Force assistant master-slave telerehabilitation robotic system

A prototype of the master slave telerehabilitation robotic system with force feedback is developed. This system contains a pair of robots with the master being operated by the therapist and the slave following the master to guide the patients to exercise. A slave device with a slave controller is designed to stretch and mobilize the impaired elbow joints accurately and safely. A master device with a master controller is designed to control/monitor the procedure of treatment and assess the outcome of treatment remotely and accurately. By using the twoport network theory and the circuit equivalent impedance models, the position-force control scheme is designed to generate force feedback for the therapist who is to be informed of the interaction force between the subject and the robot arm during exercise. Experiments were conducted with a healthy male. Results show that the therapist can guide the patient to exercise by the master arm and can feel the interaction forces between the impaired arm and the robot. Compared with the traditional therapy, this system is more cost-efficient, more convenient and safer for both the stroke patients and the clinicians.

Impedance force control for position controlled robotic manipulators under the constraint of unknown environments

A force control strategy for position controlled robotic manipulators is presented. On line force feedback data are employed to estimate the local shape of the unknown constraint. The estimated vectors are used to generate the virtual reference trajectory for the target impedance model that is driven by the force error to produce command position. By following the command position trajectory the robotic manipulator can follow the unknown constraint surface while keeping an acceptable force error in a manner depicted by the target impedance model. Computer simulation on a 3 linked planar manipulator and experimental studies on an Adept 3, an SCARA type robotic manipulator, are conducted to verify the force tracking capability of the proposed control strategy.

Adaptive state-constrained/model-free iterative sliding mode control for aerial robot trajectory tracking

This paper develops a novel hierarchical control strategy for improving the trajectory tracking capability of aerial robots under parameter uncertainties.The hierarchical control strategy is composed of an adaptive sliding mode controller and a model-free iterative sliding mode controller(MFISMC).A position controller is designed based on adaptive sliding mode control(SMC)to safely drive the aerial robot and ensure fast state convergence under external disturbances.Additionally,the MFISMC acts as an attitude controller to estimate the unmodeled dynamics without detailed knowledge of aerial robots.Then,the adaption laws are derived with the Lyapunov theory to guarantee the asymptotic tracking of the system state.Finally,to demonstrate the performance and robustness of the proposed control strategy,numerical simulations are carried out,which are also compared with other conventional strategies,such as proportional-integralderivative(PID),backstepping(BS),and SMC.The simulation results indicate that the proposed hierarchical control strategy can fulfill zero steady-state error and achieve faster convergence compared with conventional strategies.

Adaptive Trajectory Tracking Control for Nonholonomic Wheeled Mobile Robots:A Barrier Function Sliding Mode Approach

The trajectory tracking control performance of nonholonomic wheeled mobile robots(NWMRs)is subject to nonholonomic constraints,system uncertainties,and external disturbances.This paper proposes a barrier function-based adaptive sliding mode control(BFASMC)method to provide high-precision,fast-response performance and robustness for NWMRs.Compared with the conventional adaptive sliding mode control,the proposed control strategy can guarantee that the sliding mode variables converge to a predefined neighborhood of origin with a predefined reaching time independent of the prior knowledge of the uncertainties and disturbances bounds.Another advantage of the proposed algorithm is that the control gains can be adaptively adjusted to follow the disturbances amplitudes thanks to the barrier function.The benefit is that the overestimation of control gain can be eliminated,resulting in chattering reduction.Moreover,a modified barrier function-like control gain is employed to prevent the input saturation problem due to the physical limit of the actuator.The stability analysis and comparative experiments demonstrate that the proposed BFASMC can ensure the prespecified convergence performance of the NWMR system output variables and strong robustness against uncertainties/disturbances.

A finite-time fuzzy adaptive output-feedback fault-tolerant control for underactuated wheeled mobile robots systems

This paper investigates the adaptive fuzzy finite-time output-feedback fault-tolerant control (FTC) problemfor a class of nonlinear underactuated wheeled mobile robots (UWMRs) system with intermittent actuatorfaults. The UWMR system includes unknown nonlinear dynamics and immeasurable states. Fuzzy logic systems(FLSs) are utilized to work out immeasurable functions. Furthermore, with the support of the backsteppingcontrol technique and adaptive fuzzy state observer, a fuzzy adaptive finite-time output-feedback FTC scheme isdeveloped under the intermittent actuator faults. It is testifying the scheme can ensure the controlled nonlinearUWMRs is stable and the estimation errors are convergent. Finally, the comparison results and simulationvalidate the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy adaptive finite-time FTC approach.

Adaptive admittance tracking control for interactive robot with prescribed performance

An adaptive control approach is presented in this paper for tracking desired trajectories in interactive manipulators. The controller design incorporates prescribed performance functions (PPFs) to improve dynamic performance. Notably, the performance of the output error is confined in an envelope characterized by exponential convergence, leading to convergence to zero. This feature ensures a prompt response from admittance control and establishes a reliable safety framework for interactions. Simulation results provide practical insights,demonstrating the viability of the control scheme proposed in this paper.

A Novel Disturbance Observer Based Fixed-Time Sliding Mode Control for Robotic Manipulators With Global Fast Convergence

This paper proposes a new global fixed-time sliding mode control strategy for the trajectory tracking control of uncertain robotic manipulators.First,a fixed-time disturbance observer(FTDO) is designed to deal with the adverse effects of model uncertainties and external disturbances in the manipulator systems.Then an adaptive scheme is used and the adaptive FTDO(AFTDO) is developed,so that the priori knowledge of the lumped disturbance is not required.Further,a new non-singular fast terminal sliding mode(NFTSM) surface is designed by using an arctan function,which helps to overcome the singularity problem and enhance the robustness of the system.Based on the estimation of the lumped disturbance by the AFTDO,a fixed-time non-singular fast terminal sliding mode controller(FTNFTSMC)is developed to guarantee the trajectory tracking errors converge to zero within a fixed time.The settling time is independent of the initial state of the system.In addition,the stability of the AFTDO and FTNFTSMC is strictly proved by using Lyapunov method.Finally,the fixed-time NFESM(FTNFTSM) algorithm is validated on a 2-link manipulator and comparisons with other existing sliding mode controllers(SMCs) are performed.The comparative results confirm that the FTNFTSMC has superior control performance.

Distributionally robust model predictive control for constrained robotic manipulators based on neural network modeling

A distributionally robust model predictive control(DRMPC)scheme is proposed based on neural network(NN)modeling to achieve the trajectory tracking control of robot manipulators with state and control torque constraints.First,an NN is used to fit the motion data of robot manipulators for data-driven dynamic modeling,converting it into a linear prediction model through gradients.Then,by statistically analyzing the stochastic characteristics of the NN modeling errors,a distributionally robust model predictive controller is designed based on the chance constraints,and the optimization problem is transformed into a tractable quadratic programming(QP)problem under the distributionally robust optimization(DRO)framework.The recursive feasibility and convergence of the proposed algorithm are proven.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified through numerical simulation.

Adaptive Nonlinear PD Controller of Two-Wheeled Self-Balancing Robot with External Force

This paper proposes an adaptive nonlinear proportional-derivative(ANPD)controller for a two-wheeled self-balancing robot(TWSB)modeled by the Lagrange equation with external forces.The proposed control scheme is designed based on the combination of a nonlinear proportional-derivative(NPD)controller and a genetic algorithm,in which the proportional-derivative(PD)parameters are updated online based on the tracking error and the preset error threshold.In addition,the genetic algorithm is employed to adaptively select initial controller parameters,contributing to system stability and improved control accuracy.The proposed controller is basic in design yet simple to implement.The ANPD controller has the advantage of being computationally lightweight and providing high robustness against external forces.The stability of the closed-loop system is rigorously analyzed and verified using Lyapunov theory,providing theoretical assurance of its robustness.Simulations and experimental results show that the TWSB robot with the proposed ANPD controller achieves quick balance and tracks target values with very small errors,demonstrating the effectiveness and performance of the proposed controller.The proposed ANPD controller demonstrates significant improvements in balancing and tracking performance for two-wheeled self-balancing robots,which has great applicability in the field of robot control systems.This represents a promising solution for applications requiring precise and stable motion control under varying external conditions.

Effect of puboprostatic ligament preservation during robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy on early continence:Randomized controlled trial

Objective:To prove the effectiveness of puboprostatic ligament-preserving robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical(RARP)on enhancing early continence.Methods:Ninety-two patients with localized adenocarcinoma of the prostate scheduled for RARP from April 2018 to January 2019 were prospectively single-blinded and randomized into two groups,standard RARP(Group A)and puboprostatic ligament-sparing RARP(Group B).The outcomes were continent status at Foley catheter removal and 3 months after surgery using the score from the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form(ICIQ-UI SF),pad usage,pathological margin status,blood loss,operative time,and complications.Results:Ninety-six patients were randomized(46 patients in each group),with a mean±SD age of 67.30±6.07 years.There were no differences in baseline characteristics.At 3 months after surgery,ICIQ-UI SF score(mean±SD)in Group A was significantly higher than Group B(8.74±4.28 vs.6.93±3.96,p=0.038)but no difference at Foley catheter removal.Group A also had a significant higher score for interference with daily life(median[interquartile range,IQR]:4[1,5]vs.2[0,4];p=0.041)and higher pad use(median[IQR]:2[0,3]vs.1[1,2];p=0.041)at 3 months.One case in Group A had complete or severe incontinence(>5 pads/day)at 3 months.Groups A and B did not exhibit significant difference in margin status(p=0.828).There were no differences in operative time,blood loss,drain output or complications.Conclusions:Use of puboprostatic ligament-sparing RARP could be a method to accelerate early continence without affecting the final oncological outcome.

Active Disturbance Rejection Control of Hydraulic Quadruped Robots Rotary Joints for Improved Impact Resistance

Hydraulic actuated quadruped robots have bright application prospects and significant research values in unmanned area investigation,disaster rescue and other scenarios,due to the advantages of high payload and high power to weight ratio.Among these fields,inevitable collision of robots may occur when contact with unknown objects,step on empty objects,or collapse,all of which have an impact on the working hydraulic system.To overcome the unknown external disturbances,this paper proposes an active disturbance rejection control(ADRC)strategy of double vane hydraulic rotary actuators for the hip joints of the quadruped robots.Considering the order of the valve-controlled actuator model,a three-stage tracking differentiator,a four-stage extended state observer,and a state error feedback controller are designed relatively,and the extended state observer is adopted to observe and compensate the uncertainty of external load torque of the system.The effectiveness of the ADRC method is verified in simulation environment and a single joint experimental platform.Moreover,the impact experiments of the limb leg unit are carried out after introducing the proposed ADRC strategy into hip joint,the limb leg unit of quadruped robots presents better impact resistance ability.

A master-slave generalized predictive synchronization control for preheating process of multi-cavity hot runner system

As a key component of injection molding,multi-cavity hot runner(MCHR)system faces the crucial problem of polymer melt filling imbalance among the cavities.The thermal imbalance in the system has been considered as the leading cause.Hence,the solution may rest with the synchronization of those heating processes in MCHR system.This paper proposes a’Master-Slave’generalized predictive synchronization control(MS-GPSC)method with’Mr.Slowest’strategy for preheating stage of MCHR system.The core of the proposed method is choosing the heating process with slowest dynamics as the’Master’to track the setpoint,while the other heating processes are treated as‘Slaves’tracking the output of’Master’.This proposed method is shown to have the good ability of temperature synchronization.The corresponding analysis is conducted on parameters tuning and stability,simulations and experiments show the strategy is effective.

Tension Active Disturbance Rejection Control of Automatic Yarn Splicing Robots for Ring Spinning

Automatic splicing of interrupted yarns in ring spinning has always been a problem in the industry.Factors such as low yarn strengths and environmental influence on yarn tensions make it difficult to control the yarn tension during the robotic splicing process.The purpose of this research is to design active disturbance rejection control(ADRC)for a third-order nonlinear tension system subject to external disturbances.Firstly,a third-order extended state observer(ESO)is designed to achieve the suppression and the compensation of the internal modeling error and the external disturbances of the system.Secondly,the adaptive gain error feedback control and the filtering process are designed to reduce the influence of sensor noise on the disturbance observation.Finally,the tension control during the splicing process is simulated and experimented,and the experiments show that the method has good robustness in the tension tracking task under a dynamic environment,which verifies the effectiveness of the method.

Design of trotting controller for the position-controlled quadruped robot

This work presents a controller designed for position-controlled quadrupedal dynamic locomotion,aiming at simple and robust trotting control. The controller takes the torso attitude angles and velocities into planning foot trajectories. Firstly design of the servo motor actuated quadruped robot is introduced and the kinematic equations are deduced. Then a scheme is presented for controlling the robot torso attitude based on the virtual leg model. Furthermore,it demonstrates the design of the controller which enables the robot to have a wide range of trotting gaits and omni-directional motions. Finally,results of robust trotting in various speeds,path tracking and push recovery in simulation are reported,and results of trotting on real quadruped robots will be studied.

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.

Intelligent Sensing and Control of Road Construction Robot Scenes Based on Road Construction

Automatic control technology is the basis of road robot improvement,according to the characteristics of construction equipment and functions,the research will be input type perception from positioning acquisition,real-world monitoring,the process will use RTK-GNSS positional perception technology,by projecting the left side of the earth from Gauss-Krueger projection method,and then carry out the Cartesian conversion based on the characteristics of drawing;steering control system is the core of the electric drive unmanned module,on the basis of the analysis of the composition of the steering system of unmanned engineering vehicles,the steering system key components such as direction,torque sensor,drive motor and other models are established,the joint simulation model of unmanned engineering vehicles is established,the steering controller is designed using the PID method,the simulation results show that the control method can meet the construction path demand for automatic steering.The path planning will first formulate the construction area with preset values and realize the steering angle correction during driving by PID algorithm,and never realize the construction-based path planning,and the results show that the method can control the straight path within the error of 10 cm and the curve error within 20 cm.With the collaboration of various modules,the automatic construction simulation results of this robot show that the design path and control method is effective.

Mobile Detecting Robot Controlled by Smartphone Based on iOS

The proposed scheme is composed of a smartphone, a vehicle equipped with Wi-Fi module and an IPCam working as a detecting robot to explore the unknown environment. Besides, another vehicle equipped with Wi-Fi module is also developed as a trunk robot to extend the detecting range. On the other hand, these vehicles are designed to be driven by the smartphone based on iOS (an iPod Touch in the experiments) via Wi-Fi module along with some proper designs of control circuit mounted on the vehicles. By the audio-visual feedback signals from IPCam, the real-time scenario from the detecting area not only can be shown on the screen of the smartphone but also provides the information of the detected environment in order to guide the robot. Two control approaches were provided in the proposed control scheme, the touch-panel control and the smartphone-status control, to drive the vehicles with the help of visual feedback on the screen of the smartphone. Moreover, the trajectories of the robots were also recorded for further applications. Some experimental results are given to validate the satisfactory performance of the proposed control scheme.

Adaptive Robust Control with Leakage-Type Control Law for Trajectory Tracking of Exoskeleton Robots

This paper investigates the trajectory following problem of exoskeleton robots with numerous constraints. However, as a typical nonlinear system with variability and parameter uncertainty, it is difficult to accurately achieve the trajectory tracking control for exoskeletons. In this paper, we present a robust control of trajectory tracking control based on servo constraints. Firstly, we consider the uncertainties (e.g., modelling errors, initial condition deviations, structural vibrations, and other unknown external disturbances) in the exoskeleton system, which are time-varying and bounded. Secondly, we establish the dynamic model and formulate a close-loop connection between the dynamic model and the real world. Then, the trajectory tracking issue is regarded as a servo constraint problem, and an adaptive robust control with leakage-type adaptive law is proposed with the guaranteed Lyapunov stability. Finally, we conduct numerical simulations to verify the performance of the proposed controller.

Hybrid event based control architecture for tele-robotic systems controlled through Internet

A new hybrid event based control architecture for tele-robotic systems controlled through the Internet is pro-posed in this paper. Different from the traditional event based control method, the new framework does not require every part of the system to be strictly event synchronized. Instead, it allows time referenced control components to be integrated into this framework, which makes it more convenient to develop Internet based control systems. Since there are two reference variables, time and event, in this architecture, how to coordinate these components with different references to keep the stability of the whole system is discussed in detail in this paper. To verify this new idea, an experiment was conducted to control the end effector of a PUMA robot tracking a continuous state trajectory given on-line by the remote operator. Ex-perimental results confirmed the stability of such systems being controlled through the Internet in real-time.

Research on Master-slave Telerobot Force Telepresence Technology

A 3 DOF master-slave telerobot system is established for study on force telepresence technology. A force feedback and position control scheme is adopted in the bilateral force response control system,and force fidelity and controllability experiments demonstrate feasibility of the con-trol system.