HUMAN ROBOT INTERACTION VIA THE TRANSFER OF POWER AND INFORMATION SIGNALS

A human’s ability to perform physical tasks is limited not by intelligence, but by physical strength. If, in an appropriate environment, a machine's mechanical power is closely integrated with a human arm's mechanical power under the control of the human intellect, the resulting system will be superior to a loosely integrated combination of a human and a fully automated robot. Therefore, a fundamental solution to the problem of “extending” human mechanical power must be developed. The work presented defines “extenders” as a class of robot manipulators worn by-humans to increase human mechanical strength while the wearer's intellect remains the central control system for manipulating the extender. The human, in physical contact with the extender, exchanges power and information signals with the extender. This analysis focuses on the dynamics and control of human-robot interaction in the sense of the transfer of power and information signals. General models for the human, the extender, and the interaction between the human and the extender are developed. The stability of the system of human, extender, and the object being manipulated is analyzed and the conditions for stable maneuvers are derived. An expression for the extender performance is defined to quantify the force augmentation. The trade-off between stability and performance is described. The theoretical predictions are verified experimentally. © 1990 IEEE