Design of robot direct-teaching tools in contact with hard surface

This paper describes two industrial applications of robot direct teaching, in which a human operator generates robotic paths by handling a robot physically. The induction hardening and the curtain-wall glass assembly have been investigated. The direct teaching tools are designed for the applications in contact with hard surface. The tools are easy to detect operator's teaching force and reaction force from the environment together. In the situation, the reaction force from the surface is so high that force control cannot be made easily. To avoid this problem, an operator tends to reduce speed of direct teaching, which leads to the deterioration of teaching quality. This paper is focused on the design of direct teaching tools and their control methods to prevent this problem.