Novel technique of contact force vector determination aimed at control of service robot arm and estimation of environment stiffness

In this paper, we focus on the approach to calculation of the applied force vector at any point of the robot arm and its technical realization. The experimental results validate the ability of the proposed method to trace the contact point position and to estimate force vector accurately. The technique of calculation of contacting object stiffness during collision is elaborated and experimentally examined. The algorithm of contact transition control considering the environment stiffness value and its application for tactile interaction with surroundings are discussed.