Robot control based on motor primitives: A comparison of two approaches

Motor primitives are fundamental building blocks of a controller which enable dynamic robot behavior with minimal high-level intervention. By treating motor primitives as basic “modules,” different modules can be sequenced or superimposed to generate a rich repertoire of motor behavior. In robotics, two distinct approaches have been proposed: Dynamic Movement Primitives (DMPs) and Elementary Dynamic Actions (EDAs). While both approaches instantiate similar ideas, significant differences also exist. This paper attempts to clarify the distinction and provide a unifying view by delineating the similarities and differences between DMPs and EDAs. We provide nine robot control examples, including sequencing or superimposing movements, managing kinematic redundancy and singularity, control of both position and orientation of the robot’s end-effector, obstacle avoidance, and managing physical interaction. We show that the two approaches clearly diverge in their implementation. We also provide a real-robot demonstration to show how DMPs and EDAs can be combined to get the best of both approaches. With this detailed comparison, we enable researchers to make informed decisions to select the most suitable approach for specific robot tasks and applications.