Nested quadratic programming-based controller for pipeline robots

Abstract

This paper considers a problem of controlling an pipeline walking robot. The proposed control system design uses a nested quadratic programming-based controller (NQPC). This controller enables control operations taking into account both equality and inequality of mechanical constraints and bounds influencing control values (i.e. motor torques). The proposed controller has a nested structure: it uses an inner layer controller to produce reference values for control actions and then adjusts those using data about system's dynamics, constraints and bounds. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is confirmed by simulation of a ten-link planar pipeline robot.