Control strategies for robotic manipulators

This survey is aimed at presenting the major robust control strategies for rigid robot manipulators. The techniques discussed are feedback linearization/Computed torque control, Variable structure compensator, Passivity based approach and Disturbance observer based control. The first one is based on complete dynamic model of a robot. It results in simple linear control which offers guaranteed stability. Variable structure compensator uses a switching/relay action to overcome dynamic uncertainties and disturbances. Passivity based controller make use of passive structure of a robot. If passivity of a feedback system is proved, nonlinearities and uncertainties will not affect the stability. Disturbance observer based controllers estimate disturbances, which can be cancelled out to achieve a nominal model, for which a simple controller can then be designed. This paper, after explaining each control strategy in detail, finally compares these strategies for their pros and cons. Possible solutions to cope with the drawbacks have also been presented in tabular form. © 2012 IEEE

Development of Motion Control Systems for Hydraulically Actuated Cranes with Hanging Loads

Automation has been used in industrial processes for several decades to increase efficiency and safety. Tasks that are either dull, dangerous, or dirty can often be performed by machines in a reliable manner. This may provide a reduced risk to human life, and will typically give a lower economic cost. Industrial robots are a prime example of this, and have seen extensive use in the automotive industry and manufacturing plants. While these machines have been employed in a wide variety of industries, heavy duty lifting and handling equipment such as hydraulic cranes have typically been manually operated. This provides an opportunity to investigate and develop control systems to push lifting equipment towards the same level of automation found in the aforementioned industries. The use of winches and hanging loads on cranes give a set of challenges not typically found on robots, which requires careful consideration of both the safety aspect and precision of the pendulum-like motion. Another difference from industrial robots is the type of actuation systems used. While robots use electric motors, the cranes discussed in this thesis use hydraulic cylinders. As such, the dynamics of the machines and the control system designmay differ significantly. In addition, hydraulic cranes may experience significant deflection when lifting heavy loads, arising from both structural flexibility and the compressibility of the hydraulic fluid. The work presented in this thesis focuses on motion control of hydraulically actuated cranes. Motion control is an important topic when developing automation systems, as moving from one position to another is a common requirement for automated lifting operations. A novel path controller operating in actuator space is developed, which takes advantage of the load-independent flow control valves typically found on hydraulically actuated cranes. By operating in actuator space the motion of each cylinder is inherently minimized. To counteract the pendulum-like motion of the hanging payload, a novel anti-swing controller is developed and experimentally verified. The anti-swing controller is able to suppress the motion from the hanging load to increase safety and precision. To tackle the challenges associated with the flexibility of the crane, a deflection compensator is developed and experimentally verified. The deflection compensator is able to counteract both the static deflection due to gravity and dynamic de ection due to motion. Further, the topic of adaptive feedforward control of pressure compensated cylinders has been investigated. A novel adaptive differential controller has been developed and experimentally verified, which adapts to system uncertainties in both directions of motion. Finally, the use of electro-hydrostatic actuators for motion control of cranes has been investigated using numerical time domain simulations. A novel concept is proposed and investigated using simulations.publishedVersio

Adaptive Feedforward Control of a Pressure Compensated Differential Cylinder

This paper presents the design, simulation and experimental verification of adaptive feedforward motion control for a hydraulic differential cylinder. The proposed solution is implemented on a hydraulic loader crane. Based on common adaptation methods, a typical electro-hydraulic motion control system has been extended with a novel adaptive feedforward controller that has two separate feedforward states, i.e, one for each direction of motion. Simulations show convergence of the feedforward states, as well as 23% reduction in root mean square (RMS) cylinder position error compared to a fixed gain feedforward controller. The experiments show an even more pronounced advantage of the proposed controller, with an 80% reduction in RMS cylinder position error, and that the separate feedforward states are able to adapt to model uncertainties in both directions of motion.publishedVersio

Precise Positioning Control Strategy of Machine Tools: A Review

In this article, a precise positioning control strategy for the nonlinearity of machine tools is thoroughly reviewed. Precise positioning is crucial in machine tools industry where nonlinear phenomenon must be considered. Therefore, this paper aims to review various techniques used to enhance the precision of nonlinearity of machine tools. In the introduction, a significant review of machine tools is discussed based on deadzone phenomenon and high bandwidth. After that, linear control strategies are reviewed involving Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) and Cascade P/PI controller. This is followed by nonlinear control strategies, Nonlinear PID (NPID), Adaptive NPID (ANPID), Feedforward NPID (FNPID), Adaptive Robust Controller (ARC), Nominal Characteristics Trajectory Following (NCTF) controller and lastly, the fuzzy and neural network control is then reviewed. Finally, conclusions are presented according to the past researches conducted. Further studies regarding the topic can be improved by the implementation of several additional modules such as deadzone and feedforward compensators and disturbance observer that focus on both disturbance forces such as cutting force and friction force

Precise Positioning Control Strategy Of Machine Tools: A Review

In this article, a precise positioning control strategy for the nonlinearity of machine tools is thoroughly reviewed. Precise positioning is crucial in machine tools industry where nonlinear phenomenon must be considered. Therefore, this paper aims to review various techniques used to enhance the precision of nonlinearity of machine tools. In the introduction, a significant review of machine tools is discussed based on deadzone phenomenon and high bandwidth. After that, linear control strategies are reviewed involving Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) and Cascade P/PI controller. This is followed by nonlinear control strategies, Nonlinear PID (NPID), Adaptive NPID (ANPID), Feedforward NPID (FNPID), Adaptive Robust Controller (ARC), Nominal Characteristics Trajectory Following (NCTF) controller and lastly, the fuzzy and neural network control is then reviewed. Finally, conclusions are presented according to the past researches conducted. Further studies regarding the topic can be improved by the implementation of several additional modules such as deadzone and feedforward compensators and disturbance observer that focus on both disturbance forces such as cutting force and friction force

Vibration suppression in multi-body systems by means of disturbance filter design methods

This paper addresses the problem of interaction in mechanical multi-body systems and shows that subsystem interaction can be considerably minimized while increasing performance if an efficient disturbance model is used. In order to illustrate the advantage of the proposed intelligent disturbance filter, two linear model based techniques are considered: IMC and the model based predictive (MPC) approach. As an illustrative example, multivariable mass-spring-damper and quarter car systems are presented. An adaptation mechanism is introduced to account for linear parameter varying LPV conditions. In this paper we show that, even if the IMC control strategy was not designed for MIMO systems, if a proper filter is used, IMC can successfully deal with disturbance rejection in a multivariable system, and the results obtained are comparable with those obtained by a MIMO predictive control approach. The results suggest that both methods perform equally well, with similar numerical complexity and implementation effort

Artificial intelligent based friction modelling and compensation in motion control system

The interest in the study of friction in control engineering has been driven by the need for 10 precise motion control in most of industrial applications such as machine tools, robot 11 systems, semiconductor manufacturing systems and Mechatronics systems. Friction has 12 been experimentally shown to be a major factor in performance degradation in various 13 control tasks. Among the prominent effects of friction in motion control are: steady state 14 error to a reference command, slow response, periodic process of sticking and sliding (stick-15 slip) motion, as well as periodic oscillations about a reference point known as hunting when 16 an integral control is employed in the control scheme. Table 1 shows the effects and type of 17 friction as highlighted by Armstrong et. al.(1994). It is observed that, each of task is 18 dominated by at least one friction effect ranging from stiction, or/and kinetic to negative 19 friction (Stribeck). Hence, the need for accurate compensation of friction has become 20 important in high precision motion control. Several techniques to alleviate the effects of 21 friction have been reported in the literature (Dupont and Armstrong, 1993; Wahyudi, 2003; 22 Tjahjowidodo, 2004; Canudas, et. al., 1986). 23 One of the successful methods is the well-known model-based friction compensation 24 (Armstrong et al., 1994; Canudas de Wit et al., 1995 and Wen-Fang, 2007). In this method, 25 the effect of the friction is cancelled by applying additional control signal which generates a 26 torque/force. The generated torque/force has the same value (or approximately the same) 27 with the friction torque/force but in opposite direction