Motivation for this SGER project is to examine the ability of a robot to deliver a controlled impact force for evolving human-robot-interaction (HRI) tasks such as robotic rehabilitation and robotic medical imaging applications. Efforts in this project will focus on model development and experimental verification of impact models between a robotic system and a deformable surface. These models will be included in new control designs to enable a robot to rapidly transition from non-contact to contact with a human tissue phantom. Unlike discontinuous and infinitely rigid ?hard-on-hard? impact models developed for manufacturing applications, the continuous impact models in this project will target impact of a robot with deformable tissue. As a result new continuous controllers can be developed that include the impact dynamics in the control design. The experiments proposed in this project will be used to support the idea of imparting controlled impact forces. The scientific outcomes of the SGER and subsequent efforts will provide an inroad to new applications where humans and robots share a common working envelope where contact is beneficial.
