Modeling and bio-mimetic control for whole-arm dynamic cooperative manipulation

Abstract

This paper studies modeling and bio-mimetic control of a three-dimensional 8-d.o.f. whole-arm cooperative manipulation system using sensitive skin. A sphere is considered here as a manipulated object. The control law is designed based on integration of voluntary movement and reflex considering the system's redundancy. The voluntary task of holding the object safely is realized via multi-point impedance control at the four contact points with the object using the contact force information from the sensitive skin. A reflex is introduced as a regulation problem of the direction between the points of end-effectors and elbows to determine the robot system's posture uniquely and to adapt to external disturbances. The solution of the redundant control is formulated and derived from the optimization point of view for different cases of the output function's dimensions. Further, desired functions for voluntary movement and reflex are adjusted according to the task situations. The validity of the proposed method is investigated by numerical simulations.