Collision Detection and Safe Reaction with the DLR-III Lightweight Manipulator Arm

TLDR

Robot manipulators sharing workspaces with humans must quickly detect collisions and safely react to limit injuries, yet without external sensing relative motions are unpredictable and collisions can occur anywhere along the arm. The study proposes an efficient collision detection method based on total energy and generalized momentum that uses only proprioceptive sensors and supplies directional information for safe robot reaction. The method is first developed for rigid robot arms and then extended to robots with elastic joints, offering distinct reaction strategies. Experimental results on collisions with the DLR‑III lightweight manipulator are reported.

Abstract

A robot manipulator sharing its workspace with humans should be able to quickly detect collisions and safely react for limiting injuries due to physical contacts. In the absence of external sensing, relative motions between robot and human are not predictable and unexpected collisions may occur at any location along the robot arm. Based on physical quantities such as total energy and generalized momentum of the robot manipulator, we present an efficient collision detection method that uses only proprioceptive robot sensors and provides also directional information for a safe robot reaction after collision. The approach is first developed for rigid robot arms and then extended to the case of robots with elastic joints, proposing different reaction strategies. Experimental results on collisions with the DLR-III lightweight manipulator are reported