Robotics
Force control
ActivePublished
Key
innovation
Making contact force the regulated quantity, enabling compliant and safe interaction with the environment.
Category
Robotics
Abstraction level
Paradigm
Operation level
Robot control
How it works
The robot measures or estimates force/torque (a force sensor or motor current in compliant drives) and adjusts control to reach a desired force or a desired force-displacement relationship (impedance). In hybrid control, some directions are regulated by position and others by force, depending on task constraints.
Problem solved
Pure position control assumes rigidly following a trajectory; in contact with the environment, small position errors produce huge forces, risking damage to the object, robot or human.