Development and Evaluation of a Control Architecture for Human-Collaborative Robotic Manipulator in Industrial Application

Research in the field of robotics and industries is heavily investing in human-robot interaction. Collaborative robots aim to bridge the gap and bring humans and robots closer together in industrial settings by taking down physical barriers and sharing workspaces. This paper describes an integrated system architecture for modeling and controlling robots for human-collaborative behavior, while employing safety assurance mechanisms. This is performed by integrating motion tracking and compliance algorithms implemented using linear Proportional-Integral (PI) and Admittance controllers, respectively. The controllers are applied on the robot’s kinematic and dynamic models, alongside with force/torque and proximity sensors. The developed architecture is verified through a series of simulations applied using MATLAB/Simulink environment and Simscape Multibody visualization method.