A base force/torque sensor approach to robot manipulator inertial parameter estimation

A practical method is proposed for estimating the inertial parameters of robot manipulators with substantial unmodeled joint friction and actuator dynamics. The manipulator is mounted on a six-axis force/torque sensor. Sensor measurements and joint velocities recorded during manipulator motion are used to identify the inertial parameters. The unmodeled joint friction and actuator dynamics do not degrade the estimation results, as in conventional methods. The estimation algorithm does not require difficult-to-measure acceleration measurements. Experimental results presented show that an accurate estimation of inertia parameters is attainable. Since the sensor is external to the manipulator, the same sensor can be used for parameter estimation for a number of different systems.