Fundamental experiments on an air‐cushion‐based force‐sensing device for soft physical human–robot interaction

摘要

Abstract Physical human–robot interaction (PHRI) is an essential concept for human‐cooperative robots (HCRs). Because the force control for PHRI is based on the contact force between a human and an HCR, it is very important to collect the force data accurately. Furthermore, soft contact during force sensing is also necessary for PHRI for safety and security. As a challenge in force sensing for PHRI using a soft material, we aim to develop in this study a novel force‐sensing device based on an air cushion. First, the physical model of the air cushion is represented by an air cylinder with a piston, which is subject to constraint by nonlinear elasticity. Second, the elastic properties of the air cushion are examined under the assumption that it can be formulated as a function of pneumatic pressure and the contact area with a human. The force applied to the air cushion is estimated on the basis of the physical model and compared to the actual force data in the fundamental experiments. Force is successfully estimated using the proposed physical model, and the advantages of the air‐cushion‐based force‐sensing device (ACFSD) are verified through these fundamental experiments. © 2013 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.