Fast Contact Detection via Fusion of Joint and Inertial Sensors for Parallel Robots in Human-Robot Collaboration

verfasst von

Aran Mohammad, Jan Piosik, Dustin Lehmann, Thomas Seel, Moritz Schappler

Abstract

Fast contact detection is crucial for safe human-robot collaboration. Observers based on proprioceptive information can be used for contact detection but have first-order error dynamics, which results in delays. Sensor fusion based on inertial measurement units (IMUs) consisting of accelerometers and gyroscopes is advantageous for reducing delays. The acceleration estimation enables the direct calculation of external forces. For serial robots, the installation of multiple accelerometers and gyroscopes is required for dynamics modeling since the joint coordinates are the minimal coordinates. Alternatively, parallel robots (PRs) offer the potential to use only one IMU on the end-effector platform, which already presents the minimal coordinates of the PR. This work introduces a sensor-fusion method for contact detection using encoders and only one low-cost, consumer-grade IMU for a PR. The end-effector accelerations are estimated by an extended Kalman filter and incorporated into the dynamics to calculate external forces. In real-world experiments with a planar PR, we demonstrate that this approach reduces the detection duration by up to 50% compared to a momentum observer and enables collision and clamping detection within 3–39 ms.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Mechatronische Systeme

Externe Organisation(en)

Technische Universität Berlin

Typ

Artikel

Journal

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters

Band

10

Seiten

7547 - 7554

Anzahl der Seiten

8

ISSN

2377-3766

Publikationsdatum

07.2025

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Steuerungs- und Systemtechnik, Biomedizintechnik, Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion, Maschinenbau, Maschinelles Sehen und Mustererkennung, Angewandte Informatik, Steuerung und Optimierung, Artificial intelligence

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2025.3575326 (Zugang: Geschlossen)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2505.08334 (Zugang: Offen)