Control of Robot Interaction Forces Using Evolutionary Techniques

Abstract

For a robot manipulator to interact safely and human-friendly in unknown environments, it is necessary to include an interaction control method that reliably adapts the forces exerted on the environment in order to avoid damages both in the environment and in the manipulator itself. A force control method, or strictly speaking, a direct force control method, can be used on those applications where the maximum or the desired force to exert is known beforehand. In some industrial applications the objects to handle or work with are completely known as well as the precise moment on which these contacts are going to happen.In a more general scenario, such as one outside a well-defined robotic workcell or when an industrial robot in used in cooperation with a human, neither the objects nor the time when a contact is ocurring are known.