4. Use case: object comanipualtion

One of the potential benefits of human-robot physical collaboration can be summed up in the comanipulation of objects, where the robot provides the necessary assistance to carry heavy or bulky objects, or both, while leaving the human in control of the collaborative task. This is a typical, concrete collaborative task involving the carrying of tools or loads by a robot, while moving them by a human operator with the least possible effort. However, this introduces a complexity compared to direct interaction, linked to the fact that the interaction passes through the object, implying a misperception of interaction effort and human intention, a perception that can be compounded by uncertainties about the object's dynamics.

When a robot is carrying a new object, as in the case of a pick-and-place task, if the robot is position-controlled (i.e. no robot or object dynamics...