A General Framework for Cobot Control
R. Brent Gillespie, J. Edward Colgate, and Michael A. Peshkin
IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 391-401,
August 2001.
Abstract—A general framework is presented for the design and analysis of cobot
controllers. Cobots are inherently passive robots intended for direct
collaborative work with a human operator. While a human applies forces and
moments, the controller guides motion by tuning the cobot’s set of continuously
variable transmissions. In this paper, a path-following controller is developed
that steers the cobot so as to asymptotically approach and follow a preplanned
path. The controller is based on feedback linearization. Generality across cobot
architectures is assured by designing the controller in task space and
developing transformations between each of four spaces: task space, joint space,
a set of coupling spaces, and steering space.