Control of a man-machine system interacting with the environment

Abstract

This paper proposes an alternative control algorithm for a mechanical system having direct mechanical interaction with an environment and an operator. A robot for man-robot cooperation, an extender, a human amplifier and a powered steering system are examples of such a system. How to control the interaction in a desirable manner is one of the key issues for such a system. We first model the mechanical system, which has interaction with the environment and the operator, then propose a control algorithm based on the dynamics of the operator and the environment. The proposed control system consists of two controllers: One generates the desired motion of the mechanical system based on the force applied to the system, and the other one controls the interaction between the system and the environment. The proposed control algorithm specifies both the force augmentation and the maneuverability of the system. The algorithm is applied to a planar link mechanism with one degree of freedom. The experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm. © 1993 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.