Cartesian-based planar contour following with automatic hybrid force and visual feedback

The paper deals with hybrid control of a planar robot employing Cartesian-based force and visual servoing. The proposed robotic system is capable of autonomously controlling the pose of an instrument mounted on the end-effector of a planar robotic manipulator using force and visual data. The goal of the autonomous task is to drive the instrument to a visually determined planar contour and continue tracking the contour in desired pose and contact force with precision. The proposed control architecture is suitable for applications that require simultaneous force and pose control in unknown environments. Our approach has been successfully validated in a real task environment by performing experiments with an industrial robotic manipulator equipped with force and visual sensors.