No abstract

Abstract-A different way of force control is presented, that is especially advantageous for position controlled robots. Instead of usual force control laws we rely on the well tuned position control loop and just use the force sensor to measure the target pose or to predict the desired trajectory. In combination with a compliant sensor we introduce an inherently stable framework of force control which almost inhibits all control errors. After an unexpected impact the force error is reduced independently from the sensor's bandwidth or delays in signal processing. Thus the (inevitable) impact force is more significant than the measured force control errors. The special case of a sensor that is mounted far away from a vertex-face contact is discussed, too.

In this paper, a new garment for automatic fall detection and alert is presented for the first time. It includes a washable pullover with integrated acceleration sensors, evaluation and control electronics. The system measures the accelerations at the torso and on the arms in three directions in space. The fall detection is based on recognizing, by means of the sensors, the posture and abnormal acceleration magnitudes usually associated to a fall. The alarm as well as the movement information is sent via a wireless radio link. A fall will be detected within the pullover's electronics. The fall detection system was tested on ten volunteers. The daily life movements are also stored on a memory card. The latter can be read in on a PC. Thanks to an optimized production process, the system can be affordably reproduced in low volume productions and can be adjusted for any usage. The power supply of the system is realized with rechargeable batteries.