Hybrid position/force control of flexible manipulators by macro-micro manipulator system

In this paper, to realize the hybrid position/force control of a flexible manipulator, the macro-micro manipulator system is used. The macro manipulator can move widely, but can not realize fast and precise motion because of its flexibility. To compensate the position and force errors, a micro manipulator is attached at the tip of the macro manipulator. The kinematic equations of the macro-micro manipulator system are introduced. By utilizing the redundancy and flexibility of the system, the trajectory planning is discussed. A quasi-static hybrid position/force control algorithm and a dynamic hybrid position/force control algorithm are proposed. Lastly, experimental results are shown to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithms