Fuzzy compliance control of robotic assembly tasks

The paper describes an FLC-based robot controller that performs peg-in-hole insertion tasks. The controller combines the intuitive and simple programming interface of the hybrid force/position approach with the ability of impedance controllers to perform complex contact tasks involving uncertainty in a single step without switching. By adopting a parametric Bezier function as the basis for the trajectory specification, the programmer can encode his confidence in his knowledge of the task geometry in his choice of trajectory. This provides graceful degradation, in that the system performance degrades as the trajectory deviates further from the ideal one. Contact instability is effectively controlled by reducing the trajectory velocity as the interaction forces become excessive