Safe Adaptive Trajectory Tracking Control of Robot for Human-Robot Interaction Using Barrier Function Transformation

In this chapter, safety methods in human-robot (HR) interaction/collaboration are presented. Ensuring the safety of humans, objects, or even the robot itself in the robot’s operating environment is one of the crucial aspects of collaborative robotics. Since there are limited ways of controlling the behavior of humans, e.g., by placing physical barriers, shaping the behavior of the robot is a feasible option. The chapter discusses current methods of placing barriers for human safety in an industrial setting and novel methods of placing virtual barriers by designing robot controllers using barrier transformation. The concepts of barrier functions (BFs), control barrier functions (CBFs), and barrier transformations are reviewed. The barrier transformation concept is used to design an adaptive trajectory tracking controller for the robot such that the robot does not cross the virtual barriers. The designed controller is tested in simulations. Future directions of safety technology in human-robot collaboration are presented.