A Control Architecture for Compliant Execution of Manipulation Tasks

This paper deals with the problem of dependable physical interaction through manipulation in partially-known everyday human environments. We present a modular software architecture that allows the definition and compliant execution of manipulation tasks under the task frame formalism. We show the details of several software modules implemented within this architecture, that enable higher levels of adaptability and robustness, as well as the incremental incorporation of more complex skills in a modular fashion. The whole system is validated making a real robot arm with a three-finger hand perform a complex manipulation task: taking a book out of a bookshelf. Results show how the presented framework is suitable for easily defining and performing a great variety of manipulation tasks