Enhancing Contact Stability in Admittance-Type Haptic Interaction Using Bidirectional Time-Domain Passivity Control

Abstract

The present paper proposes a novel strategy to enhance admittance-type haptic interaction using bidirectional time-domain passivity control. While admittance-type haptic interaction is widely employed in human-robot collaboration, its ability to render low virtual inertia can be limited, leading to unstable interactions with rigid environments. The proposed strategy seeks to stabilize a lower range of virtual inertia while maintaining responsive behavior in free space. The Franka Emika Collaborative robot was utilized in various experiments to test the approach, and the results indicate that the bidirectional time-domain passivity controller can improve interaction performance relative to the conventional unidirectional time-domain passivity approach. This technique may aid in reducing operator fatigue during the manipulation of heavy, non-back drivable industrial robots while preserving a lightweight feel.