GA-based neural fuzzy control of flexible-link manipulators

The limitations of conventional model-based control mechanisms for flexible manipulator systems have stimulated the development of intelligent control mechanisms incorporating fuzzy logic and neural networks. Problems have been encountered in applying the traditional PD-, PI-, and PID-type fuzzy controllers to flexible-link manipulators. A PD-PI-type fuzzy controller has been developed where the membership functions are adjusted by tuning the scaling factors using a neural network. Such a network needs a sufficient number of neurons in the hidden layer to approximate the nonlinearity of the system. A simple realisable network is desirable and hence a single neuron network with a nonlinear activation function is used. It has been demonstrated that the sigmoidal function and its shape can represent the nonlinearity of the system. A genetic algorithm is used to learn the weights, biases and shape of the sigmoidal function of the neural network

Non-conventional control of the flexible pole-cart balancing problem

Emerging techniques of intelligent or learning control seem attractive for applications in manufacturing and robotics. It is however important to understand the capabilities of such control systems. In the past the inverted pendulum has been used as a test case. The thesis begins with an examination of whether the inverted pendulum or polecart balancing problem is a representative problem for experimentation for learning controllers for complex nonlinear systems. Results of previous research concerning the inverted pendulum problem are presented to show that this problem is not sufficiently testing. This thesis therefore concentrates on the control of the inverted pendulum with an additional degree of freedom as a testing demonstrator problem for learning control system experimentation. A flexible pole is used in place of a rigid one. The transverse displacement of the flexible pole adds a degree of freedom to the system. The dynamics of this new system are more complex as the system needs additional parameters to be defIned due to the pole's elastic deflection. This problem also has many of the signifIcant features associated with flexible robots with lightweight links as applied in manufacturing. Novel neural network and fuzzy control systems are presented that control such a system both in simulation and real time. A fuzzy-genetic approach is also demonstrated that allows the creation of fuzzy control systems without the use of extensive knowledge

Arm Robot Manipulator Design and Control for Trajectory Tracking; a Review

Arm robot manipulator heavily applied in industries ranging from welding, pick-and-place, assembly, packaging, labeling, etc. Trajectory planning and tracking is the fundamental design of an arm robot manipulator. The trajectory is set and determined to satisfy a certain criterion effectively and optimally. Optimization of robot trajectory is necessary to ensure the good quality product and to save energy, and this optimization can be provided by the right modeling and design. This paper presents a review study of arm-robot manipulator design and control for trajectory tracking by investigating the modeling of an arm robot manipulator starting from kinematics, dynamics and the application of the more advanced methods. The idea of this paper comes from the popularity of inverse kinematics among students

Advanced Strategies for Robot Manipulators

Amongst the robotic systems, robot manipulators have proven themselves to be of increasing importance and are widely adopted to substitute for human in repetitive and/or hazardous tasks. Modern manipulators are designed complicatedly and need to do more precise, crucial and critical tasks. So, the simple traditional control methods cannot be efficient, and advanced control strategies with considering special constraints are needed to establish. In spite of the fact that groundbreaking researches have been carried out in this realm until now, there are still many novel aspects which have to be explored

Mechatronics of systems with undetermined configurations

This work is submitted for the award of a PhD by published works. It deals with some of the efforts of the author over the last ten years in the field of Mechatronics. Mechatronics is a new area invented by the Japanese in the late 1970's, it consists of a synthesis of computers and electronics to improve mechanical systems. To control any mechanical event three fundamental features must be brought together: the sensors used to observe the process, the control software, including the control algorithm used and thirdly the actuator that provides the stimulus to achieve the end result. Simulation, which plays such an important part in the Mechatronics process, is used in both in continuous and discrete forms. The author has spent some considerable time developing skills in all these areas. The author was certainly the first at Middlesex to appreciate the new developments in Mechatronics and their significance for manufacturing. The author was one of the first mechanical engineers to recognise the significance of the new transputer chip. This was applied to the LQG optimal control of a cinefilm copying process. A 300% improvement in operating speed was achieved, together with tension control. To make more efficient use of robots they have to be made both faster and cheaper. The author found extremely low natural frequencies of vibration, ranging from 3 to 25 Hz. This limits the speed of response of existing robots. The vibration data was some of the earliest available in this field, certainly in the UK. Several schemes have been devised to control the flexible robot and maintain the required precision. Actuator technology is one area where mechatronic systems have been the subject of intense development. At Middlesex we have improved on the Aexator pneumatic muscle actuator, enabling it to be used with a precision of about 2 mm. New control challenges have been undertaken now in the field of machine tool chatter and the prevention of slip. A variety of novel and traditional control algorithms have been investigated in order to find out the best approach to solve this problem

A hybrid adaptive control strategy for a smart prosthetic hand

This paper presents a hybrid of a soft computing technique of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and a hard computing technique of adaptive control for a two- dimensional movement of a prosthetic hand with a thumb and index finger. In articular, ANFIS is used for inverse kinematics, and the adaptive control is used for linearized dynamics to minimize tracking error. The simulations of this hybrid controller, when compared with the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller showed enhanced performance. Work is in progress to extend this methodology to a five-fingered, three-dimensional prosthetic hand.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version