Coordinated dynamic control for multiple robot manipulators handling an object

In cooperative manipulation of a single object using multiple robot arms or a multifingered robot hand, simultaneous control of the object motion and of the internal force exerted by arms or fingers on the object is required. Furthermore, in the case where the motion of the object is constrained in some directions due to contact with its environment, the control of the constraint force also becomes necessary. The authors propose a cooperative dynamic hybrid control method for multiple robotic mechanisms. This method takes the manipulator dynamics and object dynamics into consideration and controls the motion of an object under constraint as well as constraint forces and internal forces. The motion control of an object in free space can be treated as a case of no constraint on object motion in the formulation. Several experimental results are presented that show the validity of the proposed approach.<>