An environment for compliant motion programming by human demonstration

An integrated system for programming by demonstration, visualizing, and executing compliant motion programs is described. A human operator utilises a joystick to guide a robot with a force sensor to do a task including continuous contact between manipulator and environment. The demonstration may be executed either on an actual robot, or in a graphically simulated environment. During the demonstration, the position, velocity and force of the object manipulated are acquired. Then the recorded data are processed, analysed, and translated into a textual robot program, which provides more robust execution in the presence of uncertainties. The system is composed of a model-based reaction force simulator, a visualization package, a rule-based translator, and an interpreter for compliant motion programs. Experiments show the industrial applicability.