Vision-based impedance control for robot manipulators

This paper proposes an impedance control method that can regulate a virtual impedance between an endpoint of a robot manipulator and external objects using visual information. The conventional impedance control methods are not useful for some cases where no interaction force between the arm and its environment occurs, although it is one of the most effective control method for manipulators in contact with the environment. Using the proposed method, we can control the manipulator motion based on the virtual impedance before contact with the objects.