MODELING AND CONTROLLING OF PARALLEL MANIPULATOR JOINT DRIVEN BY PNEUMATIC MUSCLES

A parallel manipulator joint driven by three pneumatic muscles and its posture control strategy are presented. Based on geometric constraints and dynamics, a system model is developed through which some influences on dynamic response and open-loop gain are analyzed including the supply pressure, the initial pressure and the volume of pneumatic muscle. A sliding-mode controller with a nonlinear switching function is applied to control posture, which adopts the combination of a main method that separates control of each muscle and an auxiliary method that postures error evaluation of multiple muscles, especially adopting the segmented and intelligent adjustments of sliding-mode parameters to fit different expected postures and initial states. Experimental results show that this control strategy not only amounts to the steady-state error of 0. 1° without overshoot, but also achieves good trajectory tracking.

A Mode-Switching Motion Control System for Reactive Interaction and Surface Following Using Industrial Robots

This work proposes a sensor-based control system for fully automated object detection and exploration(surface following) with a redundant industrial robot. The control system utilizes both offline and online trajectory planning for reactive interaction with objects of different shapes and color using RGBD vision and proximity/contact sensors feedback where no prior knowledge of the objects is available. The RGB-D sensor is used to collect raw 3D information of the environment. The data is then processed to segment an object of interest in the scene. In order to completely explore the object, a coverage path planning technique is proposed using a dynamic 3D occupancy grid method to generate a primary(offline) trajectory. However, RGB-D sensors are very sensitive to lighting and provide only limited accuracy on the depth measurements. Therefore, the coverage path planning is then further assisted by a real-time adaptive path planning using a fuzzy self-tuning proportional integral derivative(PID)controller. The latter allows the robot to dynamically update the 3D model by a specially designed instrumented compliant wrist and adapt to the surfaces it approaches or touches. A modeswitching scheme is also proposed to efficiently integrate and smoothly switch between the interaction modes under certain conditions. Experimental results using a CRS-F3 manipulator equipped with a custom-built compliant wrist demonstrate the feasibility and performance of the proposed method.

Achievement of chaotic synchronization trajectories of master-slave manipulators with feedback control strategy

This paper addresses a master-slave synchro- nization strategy for complex dynamic systems based on feedback control. This strategy is applied to 3-DOF pla- nar manipulators in order to obtain synchronization in such complicated as chaotic motions of end-effectors. A chaotic curve is selected from Duffing equation as the trajectory of master end-effector and a piecewise approximation method is proposed to accurately represent this chaotic trajectory of end-effectors. The dynamical equations of master-slave manipulators with synchronization controller are derived, and the Lyapunov stability theory is used to determine the stability of this controlled synchronization system. In numer- ical experiments, the synchronous motions of end-effectors as well as three joint angles and torques of master-slave manipulators are studied under the control of the proposed synchronization strategy. It is found that the positive gain matrix affects the implementation of synchronization con- trol strategy. This synchronization control strategy proves the synchronization＇s feasibility and controllability for com- plicated motions generated by master-slave manipulators.

Effects of Joint Controller on Analytical Modal Analysis of Rotational Flexible Manipulator

Modal analysis is a fundamental and important task for modeling and control of the flexible manipulator. However, almost all of the traditional modal analysis methods view the flexible manipulator as a pure mechanical structure and neglect feedback action of joint controller. In order to study the effects of joint controller on the modal analysis of rotational flexible manipulator, a closed-loop analytical modal analysis method is proposed. Firstly, two exact boundary constraints, namely servo feedback constraint and bending moment constraint, are derived to solve the vibration partial differential equation. It is found that the stiffness and damping gains of joint controller are both included in the boundary conditions, which lead to an unconventional secular term. Secondly, analytical algorithm based on Ritz approach is developed by using Laplace transform and complex modal approach to obtain the natural frequencies and mode shapes. And then, the numerical simulations are performed and the computational results show that joint controller has pronounced influence on the modal parameters： joint controller stiffness reduces the natural frequency, while joint controller damping makes the shape phase non-zero. Furthermore, the validity of the presented conclusion is confirmed through experimental studies. These findings are expected to improve the performance of dynamics simulation systems and model-based controllers.

An Approach to Design MIMO FO Controllers for Unstable Nonlinear Plants

This paper develops an approach to control unstable nonlinear multi-inputs multi-output(MIMO) square plants using MIMO fractional order(FO) controllers. The controller design uses the linear time invariant(LTI) state space representation of the nonlinear model of the plant and the diagonal closedloop transfer matrix(TM) function to ensure decoupling between inputs. Each element of the obtained MIMO controller could be either a transfer function(TF) or a gain. A TF is associated in turn with its corresponding FO TF. For example, a D(Derivative) TF is related to a FO TF of the form Dδ, δ =[0, 1]. Two applications were performed to validate the developed approach via experimentation: control of the angular positions of a manipulator, and control of the car and arm positions of a translational manipulator.

FUZZY MODEL-FOLLOWING ADAPTIVE CONTROL DESIGN FOR ROBOT MANIPULATORS

The increasing demand on robotic system performance leads to the use of advanced con- trol strategies. This paper proposes a method of nonlinear feedback control introducing fuzzy infer- ence into model-following adaptive control for the nonlinear robot manipulator systems. The fuzzy inference is introduced to treat the nonlinearities of the control systems. Furthermore, the stability of the system is discussed by the fuzzy stability theory based on the Lyapunov's direct method. In the closed loop, the robotic system asymptotically converge to the reference trajectory with a pre- scribed transient response.

Dynamic stability and manipulation of bright matter-wave solitons by optical lattices in Bose-Einstein condensates

An extended variation approach to describing the dynamic evolution of self-attractive Bose-Einstein condensates is developed. We consider bright matter-wave solitons in the presence of a parabolic magnetic potential and a timespace periodic optical lattice. The dynamics of condensates is shown to be well approximated by four coupled nonlinear differential equations. A noteworthy feature is that the extended variation approach gives a critical strength ratio to support multiple stable lattice sites for the condensate. We further examine the existence of the solitons and their stabilities at the multiple stable lattice sites. In this case, the analytical predictions of Bose-Einstein condensates variational dynamics are found to be in good agreement with numerical simulations. We then find a stable region for successful manipulating matter-wave solitons without collapse, which are dragged from an initial stationary to a prescribed position by a moving periodic optical lattice.

Motion Control and Optimal Design of a Biomimetic Manipulator Based on Snake Coiling and Stretching

The traditionally articulated manipulator had a single control method,and the limited motion trajectory space was unsuitable for working in an unstructured environment.This paper introduces a control method and optimization for a multijoint manipulator Inspired by snakes'curling and stretching motions.First,we analyze the manipulator’s connection mode and motion planning and propose a new motion method.In addition,we calculated the relevant positions and angles and subdivided the motion of some joints based on the principle of the meta-heuristic algorithm.Ultimately,the manipulator in this mode has a larger workspace and more flexible motion trajectories.The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical analysis,which further proves the feasibility and scalability of the scheme.

Nonlinear tracking control of a two link oil palm harvesting robot manipulator

Automated harvesting of oil palm trees requires research and development efforts in several robotics areas,including manipulator control.The objective of this paper was to apply nonlinear Lyapunov based control method for joint angles tracking of a two-link oil palm harvesting robot manipulator with uncertain system parameters.Four different controllers,including exact model knowledge,adaptive,sliding mode control and high gain feedback control were proposed and simulated.Stability analyses were performed for each case in the absence and presence of bounded disturbance.The controllers were then compared against each other based on their performances and control efforts.

A modified forward and backward reaching inverse kinematics based incremental control for space manipulators

Forward and backward reaching inverse kinematics(FABRIK)is an efficient two-stage iterative solver for inverse kinematics of spherical-joint manipulator without the calculation of Jacobian matrix.Based on FABRIK,this paper presents an incremental control scheme for a free-floating space manipulator consists of revolute joints and rigid links with the consideration of joint constraints and dynamic coupling effect.Due to the characteristics of FABRIK,it can induce large angular movements on specific joints.Apart from that,FABRIK maps three dimensional(3D)problem into two dimensional(2D)problem by a simple geometric projection.This operation can cause infinite loops in some cases.In order to overcome these issues and apply FABRIK on space manipulators,an increments allocation method is developed to constrain the angular movements as well as to re-orient the end-effector.The manipulator is re-positioned based on the momentum conservation law.Instead of pure target position tracking,the orientation control of the end-effector is also considered.Numerical simulation is performed to testify and demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed incremental control approach.

Parameter optimization of controllable local degree of freedom for reducing vibration of flexible manipulator

Parameter optimization of the controllable local degree of freedom is studied for reducing vibration of the flexible manipulator at the lowest possible cost. The controllable local degrees of freedom are suggested and introduced to the topological structure of the flexible manipulator, and used as an effective way to alleviate vibration through dynamic coupling. Parameters introduced by the controllable local degrees of freedom are analyzed and their influences on vibration reduction are investigated. A strategy to optimize these parameters is put forward and the corresponding optimization method is suggested based on Particle Swarm Optimization （PSO）. Simulations are conducted and results of case studies confirm that the proposed optimization method is effective in reducing vibration of the flexible manipulator at the lowest possible cost.

Sliding Mode and PI Controllers for Uncertain Flexible Joint Manipulator

This paper is dealing with the problem of tracking control for uncertain flexible joint manipulator robots driven by brushless direct current motor(BDCM). Flexibility of joint in the manipulator constitutes one of the most important sources of uncertainties. In order to achieve high performance, all parts of the manipulator including actuator have been modeled. To cancel the tracking error, a hysteresis current controller and speed controllers have been developed. To evaluate the effectiveness of speed controllers, a comparative study between proportional integral(PI) and sliding mode controllers has been performed. Finally, simulation results carried out in the Matlab simulink environment demonstrate the high precision of sliding mode controller compared with PI controller in the presence of uncertainties of joint flexibility.