Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7547 - 7554 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| Early online date | 2 Jun 2025 |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2025 |
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.
Keywords
- parallel robots, Safety in human-robot interaction, sensor fusion, parallel robots (PRs)
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Engineering(all)
- Control and Systems Engineering
- Engineering(all)
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computer Science(all)
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Engineering(all)
- Mechanical Engineering
- Computer Science(all)
- Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
- Computer Science(all)
- Computer Science Applications
- Mathematics(all)
- Control and Optimization
- Computer Science(all)
- Artificial Intelligence
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Vol. 10, No. 7, 07.2025, p. 7547 - 7554.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Fast Contact Detection via Fusion of Joint and Inertial Sensors for Parallel Robots in Human-Robot Collaboration
AU - Mohammad, Aran
AU - Piosik, Jan
AU - Lehmann, Dustin
AU - Seel, Thomas
AU - Schappler, Moritz
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2016 IEEE.
PY - 2025/7
Y1 - 2025/7
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - parallel robots
KW - Safety in human-robot interaction
KW - sensor fusion
KW - parallel robots (PRs)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105007429280&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/LRA.2025.3575326
DO - 10.1109/LRA.2025.3575326
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105007429280
VL - 10
SP - 7547
EP - 7554
JO - IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
JF - IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
SN - 2377-3766
IS - 7
ER -