Fast robotic assembly with an active instrumented flexible wrist

In this paper, a new compact flexible wrist combining compliance and force sensor has been developed for a robot manipulator to be used in assembly operation. The flexible wrist provides the necessary compliance to accommodate transition as the end effector contact with the environment, to correct positioning error, and to avoid high impact force in assembly. The force sensing ability makes it possible to actively control the contact force or to compensate the positioning error during operation. The structure of the flexible wrist and a hybrid position force controller is given in the paper. Experiments of peg-in-hole and edge following with the flexible wrist are investigated. The results prove the system with flexibility and adaptability in automated assembly and manufacturing