Admittance enhancement in force feedback of dynamic systems

A limitation of high-speed contact operations, including robotic assembly, is the magnitude of contact forces resulting from inertial effects. Directly attempting to reduce the apparent inertia of interacting systems through force feedback results in instability. It is shown here that one can introduce a mechanical filter to alter the open-loop system dynamics, making feedback much more effective. Experimental results are presented showing a reduction in apparent inertia by nearly two orders of magnitude.