Automatically Deployable Robust Control of Modular Reconfigurable Robot Manipulators

Abstract

We propose an automatically deployable robust control scheme for modular reconfigurable robot manipulators, which accounts for noisy velocity measurements, yet it maximizes the tracking performance while avoiding chattering effects. Our proposed control approach automatically adapts to any of the possible robot compositions of given sets of modules. The robust stability is guaranteed by exploiting the use of a recursive Newton-Euler scheme with interval arithmetic computations. Moreover, the robust performance is maximized via an online regulation of the control parameters by analyzing the power spectral density of the commanded torque signal. Being fully automatic, the proposed approach allows for a quick deployment and reconfiguration of modular reconfigurable manipulators. The algorithm is validated via simulations and experiments on a commercially available robot.