In this work, we present a novel control approach to human-robot collaboration that takes into account ergonomic aspects of the human co-worker during power tool operations. The method is primarily based on estimating and reducing the overloading torques in the human joints that are induced by the manipulated external load. The human overloading joint torques are estimated and monitored using a whole-body dynamic state model. The appropriate robot motion that brings the human into the suitable ergonomic working configuration is obtained by an optimisation method that minimises the overloading joint torques. The proposed optimisation process includes several constraints, such as the human arm muscular manipulability and safety of the collaborative task, to achieve a task-relevant optimised configuration. We validated the proposed method by a user study that involved a human-robot collaboration task, where the subjects operated a polishing machine on a part that was brought to them by the collaborative robot. A statistical analysis of ten subjects as an experimental evaluation of the proposed control framework is provided to demonstrate the potential of the proposed control framework in enabling ergonomic and task-optimised human-robot collaboration.

在这项工作中，我们提出了一种新颖的人机协作控制方法，其中考虑了电动工具操作过程中人类同事的人体工程学方面。该方法主要基于估计和减少由操纵的外部负载引起的人体关节中的过载扭矩。使用全身动态状态模型估算并监视人体超负荷关节扭矩。通过使过载扭矩最小化的优化方法，可以获得使人进入合适的人体工学工作状态的合适的机器人运动。提出的优化过程包括几个约束，例如人手臂肌肉的可操作性和协作任务的安全性，以实现与任务相关的优化配置。我们通过一项涉及人机协作任务的用户研究验证了所提出的方法，其中受试者在协作机器人带给他们的零件上操作抛光机。提供了对十个主题的统计分析，作为对所提出的控制框架的实验评估，以证明所提出的控制框架在实现人体工程学和任务优化的人机协作方面的潜力。