Kinematic Modeling and Priority Coordination Control for Dual-Arm Robots Based on Virtual Joints: A Rudimentary Research Prototype

Abstract

Dual-arm robots have broad application prospects in numerous engineering applications due to their outstanding collaborative operation capabilities and task diversity. As the accuracy requirements for collaborative operations continue to increase, simplifying modeling and control structures while ensuring control effectiveness has become a key challenge. To address the problems of complex modeling and multiple control constraints of dual-arm systems, this paper proposes a dual-arm robot control modeling method based on virtual joints (DCM-VJ). In this method, a virtual joint is introduced between the dual arms, making the dual-arm system equivalent to a single-arm structure, thereby effectively reducing the modeling complexity and streamlining the control framework. DCM-VJ combined with priority control algorithm can significantly improve the motion accuracy and execution efficiency of dual-arm robots in collaborative operations. Simulation and experimental results verify the validity of DCM-VJ. This method can accurately control the position and posture of the end effector and maintain high-precision coordination of the relative posture between the dual arms. Note to Practitioners—This paper is motivated by the practical need for precise and easy-to-implement coordination control in dual-arm robotic systems. In industrial scenarios such as cooperative assembly, collaborative handling, and operation in constrained workspaces, the complexity of dual-arm modeling and multiple control constraints often limits deployment and tuning in practice. The proposed DCM-VJ method simplifies the dual-arm structure into an equivalent single-arm form, allowing practitioners to reuse mature single-arm modeling and control frameworks. When combined with a task-priority control strategy, this approach improves the tracking accuracy of the end effector and relative pose coordination while reducing implementation complexity, and it can be naturally extended to multi-arm collaboration by introducing additional virtual joints. Practitioners can apply the DCM-VJ framework to enhance control performance and engineering practicality in dual-arm and multi-arm collaborative tasks, especially when rapid integration and robust coordination are required.