Human Assistance Robot Control by Artificial Neural Network for Accuracy and Safety

A new accurate and reliable human-in-the-loop control by artificial neural network (ANN) for human assistance robot was proposed in this paper. The principle of human-in-the-loop control by ANN was explained including the system architecture of human assistance robot control the design of the controller the control process as well as the switching of the different control patterns. Based on the proposed method, the control of meal assistance robot was implemented. In the controller of meal assistance robote a feedforward ANN controller was designed for the accurate position control. For safety a feedback ANN forcefree control was installed in the meal assistance robot. Both controllers have taken fully into account the influence of human arm upon the meal assistance robote and they can be switched smoothly based on the external force induced by the challenged person arm. By the experimental and simulation work of this method for an actual meal assistance robote the effectiveness of the proposed method was verified.