Robot Manipulator Control and Computational Cost

In this paper robot control algorithms are considered from the point of view of computational complexity. All the algorithms provide for hybrid position and force control which is appropriate to unstructured environments. Both joint coordinate and generalized coordinate motion schemes are considered. The findings are interesting in that the peripheral processing involved in all methods, sometimes, swamps the orders of magnitude differences in computation involved in the inner loops. It is also interesting to note the similarity in complexity between direct methods and differential. Between joint coordinate methods and generalized coordinate methods there is a general two to one ratio in complexity. In general a 0.75 M Flop, 1.25 Mip machine is required to provide for a control rate of 250 hz

Self-motion control of kinematically redundant robot manipulators

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Izmir, 2012Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 88-92)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxvi,92 leavesRedundancy in general provides space for optimization in robotics. Redundancy can be defined as sensor/actuator redundancy or kinematic redundancy. The redundancy considered in this thesis is the kinematic redundancy where the total degrees-of-freedom of the robot is more than the total degrees-of-freedom required for the task to be executed. This provides infinite number of solutions to perform the same task, thus, various subtasks can be carried out during the main-task execution. This work utilizes the property of self-motion for kinematically redundant robot manipulators by designing the general subtask controller that controls the joint motion in the null-space of the Jacobian matrix. The general subtask controller is implemented for various subtasks in this thesis. Minimizing the total joint motion, singularity avoidance, posture optimization for static impact force objectives, which include maximizing/minimizing the static impact force magnitude, and static and moving obstacle (point to point) collision avoidance are the subtasks considered in this thesis. New control architecture is developed to accomplish both the main-task and the previously mentioned subtasks. In this architecture, objective function for each subtask is formed. Then, the gradient of the objective function is used in the subtask controller to execute subtask objective while tracking a given end-effector trajectory. The tracking of the end-effector is called main-task. The SCHUNK LWA4-Arm robot arm with seven degrees-of-freedom is developed first in SolidWorks® as a computer-aided-design (CAD) model. Then, the CAD model is converted to MATLAB® Simulink model using SimMechanics CAD translator to be used in the simulation tests of the controller. Kinematics and dynamics equations of the robot are derived to be used in the controllers. Simulation test results are presented for the kinematically redundant robot manipulator operating in 3D space carrying out the main-task and the selected subtasks for this study. The simulation test results indicate that the developed controller’s performance is successful for all the main-task and subtask objectives

Control of Nonlinear Mechatronic Systems

This dissertation is divided into four self-contained chapters. In Chapter 1, an adaptive nonlinear tracking controller for kinematically redundant robot manipulators is presented. Past research efforts have focused on the end-effector tracking control of redundant robots because of their increased dexterity over their non-redundant counterparts. This work utilizes an adaptive full-state feedback quaternion based controller developed in [1] and focuses on the design of a general sub-task controller. This sub-task controller does not affect the position and orientation tracking control objectives, but instead projects a preference on the configuration of the manipulator based on sub-task objectives such as the following: singularity avoidance, joint limit avoidance, bounding the impact forces, and bounding the potential energy. In Chapter 2, two controllers are developed for nonlinear haptic and teleoperator systems for coordination of the master and slave systems. The first controller is proven to yield a semi-global asymptotic result in the presence of parametric uncertainty in the master and the slave dynamic models provided the user and the environmental input forces are measurable. The second controller yields a global asymptotic result despite unmeasurable user and environmental input forces provided the dynamic models of the master and slave systems are known. These controllers rely on a transformation and a flexible target system to allow the master system\u27s impedance to be easily adjusted so that it matches a desired target system. This work also offers a structure to encode a velocity field assist mechanism to provide the user help in controlling the slave system in completing a pre-defined contour following task. For each controller, Lyapunov-based techniques are used to prove that both controllers provide passive coordination of the haptic/teleoperator system when the velocity field assist mechanism is disabled. When the velocity field assist mechanism is enabled, the analysis proves the coordination of the haptic/teleoperator system. Simulation results are presented for both controllers. In Chapter 3, two controllers are developed for flat multi-input/multi-output nonlinear systems. First, a robust adaptive controller is proposed and proven to yield semi-global asymptotic tracking in the presence of additive disturbances and parametric uncertainty. In addition to guaranteeing an asymptotic output tracking result, it is also proven that the parameter estimate vector is driven to a constant vector. In the second part of the chapter, a learning controller is designed and proven to yield a semi-global asymptotic tracking result in the presence of additive disturbances where the desired trajectory is periodic. A continuous nonlinear integral feedback component is utilized in the design of both controllers and Lyapunov-based techniques are used to guarantee that the tracking error is asymptotically driven to zero. Numerical simulation results are presented for both controllers. In Chapter 4, a new dynamic model for continuum robot manipulators is derived. The dynamic model is developed based on the geometric model of extensible continuum robot manipulators with no torsional effects. The development presented in this chapter is an extension of the dynamic model proposed in [2] (by Mochiyama and Suzuki) to include a class of extensible continuum robot manipulators. First, the kinetic energy of a slice of the continuum robot is evaluated. Next, the total kinetic energy of the manipulator is obtained by utilizing a limit operation (i.e., sum of the kinetic energy of all the slices). Then, the gravitational potential energy of the manipulator is derived. Next, the elastic potential energy of the manipulator is derived for both bending and extension. Finally, the dynamic model of a planar 3-section extensible continuum robot manipulator is derived by utilizing the Lagrange representation. Numerical simulation results are presented for a planar 3-section extensible continuum robot manipulator

Task-space dynamic control of underwater robots

This thesis is concerned with the control aspects for underwater tasks performed by marine robots. The mathematical models of an underwater vehicle and an underwater vehicle with an onboard manipulator are discussed together with their associated properties. The task-space regulation problem for an underwater vehicle is addressed where the desired target is commonly specified as a point. A new control technique is proposed where the multiple targets are defined as sub-regions. A fuzzy technique is used to handle these multiple sub-region criteria effectively. Due to the unknown gravitational and buoyancy forces, an adaptive term is adopted in the proposed controller. An extension to a region boundary-based control law is then proposed for an underwater vehicle to illustrate the flexibility of the region reaching concept. In this novel controller, a desired target is defined as a boundary instead of a point or region. For a mapping of the uncertain restoring forces, a least-squares estimation algorithm and the inverse Jacobian matrix are utilised in the adaptive control law. To realise a new tracking control concept for a kinematically redundant robot, subregion tracking control schemes with a sub-tasks objective are developed for a UVMS. In this concept, the desired objective is specified as a moving sub-region instead of a trajectory. In addition, due to the system being kinematically redundant, the controller also enables the use of self-motion of the system to perform sub-tasks (drag minimisation, obstacle avoidance, manipulability and avoidance of mechanical joint limits)

Force, orientation and position control in redundant manipulators in prioritized scheme with null space compliance

This paper addresses the problem of executing multiple prioritized tasks for robot manipulators with compliant behavior in the remaining null space. A novel controller–observer is proposed to ensure accurate accomplishment of various tasks based on a predefined hierarchy using a new priority assignment approach. Force control, position control and orientation control are considered. Moreover, a compliant behavior is imposed in the null space to handle physical interaction without using joint torque measurements. Asymptotic stability of the task space error and external torque estimation error during executing multiple tasks are shown. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated on a 7R light weight robot arm by several case studies

Control of Networked Robotic Systems

With the infrastructure of ubiquitous networks around the world, the study of robotic systems over communication networks has attracted widespread attention. This area is denominated as networked robotic systems. By exploiting the fruitful technological developments in networking and computing, networked robotic systems are endowed with potential and capabilities for several applications. Robots within a network are capable of connecting with control stations, human operators, sensors, and other robots via digital communication over possibly noisy channels/media. The issues of time delays in communication and data losses have emerged as a pivotal issue that have stymied practical deployment. The aim of this dissertation is to develop control algorithms and architectures for networked robotic systems that guarantee stability with improved overall performance in the presence of time delays in communication. The first topic addressed in this dissertation is controlled synchronization that is utilized for networked robotic systems to achieve collective behaviors. Exploiting passivity property of individual robotic systems, the proposed control schemes and interconnections are shown to ensure stability and convergence of synchronizing errors. The robustness of the control algorithms to constant and time-varying communication delays is also studied. In addition to time delays, the number of communication links, which prevents scalability of networked robotic systems, is another challenging issue. Thus, a synchronizing control with practically feasible constraints of network topology is developed. The problem of networked robotic systems interacting with human operators is then studied subsequently. This research investigates a teleoperation system with heterogeneous robots under asymmetric and unknown communication delays. Sub-task controllers are proposed for redundant slave robot to autonomously achieve additional tasks, such as singularity avoidance, joint angle limits, and collision avoidance. The developed control algorithms can enhance the efficiency of teleoperation systems, thereby ameliorating the performance degradation due to cognitive limitations of human operator and incomplete information about the environment. Compared to traditional robotic systems, control of robotic manipulators over networks has significant advantages; for example, increased flexibility and ease of maintenance. With the utilization of scattering variables, this research demonstrates that transmitting scattering variables over delayed communications can stabilize an otherwise unstable system. An architecture utilizing delayed position feedback in conjunction with scattering variables is developed for the case of time-varying communication delays. The proposed control architecture improves tracking performance and stabilizes robotic manipulators with input-output communication delays. The aforementioned control algorithms and architectures for networked robotic systems are validated via numerical examples and experiments

Industrial Robotics

This book covers a wide range of topics relating to advanced industrial robotics, sensors and automation technologies. Although being highly technical and complex in nature, the papers presented in this book represent some of the latest cutting edge technologies and advancements in industrial robotics technology. This book covers topics such as networking, properties of manipulators, forward and inverse robot arm kinematics, motion path-planning, machine vision and many other practical topics too numerous to list here. The authors and editor of this book wish to inspire people, especially young ones, to get involved with robotic and mechatronic engineering technology and to develop new and exciting practical applications, perhaps using the ideas and concepts presented herein

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 344)

This bibliography lists 125 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during January, 1989. Subject coverage includes: aerospace medicine and psychology, life support systems and controlled environments, safety equipment, exobiology and extraterrestrial life, and flight crew behavior and performance

Shared control for natural motion and safety in hands-on robotic surgery

Hands-on robotic surgery is where the surgeon controls the tool's motion by applying forces and torques to the robot holding the tool, allowing the robot-environment interaction to be felt though the tool itself. To further improve results, shared control strategies are used to combine the strengths of the surgeon with those of the robot. One such strategy is active constraints, which prevent motion into regions deemed unsafe or unnecessary. While research in active constraints on rigid anatomy has been well-established, limited work on dynamic active constraints (DACs) for deformable soft tissue has been performed, particularly on strategies which handle multiple sensing modalities. In addition, attaching the tool to the robot imposes the end effector dynamics onto the surgeon, reducing dexterity and increasing fatigue. Current control policies on these systems only compensate for gravity, ignoring other dynamic effects. This thesis presents several research contributions to shared control in hands-on robotic surgery, which create a more natural motion for the surgeon and expand the usage of DACs to point clouds. A novel null-space based optimization technique has been developed which minimizes the end effector friction, mass, and inertia of redundant robots, creating a more natural motion, one which is closer to the feeling of the tool unattached to the robot. By operating in the null-space, the surgeon is left in full control of the procedure. A novel DACs approach has also been developed, which operates on point clouds. This allows its application to various sensing technologies, such as 3D cameras or CT scans and, therefore, various surgeries. Experimental validation in point-to-point motion trials and a virtual reality ultrasound scenario demonstrate a reduction in work when maneuvering the tool and improvements in accuracy and speed when performing virtual ultrasound scans. Overall, the results suggest that these techniques could increase the ease of use for the surgeon and improve patient safety.Open Acces