Robotic drilling under force control: execution of a task

This paper presents the analysis and characterisation of force controlled robotic drilling. We demonstrate that a robot manipulator can perform drilling if enough contact thrust-force is provided between a workpiece and drill, and is controlled properly. It is shown that the key parameters for robotic drilling are the drill rotational speed and thrust force. We believe that this implementation of a force control strategy on a robot manipulator for robotic drilling is unique; nobody has previously reported on the end point force control of a robot manipulator using a force/torque sensor for a drilling operation.<>