Motion and Force Control for Safe Physical Human-Robot Interaction Based on Estimated Contact Forces

Robotics research is looking forward to the possibility of bringing closer humans and robots. Thus, realization of safe physical interaction and/or collaboration is becoming an increasingly relevant features in both industrial and service environments. Robots co-workers may collaborate with the humans combining and enhancing the skills of both the robot and the human. Safety must be guarantee in any case. To achieve this skill, the use of lightweight robots, with intrinsic compliance and equipped with joint torque sensor [1], is combined with the use of external sensors to monitor the workspace [2], and control capabilities for collision avoidance [3], and physical contact detection and reaction [4]–[6]. Moreover, physical Human-Robot Interaction (pHRI) is characterize by a suitable exchange of contact forces which can occur a