A simple and efficient control algorithm that combines several sensors in order to realize the positioning task of a robot end effector is presented in this paper. The multiple-sensor control was designed as a part of the task function approach. A particular choice of the task function allows the researcher to simplify the design of the control law and the stability analysis. This global controller is based on the weighted sum of individual task functions. The approach was applied to the control with vision and force sensors. In spite of its simplicity, this approach provides satisfactory experimental results. Improvements in the positioning of cumbersome objects were obtained using cameras observing different parts of a scene. Moreover, peg-in-hole insertion experiments involving large initial errors were performed using a seven-axis robot manipulator without any computation of the peg trajectory by combining vision and force sensors.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Agapakis, J. E. 1990. Approaches for recognition and interpretation of workpiece surface using structured lighting . International Journal of Robotics Research9(5): 3–16 .
2.
Allen, P., Timcenko, A., Yoshimi, B., and Michelman, P. 1993. Hand-eye coordination for robotic tracking and grasping. In World Scientific Series in Robotics and Automated Systems, Vol. 7, Visual Servoing, ed. K. Hashimoto, 33–69. Singapore: World Scientific Press .
3.
Caccavale, F., Natale, C., Siciliano, B., and Villani, L. 1999. 6-dof impedance control based on angle/axis representation . IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation15: 289–300 .
4.
Cipolla, R., and Hollinghurst, N. 1997. Visually guided grasping in unstructured environment . Robotics and Autonomous Systems19: 337–346 .
5.
Eppinger, S. D., and Seering, W. P. 1989. Three dynamic problems in robot force control . IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Scottsdale, AZ, pp. 392–397 .
6.
Espiau, B. 1993. Effect of camera calibration errors on visual servoing in robotics . 3rd International Symposium on Experimental Robotics, Kyoto, Japan.
7.
Espiau, B., Chaumette, F., and Rives, P. 1992. A new approach to visual servoing in robotics . IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation8: 313–326 .
8.
Espiau, B., Merlet, J. P., and Samson, C. 1990. Force-feedback control and non-contact sensing: A unified approach . Proceedings of the 8th CISM-IFTOMM Symposium on Theory and Practice of Robots and Manipulators.
9.
Hager, G. 1997. A modular system for robust positioning using feedback from stereo vision . IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation13: 582–595 .
10.
Heinrichs, B., Sepehri, N., and Thornton-Trump, A. 1996. Position-based impedance control of an industrial hydraulic manipulator . IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 1, Minneapolis, MN, pp. 284–290 .
11.
Hosoda, K., Igarashi, K., and Asada, M. 1996. Adaptive hybrid visual servoing/force control in unknown environment . IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Osaka, Japan, pp. 1097–1103 .
12.
Hutchinson, S., Hager, G. D., and Corke, P. I. 1996. A tutorial on visual servo control . IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation12: 651–670 .
13.
Khatib, O. 1987. A unified approach for motion and force control: The operational space formulation . IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation3(3): 43–53 .
14.
Lawrence, D. 1988. Impedance control stability properties in common implementations . IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Philadelphia, pp. 1185–1192 .
15.
Malis, E. 1998. Contributions à la modélisation et à la commande en asservissement visuel. Ph.D. thesis, Université de Rennes I, Institut de Recherche en Informatique et Systèmes Aléatoires.
16.
Malis, E., Chaumette, F., and Boudet, S. 1999. 2 1/2 d visual servoing . IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation15: 234–246 .
17.
Malis, E., Chaumette, F., and Boudet, S. 2000. Multi-cameras visual servoing . IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 4, San Francisco, pp. 3183–3188 .
18.
Malis, E., Morin, L., and Boudet, S. 1996. Control of redundant robots at singularities in degenerate directions . 12th CISM-IFToMM Symposium on Theory and Practice of Robots and Manipulators, pp. 319–326 .
19.
Maru, N., Kase, H., Yamada, S., Nishikawa, A., and Miyazaki, F. 1993. Manipulator control by visual servoing with the stereo vision . IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Vol. 3, Yokohama, Japan, pp. 1866–1870 .
20.
Morel, G., Malis, E., and Boudet, S. 1998. Impedance based combination of visual and force control . IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 2, Leuven, Belgium, pp. 1743–1748 .
21.
Morel, G., Szewczyk, J., Boudet, S., and Pot, J. 1999. Explicit incorporation of 2d constraints in vision based control of robot manipulators . Proceedings of ISER’99: Experimental Robotics IV, Sydney, Australia, pp. 99–108 .
22.
Nelson, B. J., and Khosla, P. K. 1996. Force and vision resolvability for assimilating disparate sensory feedback . IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation12: 714–731 .
23.
Nelson, B. J., Morrow, J. D., and Khosla, P. K. 1996. Robotic manipulation using high bandwidth force and vision feedback . Mathematical and Computational Modelling24(5-6): 11–29 .
24.
Raibert, M. H., and Craig, J. J. 1981. Hybrid position/force control of manipulators . ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control102: 126–133 .
25.
Ruf, A., and Horaud, R. 1999. Rigid and articulated motion seen with an uncalibrated stereo rig . IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision, Corfu, Greece.
26.
Samson, C., Le Borgne, M., and Espiau, B. 1991. Oxford Engineering Science Series, Vol. 2, Robot Control: The Task Function Approach. Oxford: Clarendon Press .
27.
Whitney, D. E. 1977. Force feedback control of manipulator fine motions . Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control99(2): 91–97 .
28.
Wilson, W. J., Hulls, C.C.W., and Bell, G. S. 1996. Relative end-effector control using Cartesian position-based visual servoing . IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation12: 684–696 .
