Research on robot constant force control of surface tracking based on reinforcement learning

The contact model between robot end-effector and surface was established in order to solve the problem that it is difficult to obtain contact force when a robot end effector contacts with the curved workpiece. The relationship between the contact force coordinate system of the curved surface and the measuring coordinate system of the robot sensor was constructed. The relationship between the output parameters of the model and the contact state was analyzed based on probabilistic inference and learning for control (PILCO) which was a reinforcement learning algorithm based on a probabilistic dynamics model. The partial contact state was forecasted according to the output state, and the displacement input parameters of the robot were optimized to achieve a constant force by the reinforcement learning algorithm. The input state of the reinforcement learning was modified to an average state value over a period of time, which reduced the interference to the input state value during experiments. The experimental results showed that the algorithm obtained stable force after 8 iterations. The convergence speed was faster compared with the fuzzy iterative algorithm, and the average absolute value of the force error was reduced by 29%. © 2019, Zhejiang University Press. All right reserved.