Title: Grasp and transport control for a chopsticks-type robot using work control

Authors: Yojiro Yamasaki; Toru Tsumugiwa; Ryuichi Yokogawa

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kagawa National College of Technology, 355 Chokushi-cho, Takamatsu City, Kagawa, 761-8058, Japan. ' Department of Biomedical Engineering, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tatara-Miyakodani, Kyo-Tanabe City, Kyoto, 610-0321, Japan. ' Department of Biomedical Engineering, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tatara-Miyakodani, Kyo-Tanabe City, Kyoto, 610-0321, Japan

Abstract: In this paper, we first propose a method of work control to maintain a constant amount of work done by the robot on an object. The work control has a function that can appropriately and autonomously changes the target value of torque for grasping in accordance with the softness of the object. Next, the method of work control and a method for changing the control mode based on position and force errors, called the 'SCOME method', are applied to a two-fingered robot hand composed of elastic joints, which is called a chopsticks-type robot. Furthermore, various grasp and transport control experiments are conducted using the chopsticks-type robot to manipulate cylindrical objects with different rigidities. The experimental results illustrate the validity of grasp and transport control and work control for the chopsticks-type robot.

Keywords: robot hands; control mode switching; grasp control; transport control; work control; chopsticks type robot; robot control; robot grasping; object softness; elastic joints; force errors; position errors; cylindrical objects; object manipulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAMECHS.2012.045498

International Journal of Advanced Mechatronic Systems, 2012 Vol.4 No.1, pp.32 - 40

Published online: 30 Aug 2014 *

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