Force Control Test Bench for Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator System Applications

This paper describes the first step to a global approach to the development of UVMS force control applications. A novel test bench has been developed to partly reproduce the behavior of such system while avoiding the needs and constraints implied for underwater experiments. This equipment shows most of the characteristics of a serial robot. Mechanical robustness, repeatability, reliability and friendly user interface are among the characteristics that have been inspired from industrial class of robots. However, the use of linear direct drive motors constitutes a very unique robot design. Preliminary force/position experiments demonstrate the functionality of the test bench and its great potential