1. 1 Introduction
Mere position control is not suffice is contact is made between end-effector and environment.
So introduce hybrid position/force controller to solve the problem. This method is one formalism through which industrial robots might someday be controlled in order to perform tasks requiring force control.
2. 2 Application of Robots to Assembly Tasks
Spot welding
Spray painting
Pick and place operations
Future: assembly-line tasks, force is extremely important.
Currently, the dexterity of manipulators remains quite low and limit their appplication in the automated assembly area.
If we can measure and control contact forces generated at the hand, we can imporove the performance without using bigger, heavier, and more expensive manipulator.
3. Basic Idea
Every manipulation task can be broken down into subtasks that are defined by a particular contact situation occurring between the manipulator end-effector (or tool) and the work environment.
With each subtask, we can associate a set of constrains
- mechanical
- geometric