Human-oriented programming technology for articulated robots using a force/torque sensor

Currently, there are various robot programming methods for articulated robots. Although each method has merits and drawbacks, they have commonly weak points for practical application, and especially the weak point can be even more vulnerable when the robot programming requires the subtle feelings of human being. This is because the movement of a human being is synthetic while the robot programming is analytic. Therefore, the present method of programming has limits in performing these kinds of subtle robot movement. In this paper, we propose a direct robot programming method, which generates robot programs based on the force/torque vector applied to a force/torque sensor by the human operator. The method reduces the effort required in the robot programming.