Robot trajectory modification using human-robot force interaction

Abstract

This paper presents a method to teach a humanoid robot arm a new trajectory by using human-robot shared control. The robot trajectory is first taught by using the technique of programming by demonstration (PbD). If the environment changes for the learned trajectory, a user can intervene and modify the trajectory by using the proposed control method. We propose a method to modify part of the trajectory based on shared control to resolve this problem. During task execution, the user applies force to guide the robot arm and modify the trajectory in collaboration with the robot. Through shared control, control weights are adjusted respectively for human teaching and the robot automation. Practical experiments have been carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.