General framework of the force and compliant motion control for macro mini manipulator

This paper introduces a general control framework for macro mini manipulator to improve the force and compliant motion control of robotic manipulators. RMRC (Resolved Motion Rate Control) is used as the controller for the industrial (macro) manipulator, while a switching between position control and force control is applied for the mini. The algorithm shows that it can work well in searching and contacting the workpiece, even with limited information of the location of the workpiece. It is also suitable for the compliant motion when it deals with an unknown contour of the workpiece. The framework is validated through experiments which utilize 7-DOF Mitsubishi PA-10 as the macro manipulator and 1-DOF voice coil as the mini manipulator.