Interactive Force-Impedance Control
Fan Shao, Satoshi Endo, Sandra Hirche, Fanny Ficuciello
TL;DR
This work addresses safety and responsiveness in contact-rich human–robot interaction by enforcing passivity through Interactive Force-Impedance Control (IFIC). IFIC leverages a port-Hamiltonian formulation and dual virtual energy tanks (force and impedance) connected to interaction and control ports, with valve-based power management to absorb non-passive interaction energy. The approach guarantees $\dot{V}\leq \dot{x}^T F_{ext}$, ensuring safe energy exchange during collaboration while preserving task performance. Experimental validation on table-wiping and ultrasound scanning demonstrates improved safety, faster response to disturbances, and outperforming UFIC, LPF, and dynamic-switching baselines. The method enables robust full-body pHRI in uncertain, contact-rich environments and suggests a hierarchical extension for intention-aware adaptation of energy budgets.
Abstract
Human collaboration with robots requires flexible role adaptation, enabling robot to switch between active leader and passive follower. Effective role switching depends on accurately estimating human intention, which is typically achieved through external force analysis, nominal robot dynamics, or data-driven approaches. However, these methods are primarily effective in contact-sparse environments. When robots under hybrid or unified force-impedance control physically interact with active humans or non-passive environments, the robotic system may lose passivity and thus compromise safety. To address this challenge, this paper proposes the unified Interactive Force-Impedance Control (IFIC) framework that adapts to the interaction power flow, ensuring effortless and safe interaction in contact-rich environments. The proposed control architecture is formulated within a port-Hamiltonian framework, incorporating both interaction and task control ports, through which system passivity is guaranteed.