot first approaches the inspection surface in compliance control until it feels that it has touched the surface, and then automatically levels the end-effector on the surface. The robot control system then transitions to force control and applies the desired force on the surface while executing a scanning motion. At the completion of the inspection task, the robot first relaxes the applied force and then retracts from the surface. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

机器人碰撞检测方法形式化

为应对更为复杂的任务需求,现代机器人产业发展愈发迅猛.出于协调工作的灵活性、柔顺性以及智能性等多项考虑因素,多臂/多机器人充分发挥了机器人的强大作用,成为现代机器人产业的重要研究热点.在机器人双臂协调运行当中,机械臂之间以及机械臂与外部障碍物之间容易发生碰撞,可能会造成财产损失甚至人员伤亡.对机器人碰撞检测方法进行形式化验证,以球体和胶囊体形式化模型为基础,构建基本几何体单元之间最短距离和机器人碰撞的高阶逻辑模型,证明其相关属性及碰撞条件,建立机器人碰撞检测方法基础定理库,为多机系统碰撞检测算法可靠性与稳定性的验证提供技术支撑和验证框架.     

SCARA based peg-in-hole assembly using compliant IPMC micro gripper

Robotic assembly is difficult as there always exist position errors between two mating parts. Compliance is added in a selective compliant assembly robot arm (SCARA) in the form of a two ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) fingers based micro gripper. This micro gripper is integrated at the end effector position of a SCARA robot. Peg-hole interaction is analytically modeled and based on it the force required to correct the lateral and angular errors by IPMC is calculated. A proportional-derivative (PD) controller is designed to actuate the IPMC to get the desired force for correcting the peg position before assembly. Simulations and experiments were carried out by developing an IPMC micro gripper and using it to analyze various cases of peg in hole assembly. The experimental results prove that adding compliance through IPMC helps in peg-in-hole assembly.     

A practical position-based visual servo design and implementation for automated fault insertion test

This paper presents the design and implementation of a practical visual servo. The visual servo has been designed for pose correction of an end-effector that is placed wrongly away from the test point on a printed circuit board (PCB). It is widely acknowledged that the error could be attributed to the connecting joints of robot arms, angular errors, geometric model, and/or camera projection model. In the automated fault insertion test (AFIT), the typical difficulty encountered by a robot is to servo and place the probe tip accurately on the targeted test point, i.e., the conductive pad on the PCB. Conventionally, touch and sense with a probe tip has been utilized. Upon detection of a failure, the visual servo is triggered and the robot literally looks through a camera and re-attempts with the use of visual information from the camera. Currently, no clearly defined specifications in carrying out feature extraction exist and thereby the test point detection as it is not cost-effective to designate part of PCB footprint as the test point separately from the main design to accommodate visual sensing. As a result, various kinds of test points have been implanted into PCB industrial design. This research work requires building of a custom knowledge base of the test point features to support image recognition. Furthermore, the operational factors in industrial manufacturing, e.g., head structure maintenance, the replacement of end-effectors and the changes of projection parameters caused by hardware adjustment, impact the accuracy of the probe placement. These factors cause the original geometric model to shift from the original configuration and thus errors. This research paper proposes the practical design of a closed-looped visual servo to address the issues of precision error, image feature extraction, and manufacturing factors. Besides, the paper details the findings from the design phase to the implementation phase.     

High Precision Constrained Grasping with Cooperative Adaptive Handcontrol

A method for high precision constrained object manoeuvering for non-redundant rigid multifinger hands is proposed. A passivity-based adaptive cooperative control scheme carries out compensation of all uncertain inertial and dynamic friction forces to guarantee asymptotic tracking of all contact forces and joint position-orientation trajectories over orthogonal force- and position-based impedance error manifolds. Optimal internal and external force trajectories are obtained to minimize the contact forces onto the constrained object while exerting a given desired contact force onto the environment. The simulation study of two robot fingers manipulating a constrained object for combined fast and slow velocity regimes shows that when the dynamic friction compensation is turned on tracking errors decrease tenfold.     

基于多信息算法融合的电子元件精准装配研究

机器人是现代化工业制造与生产的重要装备之一。随着市场需求向小批量、多品种和柔性化方向快速发展,基于多信息融合的机器人协作系统将为高端精密制造产业赋能。该研究着眼于精密电子元件装配领域,聚焦手眼系统的精准对位和精密插装技术,通过建立待插元件与非均质薄板的接触状态模型,分析其双重位移融合的力位运动特性,并结合视觉检测与跟踪技术,提出一种融合视觉、力觉和编码器信息的复合型控制算法。基于电子元件装配平台,该研究进行了元件插装对比实验和信息融合算法的装配实验,结果表明,对齐阶段的定位精度在 0.185 pixels 以内,装配阶段的接触状态判定和调节算法保障了元件与插槽的安全有效装配。     

Design and Control of 6-DOF Mechanism for Twin-Frame Mobile Robot

A new lightweight six-legged robot that uses a simple mechanism and can move and work with high efficiency has been developed. This robot consists of two leg-bases with three legs each, and walks by moving each leg-base alternately. These leg-bases are connected to each other with a 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) mechanism. While designing this robot, the output force, velocity, and workspace of various connection mechanisms were compared, and the results showed that good performance could be achieved with a serial/parallel hybrid mechanism. The serial/parallel hybrid mechanism consists of three 6-DOF serially linked arms positioned with radial symmetry about the center of each leg-base; each leg-base is composed of two active and four passive joints. Walking experiments with this robot confirmed that this mechanism has satisfactory performance not only as a walking robot, but also as an active walking platform. Furthermore, in this robot, the entire leg-drive mechanism acts as a 6-axis force sensor, and individual sensors at the feet are not necessary. The forces and moments can be calculated from the changes in the joint angles. Experiments conducted verified that smooth contact with the ground by the swing-leg and successful switching from swing to support leg can be achieved using this force control and force measurement method.     

Exoskeletal Force-Sensing End-Effectors With Embedded Optical Fiber-Bragg-Grating Sensors

Force sensing is an essential requirement for dexterous robot manipulation. We describe composite robot end-effectors that incorporate optical fibers for accurate force sensing and estimation of contact locations. The design is inspired by the sensors in arthropod exoskeletons that allow them to detect contacts and loads on their limbs. In this paper, we present a fabrication process that allows us to create hollow multimaterial structures with embedded fibers and the results of experiments to characterize the sensors and controlling contact forces in a system involving an industrial robot and a two-fingered dexterous hand. We also briefly describe the optical-interrogation method used to measure multiple sensors along a single fiber at kilohertz rates for closed-loop force control.      

Fault detection on robot manipulators using artificial neural networks

Nowadays, gas welding applications on vehicle’s parts with robot manipulators have increased in automobile industry. Therefore, the speed of end-effectors of robot manipulator is affected on each joint during the welding process with complex trajectory. For that reason, it is necessary to analyze the noise and vibration of robot’s joints for predicting faults. This paper presents an experimental investigation on a robot manipulator, using neural network for analyzing the vibration condition on joints. Firstly, robot manipulator’s joints are tested with prescribed of trajectory end-effectors for the different joints speeds. Furthermore, noise and vibration of each joint are measured. And then, the related parameters are tested with neural network predictor to predict servicing period. In order to find robust and adaptive neural network structure, two types of neural predictors are employed in this investigation. The results of two approaches improved that an RBNN type can be employed to predict the vibrations on industrial robots.     

Reasoning about nature of contact for planning manipulators tasks

Extracting information about contact between two convex bodies from the measured force vector is a prerequisite for any fine compliant motion control strategy. Contact information contains the direction and orientation of the contact surface normal and its relative location and orientation with respect to the compliant reference frame system.A method for interpreting the contact force feedback during compliant robot motion control, using kinematic screws, is presented. Domain specific rules combined with partial a priori knowledge of mating parts geometry and interpreted force signals are used to reason and make inferences about the initial contact configuration. The likely contact surfaces are predicted and point(s) or line(s) of contact are fully defined. These surfaces are idealized and represented by quadratic equations or polyhedral surfaces. The geometric properties of surfaces at the contact location are used to select the contact configuration when multiple solutions exist.An algorithm for predicting the Expected Contact Configuration (ECC) has been developed and is illustrated here with examples. Experimental validation of the developed expert system prototype, using a 6R manipulator, a six-axis force sensor, and a host computer is described.     

六轴工业机器人先验引导RRT*避障轨迹算法研究

针对六轴工业机器人装配避障路径运动问题,研究了机器人整体避障运动路径规划方法,提出一种RRT*改进算法;算法以RRT*算法为基础,在障碍物建模中引入包围盒算法,加入对机器人各轴与障碍物的碰撞检测;在路径规划中加入对随机点生成方向与树枝生长方向的先验引导机制,优化了算法路径长度与路径搜寻效率;通过Matlab进行了试验验证,结果表明与标准RRT*算法相比,先验引导RRT*算法缩短路径长度14%左右,且满足机器人末端路径与手臂各轴的避障需求。     

Guaranteeing prescribed performance and contact maintenance via an approximation free robot force/position controller

In this paper, we consider the problem of force/position tracking for a robot with revolute joints in compliant contact with a kinematically known planar surface. A novel controller is designed capable of guaranteeing, for an a priori known nonsingular initial robot condition, (i) certain predefined minimum speed of response, maximum steady state error as well as overshoot concerning the force/position tracking errors, (ii) contact maintenance and (iii) bounded closed loop signals. No information regarding either the robot dynamic model or the force deformation model is required and no approximation structures are utilized to estimate them. As the tracking performance is a priori guaranteed irrespectively of the control gains selection, the only concern is to adopt those values that lead to reasonable input torques. Finally, a comparative simulation study on a 6-DOF robot illustrates the performance of the proposed controller.