Robot force control with an actively damped flexible end effector

This paper proposes a new method for the hybrid force/position control of an industrial robot, which is equipped with an internal, high bandwidth velocity controller and with a compliant end effector, during constrained motion. The method combines force control with results from active control of flexible robots. The contact dynamics of the partially constrained end effector are modelled by a MIMO system. This system is decoupled into a set of six unconstrained or constrained vibrational modes, which are easy to control. The paper contains simulation results of a constrained motion.