Task space consensus in networks of heterogeneous and uncertain robotic systems with variable time‐delays

Abstract

Summary This work deals with the leader‐follower and the leaderless consensus problems in networks of multiple robot manipulators. The robots are non‐identical, kinematically different (heterogeneous), and their physical parameters are uncertain. The main contribution of this work is a novel controller that solves the two consensus problems, in the task space, with the following features: it estimates the kinematic and the dynamic physical parameters; it is robust to interconnecting variable‐time delays; it employs the singularity‐free unit‐quaternions to represent the orientation; and, using energy‐like functions, the controller synthesis follows a constructive procedure. Simulations using a network with four heterogeneous manipulators illustrate the performance of the proposed controller. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.