Force tracking impedance control with moving target

Force control can help a robot to deal with unexpected events and uncertainty in applications such as flexible manufacturing. For example, motion of a workpiece can be handled by tracking the moving object with a manipulator. In this paper, we present a position-based force control scheme for tracking a moving target with the robotic manipulator using force feedback. Stability and convergence of the proposed control scheme are analyzed for a stable force tracking execution. Simulation studies are shown to demonstrate the robustness of the proposed scheme under unknown environment stiffness and variable environment position. The experimental results support the claim that the approach could be successfully applied to track a moving target with a constant force.