Learning to Assemble Noncylindrical Parts Using Trajectory Learning and Force Tracking

The purpose of this article is to teach a robot assembly skills from demonstrations, and we attempt to train both the trajectory and the insertion force simultaneously. We encode human demonstrations data via motion primitives and, then, generate a reference trajectory and a prescribed force profile for a new assembly task using the combination of the motion primitives. We then propose an adaptive impedance controller to track the prescribed force with unknown environment stiffness, where the impedance parameters are estimated by the optimal solution of an equivalent linearization model. Our approach combines adaptive impedance control techniques with learning from demonstration on the same that makes it tractable and applicable to a real robot. Experiments on several typical noncylindrical parts illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method.

Automated summary

This article introduces a method to teach a robot assembly skills using learning from demonstration, training both trajectory and insertion force simultaneously. By encoding human demonstrations data via motion primitives and using an adaptive impedance controller to track prescribed force, the proposed approach combines adaptive impedance control techniques with learning from demonstration, proving efficient in experiments on several typical noncylindrical parts.