Learning objectives

The course aims to provide the following knowledge: theoretical foundation of physical human-robot interaction (e.g. bilateral teleoperation and force control), with particular attention to the design of control architectures capable of guaranteeing stability even in the presence of uncertainties and communication delays. At the end of the course the student will have to demonstrate that s/he has the following skills to apply the acquired knowledge: analyze the technical characteristics and structural properties of a control system for direct or teleoperated interaction with the environment; derive the mathematical model of the physical robot-environment interaction (direct or teleoperated); design a control architecture to ensure stability, performance and safety; implement the control architecture in simulators (e.g. Matlab/Simulink) and in operating systems tailored to robotic application (e.g. ROS). Student must also have the ability to define the technical specifications for a physical human robot-interaction system a (direct or teleoperated) and the ability to choose the most appropriate way to design the control architecture. Student will have to be able to deal with other engineers (e.g. electronic, automatic, mechanical) to design advanced control architectures for complex physical human-robot interaction systems. Student will have to show ability to continue its studies independently in the context of the design of architectures based on non-linear and adaptive techniques.