Adaptive linearization for cooperative position control of robotic manipulators

Abstract

Coordinated motion control of two or more manipulators has attracted research interest. Multi-link manipulators have nonlinear and strongly coupled dynamics. The manipulator can be linearized and decoupled by using nonlinear feedback. The main problem in feedback linearization is the variation of process parameters. The research in this thesis shows how adaptive control techniques can be used to overcome parameter variation. The steepest descent method is used for adjusting parameters in the non-linear feedback loop. Once the system is linearized adaptively, the controller for the linearized system is designed using the Bessel prototype for locating system poles. A system coordinator is used for coordinating the motion of the manipulators.