Robust control of flexible joint robot manipulators

Abstract

The problem of robot manipulator controller design in the presence of joint flexibility is addressed. The specific goal is to design a controller that yields good tracking performance in spite of parametric uncertainty. Feedback linearization, robust observers, singular perturbation technique, and adaptive control are different approaches that are theoretically analyzed. Experimental results on a single-link, flexible joint arm are also presented. Although each controller has its advantages and drawbacks, all of the design methods yield improved performance when compared to controller designs based upon rigid joint models.