Development and control issues in contact and proximity sensing for a robotic system

Flexible robotic systems, for example systems to be used in parts assembly automation, require robot manipulators featuring among other capabilities, the capacity of executing reliable fine motions. This requirement leads to the need of using sensors and so to the need of searching for techniques for efficient processing and integration of sensory data. The paper addresses issues regarding the integration of sensors for flexible robotics, namely, force/torque, tactile and proximity range sensors. The authors are concerned with sensory integration for fine motion control, the following subjects being addressed: the architecture of the control system integrating force/torque, tactile and distance sensors and algorithms for position and force control using task-space sensory feedback