Method and system for controlling a robot manipulator for operating in a shared workspace with human(s)

Abstract

A method of controlling a robot manipulator for operating in a shared workspace with human(s) is provided. The method includes: determining a safety control set with respect to a safety condition between selected part(s) of the robot manipulator and selected part(s) of the human(s) using a safety control function; determining a hard constraint control set with respect to hard constraint(s) in trajectory tracking in DOF(s) of a component of the robot manipulator for a task using a hard constraint function; determining a soft constraint control set with respect to soft constraint(s) in trajectory tracking in DOF(s) of the component for the task using a soft constraint function; and performing control input optimization based on the safety control set, the hard constraint control set and the soft constraint control set to determine a control input for controlling the robot manipulator. In particular, the safety control function is configured to determine the safety control set: based on a control model for the robot manipulator that is configured in a control affine form based on a control mode of the robot manipulator, and for each part pair of part pair(s) of a selected part of the selected part(s) of the robot manipulator and a selected part of the selected part(s) of the human(s): based on a safety distance function associated with the part pair which corresponds to a control barrier function, and based on a sliding manifold associated with the part pair configured based on the safety distance function and a relative degree of the safety distance function with respect to the control input to the robot manipulator.