A New Generation of Compliance Controlled Manipulators with Human Arm Like Properties

Abstract

This paper describes the overall control structure of a new generation of compliance controlled manipulators implemented by the design and control of the DLR lightweight robot. To achieve the compliance property, the manipulator does not have to revert to a human-like, bionic design. A serial link manipulator, control technology, and sensorized joint actuators can generate a kinesthesis similar to the compliance properties of the human arm. The design and control of the new robot generation implement these properties in a very different way than its biological counterpart to enable high fidelity interaction of the robot with its environment.