Fuzzy sliding mode control of a multi-DOF parallel robot in rehabilitation environment

Multi-degrees of freedom (DOF) parallel robot, due to its compact structure and high operation accuracy, is a promising candidate for medical rehabilitation devices. However, its controllability relating to the nonlinear characteristics challenges its interaction with human subjects during the rehabilitation process. In this paper, we investigated the control of a parallel robot system using fuzzy sliding mode control (FSMC) for constructing a simple controller in practical rehabilitation, where a fuzzy logic system was used as the additional compensator to the sliding mode controller (SMC) for performance enhancement and chattering elimination. The system stability is guaranteed by the Lyapunov stability theorem. Experiments were conducted on a lower limb rehabilitation robot, which was built based on kinematics and dynamics analysis of the 6-DOF Stewart platform. The experimental results showed that the position tracking precision of the proposed FSMC is sufficient in practical applications, while the velocity chattering had been effectively reduced in comparison with the conventional FSMC with parameters tuned by fuzzy systems

Experimental Validation of a Sliding Mode Control for a Stewart Platform Used in Aerospace Inspection Applications

The authors introduce a new controller, aimed at industrial domains, that improves the performance and accuracy of positioning systems based on Stewart platforms. More specifically, this paper presents, and validates experimentally, a sliding mode control for precisely positioning a Stewart platform used as a mobile platform in non-destructive inspection (NDI) applications. The NDI application involves exploring the specimen surface of aeronautical coupons at different heights. In order to avoid defocusing and blurred images, the platform must be positioned accurately to keep a uniform distance between the camera and the surface of the specimen. This operation requires the coordinated control of the six electro mechanic actuators (EMAs). The platform trajectory and the EMA lengths can be calculated by means of the forward and inverse kinematics of the Stewart platform. Typically, a proportional integral (PI) control approach is used for this purpose but unfortunately this control scheme is unable to position the platform accurately enough. For this reason, a sliding mode control (SMC) strategy is proposed. The SMC requires: (1) a priori knowledge of the bounds on system uncertainties, and (2) the analysis of the system stability in order to ensure that the strategy executes adequately. The results of this work show a higher performance of the SMC when compared with the PI control strategy: the average absolute error is reduced from 3.45 mm in PI to 0.78 mm in the SMC. Additionally, the duty cycle analysis shows that although PI control demands a smoother actuator response, the power consumption is similar.This research was funded by the Basque Government through the project SMAR3NAK (ELKARTEK KK-2019/00051), by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (RTI2018-094669-B-C31) and by Aernnova and the Diputación Foral de Álava (DFA) through the project CONAVAUTIN 2 (Collaboration Agreement)

PID control with gravity compensation for hydraulic 6-DOF parallel manipulator

Abstract A novel model-based controller for 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) hydraulic driven parallel manipulator considering the nonlinear characteristic of hydraulic systems-proportional plus derivative with dynamic gravity compensation controller is presented, in order to improve control performance and eliminate steady state errors. In this paper, 6-DOF parallel manipulator is described as multi-rigid-body systems, the dynamic models including mechanical system and hydraulic driven system are built using Kane method and hydromechanics methodology, the numerical forward kinematics and inverse kinematics is solved with Newton-Raphson method and close-form solutions. The model-based controller is developed with feedback of actuator length, desired trajectories and system states acquired by forward kinematics solution as the input and servovalve current as its output. The hydraulic system is decoupled by local velocity compensation in inner control loop prerequisite for the controller. The performance revolving stability, accuracy and robustness of the proposed control scheme for 6-DOF parallel manipulator is analyzed in theory and simulation. The theoretical analysis and simulation results indicate the controller can improve the control performance and eliminate the steady state errors of 6-DOF hydraulic driven parallel manipulator

Complete kinematic analysis of the Stewart-Gough platform by unit quaternions

In this paper, a complete analysis of Stewart–Gough platform kinematics by unit quaternions is proposed. Even when unit quaternions have been implemented in different applications (including a kinematic analysis of the Stewart platform mechanism), the research regarding the application of this approach is limited only to the analysis of some issues related to the kinematic properties of this parallel mechanism. For this reason, a complete analysis of the Stewart–Gough platform is shown. The derivation of the inverse and forward kinematics of the Stewart platform using unit quaternions shows that they are suitable to represent the orientation of the upper platform due to their simplicity, equivalence, and compact representation as compared to rotation matrices. Then, the leg velocities are derived to compute these values under different conditionsPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

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

Visual Servoing in Robotics

Visual servoing is a well-known approach to guide robots using visual information. Image processing, robotics, and control theory are combined in order to control the motion of a robot depending on the visual information extracted from the images captured by one or several cameras. With respect to vision issues, a number of issues are currently being addressed by ongoing research, such as the use of different types of image features (or different types of cameras such as RGBD cameras), image processing at high velocity, and convergence properties. As shown in this book, the use of new control schemes allows the system to behave more robustly, efficiently, or compliantly, with fewer delays. Related issues such as optimal and robust approaches, direct control, path tracking, or sensor fusion are also addressed. Additionally, we can currently find visual servoing systems being applied in a number of different domains. This book considers various aspects of visual servoing systems, such as the design of new strategies for their application to parallel robots, mobile manipulators, teleoperation, and the application of this type of control system in new areas

Sliding-Mode control for high-precision motion control systems

In many of today's mechanical systems, high precision motion has become a necessity. As performance requirements become more stringent, classical industrial controllers such as PID can no longer provide satisfactory results. Although many control approaches have been proposed in the literature, control problems related to plant parameter uncertainties, disturbances and high-order dynamics remain as big challenges for control engineers. Theory of Sliding Mode Control provides a systematic approach to controller design while allowing stability in the presence of parametric uncertainties and external disturbances. In this thesis a brief study of the concepts behind Sliding Mode Control will be shown. Description of Sliding Mode Control in discrete-time systems and the continuous Sliding Mode Control will be shown. The description will be supported with the design and robustness analysis of Sliding Mode Control for discrete-time systems. In this thesis a simplified methodology based on discrete-time Sliding Mode Control will be presented. The main issues that this thesis aims to solve are friction and internal nonlinearities. The thesis can be outlined as follows: -Implementation of discrete-time Sliding Mode Control to systems with nonlinearities and friction. Systems include; piezoelectric actuators that are known to suffer from nonlinear hysteresis behavior and ball-screw drives that suffer from high friction. Finally, the controller will be implemented on a 6-dof Stewart platform which is a system of higher complexity. -It will also be shown that performance can be enhanced with the aid of disturbance compensation based on a nominal plant disturbance observer

Design, Development, and Evaluation of a Teleoperated Master-Slave Surgical System for Breast Biopsy under Continuous MRI Guidance

The goal of this project is to design and develop a teleoperated master-slave surgical system that can potentially assist the physician in performing breast biopsy with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatible robotic system. MRI provides superior soft-tissue contrast compared to other imaging modalities such as computed tomography or ultrasound and is used for both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The strong magnetic field and the limited space inside the MRI bore, however, restrict direct means of breast biopsy while performing real-time imaging. Therefore, current breast biopsy procedures employ a blind targeting approach based on magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained a priori. Due to possible patient involuntary motion or inaccurate insertion through the registration grid, such approach could lead to tool tip positioning errors thereby affecting diagnostic accuracy and leading to a long and painful process, if repeated procedures are required. Hence, it is desired to develop the aforementioned teleoperation system to take advantages of real-time MR imaging and avoid multiple biopsy needle insertions, improving the procedure accuracy as well as reducing the sampling errors. The design, implementation, and evaluation of the teleoperation system is presented in this dissertation. A MRI-compatible slave robot is implemented, which consists of a 1 degree of freedom (DOF) needle driver, a 3-DOF parallel mechanism, and a 2-DOF X-Y stage. This slave robot is actuated with pneumatic cylinders through long transmission lines except the 1-DOF needle driver is actuated with a piezo motor. Pneumatic actuation through long transmission lines is then investigated using proportional pressure valves and controllers based on sliding mode control are presented. A dedicated master robot is also developed, and the kinematic map between the master and the slave robot is established. The two robots are integrated into a teleoperation system and a graphical user interface is developed to provide visual feedback to the physician. MRI experiment shows that the slave robot is MRI-compatible, and the ex vivo test shows over 85%success rate in targeting with the MRI-compatible robotic system. The success in performing in vivo animal experiments further confirm the potential of further developing the proposed robotic system for clinical applications

COMPLETE KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE STEWART–GOUGH PLATFORM BY UNIT QUATERNIONS

In this paper, a complete analysis of Stewart–Gough platform kinematics by unit quaternions is proposed. Even when unit quaternions have been implemented in different applications (including a kinematic analysis of the Stewart platform mechanism), the research regarding the application of this approach is limited only to the analysis of some issues related to the kinematic properties of this parallel mechanism. For this reason, a complete analysis of the Stewart–Gough platform is shown.The derivation of the inverse and forward kinematics of the Stewart platform using unit quaternions shows that they are suitable to represent the orientation of the upper platform due to their simplicity, equivalence, and compact representation as compared to rotation matrices. Then, the leg velocities are derived to compute these values under different conditions

Function based control for motion control systems

Motion control systems are gaining importance as more and more sophisticated developments arise in technology. Technological improvements enhance incorporation of different research areas into the same framework while trying to make systems function in unstructured environments renders the design of control systems increasingly complex. Since motion systems are complex, they have complex forward or inverse kinematics, or interactions with other systems. In this study, motion of the systems is decomposed into the tasks, so called “functions”. Independent controllers are designed for these functions in the function space. It is proven that motion systems will be controlled in the original space if function based control outputs are superposed. Applicability of this method is demonstrated on bilateral systems and parallel mechanisms. Bilateral systems application proved that function based control can be used in controlling systems with interactions while establishing desired functional relation between them. Moreover, investigation of a pantograph and a three-legged manipulator, which come from the parallel mechanisms family and have nonlinear and coupled system dynamics, showed that creating an appropriate reference configuration to realize the task of motion control helps decouple system dynamics. Satisfactory simulation results show that functional control can be implemented and its characteristics promise successful future designs for motion control systems