Task-space coordination control of bilateral human–swarm systems

Abstract

This paper proposes a system framework and control algorithms that enable a human operator to simultaneously interact with a group of swarm robot in a remote environment. In order to cope with kinematic dissimilarity and spatial discrepancy between human and swarm systems, a task-oriented control framework is developed. Based on the proposed control system, the human operator is able to convey action commands to the swarm, and the swarm robot can provide feedback information for the human operator. Additionally, the cognitive limitation of the human operator due to lack of entire information about the remote environment can be mitigated by utilizing the null-space of the swarm robot. Stability and performance of the proposed control system are investigated when the communication channels are subject to time delays and the system is influenced by non-passive external forces. The control algorithms are validated via numerical simulations on a 3-DOF robotic manipulator with a group of mobile swarm robot.