Estimation of the Force-Interactive Behaviors between Human and Machine Using an Observer-Based Technique

This study aims at the development of an observer-based technique for the estimation of force-interactive behaviors between human and machine when the mechanical system executes force tasks. The force-interactive behaviors between human and machine could be similar to that human exert external forces on the mechanical system; thus, the exerted forces affect the execution of the applied axial motion systems in the mechanical system and, therefore, an observer based on the characteristics of a applied axial motion system could be developed to estimate the force-interactive behaviors. In this study, an observer-based technique is developed to estimate the force-interactive behaviors and several topics, such as the modeling error analysis, the filter design consideration, and the observed signal isolation, are also discussed for improving the estimation. Several experiments and motion tests were carried out on an axial motion system so as to illustrate the feasibility of the observer-based technique developed in this study. The experimental results show that the proposed observer-based technique is feasible and could be used to successfully and exactly estimate the force-interactive behaviors between human and machine.