1,077 research outputs found
A Stability Analysis for the Acceleration-based Robust Position Control of Robot Manipulators via Disturbance Observer
This paper proposes a new nonlinear stability analysis for the
acceleration-based robust position control of robot manipulators by using
Disturbance Observer (DOb). It is shown that if the nominal inertia matrix is
properly tuned in the design of DOb, then the position error asymptotically
goes to zero in regulation control and is uniformly ultimately bounded in
trajectory tracking control. As the bandwidth of DOb and the nominal inertia
matrix are increased, the bound of error shrinks, i.e., the robust stability
and performance of the position control system are improved. However, neither
the bandwidth of DOb nor the nominal inertia matrix can be freely increased due
to practical design constraints, e.g., the robust position controller becomes
more noise sensitive when they are increased. The proposed stability analysis
provides insights regarding the dynamic behavior of DOb-based robust motion
control systems. It is theoretically and experimentally proved that
non-diagonal elements of the nominal inertia matrix are useful to improve the
stability and adjust the trade-off between the robustness and noise
sensitivity. The validity of the proposal is verified by simulation and
experimental results.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, Journa
3LP: a linear 3D-walking model including torso and swing dynamics
In this paper, we present a new model of biped locomotion which is composed
of three linear pendulums (one per leg and one for the whole upper body) to
describe stance, swing and torso dynamics. In addition to double support, this
model has different actuation possibilities in the swing hip and stance ankle
which could be widely used to produce different walking gaits. Without the need
for numerical time-integration, closed-form solutions help finding periodic
gaits which could be simply scaled in certain dimensions to modulate the motion
online. Thanks to linearity properties, the proposed model can provide a
computationally fast platform for model predictive controllers to predict the
future and consider meaningful inequality constraints to ensure feasibility of
the motion. Such property is coming from describing dynamics with joint torques
directly and therefore, reflecting hardware limitations more precisely, even in
the very abstract high level template space. The proposed model produces
human-like torque and ground reaction force profiles and thus, compared to
point-mass models, it is more promising for precise control of humanoid robots.
Despite being linear and lacking many other features of human walking like CoM
excursion, knee flexion and ground clearance, we show that the proposed model
can predict one of the main optimality trends in human walking, i.e. nonlinear
speed-frequency relationship. In this paper, we mainly focus on describing the
model and its capabilities, comparing it with human data and calculating
optimal human gait variables. Setting up control problems and advanced
biomechanical analysis still remain for future works.Comment: Journal paper under revie
Full-Body Torque-Level Non-linear Model Predictive Control for Aerial Manipulation
Non-linear model predictive control (nMPC) is a powerful approach to control
complex robots (such as humanoids, quadrupeds, or unmanned aerial manipulators
(UAMs)) as it brings important advantages over other existing techniques. The
full-body dynamics, along with the prediction capability of the optimal control
problem (OCP) solved at the core of the controller, allows to actuate the robot
in line with its dynamics. This fact enhances the robot capabilities and
allows, e.g., to perform intricate maneuvers at high dynamics while optimizing
the amount of energy used. Despite the many similarities between humanoids or
quadrupeds and UAMs, full-body torque-level nMPC has rarely been applied to
UAMs.
This paper provides a thorough description of how to use such techniques in
the field of aerial manipulation. We give a detailed explanation of the
different parts involved in the OCP, from the UAM dynamical model to the
residuals in the cost function. We develop and compare three different nMPC
controllers: Weighted MPC, Rail MPC, and Carrot MPC, which differ on the
structure of their OCPs and on how these are updated at every time step. To
validate the proposed framework, we present a wide variety of simulated case
studies. First, we evaluate the trajectory generation problem, i.e., optimal
control problems solved offline, involving different kinds of motions (e.g.,
aggressive maneuvers or contact locomotion) for different types of UAMs. Then,
we assess the performance of the three nMPC controllers, i.e., closed-loop
controllers solved online, through a variety of realistic simulations. For the
benefit of the community, we have made available the source code related to
this work.Comment: Submitted to Transactions on Robotics. 17 pages, 16 figure
A Passivity-based Nonlinear Admittance Control with Application to Powered Upper-limb Control under Unknown Environmental Interactions
This paper presents an admittance controller based on the passivity theory
for a powered upper-limb exoskeleton robot which is governed by the nonlinear
equation of motion. Passivity allows us to include a human operator and
environmental interaction in the control loop. The robot interacts with the
human operator via F/T sensor and interacts with the environment mainly via
end-effectors. Although the environmental interaction cannot be detected by any
sensors (hence unknown), passivity allows us to have natural interaction. An
analysis shows that the behavior of the actual system mimics that of a nominal
model as the control gain goes to infinity, which implies that the proposed
approach is an admittance controller. However, because the control gain cannot
grow infinitely in practice, the performance limitation according to the
achievable control gain is also analyzed. The result of this analysis indicates
that the performance in the sense of infinite norm increases linearly with the
control gain. In the experiments, the proposed properties were verified using 1
degree-of-freedom testbench, and an actual powered upper-limb exoskeleton was
used to lift and maneuver the unknown payload.Comment: Accepted in IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH
Oscillation Damping Control of Pendulum-like Manipulation Platform using Moving Masses
This paper presents an approach to damp out the oscillatory motion of the
pendulum-like hanging platform on which a robotic manipulator is mounted. To
this end, moving masses were installed on top of the platform. In this paper,
asymptotic stability of the platform (which implies oscillation damping) is
achieved by designing reference acceleration of the moving masses properly. A
main feature of this work is that we can achieve asymptotic stability of not
only the platform, but also the moving masses, which may be challenging due to
the under-actuation nature. The proposed scheme is validated by the simulation
studies.Comment: IFAC Symposium on Robot Control (SYROCO) 201
Reachability-based Identification, Analysis, and Control Synthesis of Robot Systems
We introduce reachability analysis for the formal examination of robots. We
propose a novel identification method, which preserves reachset conformance of
linear systems. We additionally propose a simultaneous identification and
control synthesis scheme to obtain optimal controllers with formal guarantees.
In a case study, we examine the effectiveness of using reachability analysis to
synthesize a state-feedback controller, a velocity observer, and an output
feedback controller.Comment: This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication.
Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no
longer be accessibl
Decentralized Control of Uncertain Multi-Agent Systems with Connectivity Maintenance and Collision Avoidance
This paper addresses the problem of navigation control of a general class of
uncertain nonlinear multi-agent systems in a bounded workspace of
with static obstacles. In particular, we propose a decentralized
control protocol such that each agent reaches a predefined position at the
workspace, while using only local information based on a limited sensing
radius. The proposed scheme guarantees that the initially connected agents
remain always connected. In addition, by introducing certain distance
constraints, we guarantee inter-agent collision avoidance, as well as,
collision avoidance with the obstacles and the boundary of the workspace. The
proposed controllers employ a class of Decentralized Nonlinear Model Predictive
Controllers (DNMPC) under the presence of disturbances and uncertainties.
Finally, simulation results verify the validity of the proposed framework.Comment: IEEE European Control Conference (ECC), Limassol, Cyprus, June 201
On Neuromechanical Approaches for the Study of Biological Grasp and Manipulation
Biological and robotic grasp and manipulation are undeniably similar at the
level of mechanical task performance. However, their underlying fundamental
biological vs. engineering mechanisms are, by definition, dramatically
different and can even be antithetical. Even our approach to each is
diametrically opposite: inductive science for the study of biological systems
vs. engineering synthesis for the design and construction of robotic systems.
The past 20 years have seen several conceptual advances in both fields and the
quest to unify them. Chief among them is the reluctant recognition that their
underlying fundamental mechanisms may actually share limited common ground,
while exhibiting many fundamental differences. This recognition is particularly
liberating because it allows us to resolve and move beyond multiple paradoxes
and contradictions that arose from the initial reasonable assumption of a large
common ground. Here, we begin by introducing the perspective of neuromechanics,
which emphasizes that real-world behavior emerges from the intimate
interactions among the physical structure of the system, the mechanical
requirements of a task, the feasible neural control actions to produce it, and
the ability of the neuromuscular system to adapt through interactions with the
environment. This allows us to articulate a succinct overview of a few salient
conceptual paradoxes and contradictions regarding under-determined vs.
over-determined mechanics, under- vs. over-actuated control, prescribed vs.
emergent function, learning vs. implementation vs. adaptation, prescriptive vs.
descriptive synergies, and optimal vs. habitual performance. We conclude by
presenting open questions and suggesting directions for future research. We
hope this frank assessment of the state-of-the-art will encourage and guide
these communities to continue to interact and make progress in these important
areas
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