Development of a two-wheel mobile manipulator: balancing and interaction control

Abstract

SUMMARYThis paper focuses on practical application of a mobile manipulator by presenting the development and control of a two-wheel mobile robot with two arms called a balancing service robot (BSR) designated for indoor services. The mobile manipulator requires not only robust balancing position control but also force control to interact with objects. Movements with two wheels are controlled to satisfy stable balancing control for navigation and manipulation with two arms to perform given tasks. The robot is required to deal with external forces to maintain balance. The position-based impedance force control method (the admittance control) is utilized by filtering the force with the impedance function to react to the applied force from the operator. Experimental studies of navigation control under balancing condition and interacting control with a human operator are demonstrated. Experimental results confirm that the robot has smooth reaction against the disturbance induced by the applied external force.