Handling of object by mobile robot helper in cooperation with a human using visual information and force information

In this paper, we propose a new control system for a mobile robot helper, referred to as MR Helper, which can handle an object in cooperation with a human. The system can execute cooperative manipulation with a human and autonomous transportation by itself, without mode switching accompanied by the change of dynamics. To realize the system, we have the robot execute tasks based on force/moment information that is applied to the dynamics of the robot. This information is treated as unified input information that is inputted into the system. The proposed control system is experimentally implemented in MR Helper and experimental results illustrate the validity of the system.