Non-Linear Local Force Feedback Control for Haptic Interfaces

In this paper, a time-continuous, non-linear local force feedback control is proposed which produces low inertia of the haptic interface during free slave motion as well as higher transparency during slave-environment interactions, by modifying the local force gain as a function of the measured forces of the slave-environment interaction. Stability of the system is proven using damping injection based on a model-based passivation approach and a model-free time domain passivity approach. Teleoperation experiments with time-delay on a KUKA light weight robot-based master device show improvements in performance while using the proposed method.