Adaptive control for a lightweight robotic arm actuated by a Shape Memory Allow wire

in 16th International Conference on New Actuators, Bremen 25-27 June 2018 (2018, June)

This paper presents the design, model and closed-loop control of a single degree-of-freedom (DOF) lightweight robotic arm actuated by a biased Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wire. The highly non-linear dynamics ... [more ▼]

This paper presents the design, model and closed-loop control of a single degree-of-freedom (DOF) lightweight robotic arm actuated by a biased Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wire. The highly non-linear dynamics of SMAs represent a challenge for control tasks, due to phenomena as hysteresis or parameters uncertainty. With this in mind, we propose a control capable to adapt itself to the hysteretic behavior and update its behavior to deal with the changing parameters of the material over time. An adaptive control for position regulation is presented. This control includes a set of techniques, providing a systematic way to adjust the control parameters in real time, so maintaining the stability of the system and a desired performance, while dealing with parameter and model uncertainties. The closed-loop approach is tested in experimentally showing its effectiveness to deal with the highly non-linear dynamics of the SMA wire. [less ▲]

Model predictive cooperative localization control of multiple UAVs using potential function sensor constraints

in Autonomous Robots (2018)

The global localization of multiple mobile robots can be achieved cost efficiently by localizing one robot globally and the others in relation to it using local sensor data. However, the drawback of this ... [more ▼]

The global localization of multiple mobile robots can be achieved cost efficiently by localizing one robot globally and the others in relation to it using local sensor data. However, the drawback of this cooperative localization is the requirement of continuous sensor information. Due to a limited sensor perception space, the tracking task to continuously maintain this sensor information is challenging. To address this problem, this contribution is presenting a model predictive control (MPC) approach for such cooperative localization scenarios. In particular, the present work shows a novel workflow to describe sensor limitations with the help of potential functions. In addition, a compact motion model for multi-rotor drones is introduced to achieve MPC real-time capability. The effectiveness of the presented approach is demonstrated in a numerical simulation, an experimental indoor scenario with two quadrotors as well as multiple indoor scenarios of a quadrotor obstacle evasion maneuver. [less ▲]

Operational space control of a lightweight robotic arm actuated by shape memory alloy wires: A comparative study

in Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures (2017)

This article presents the design and control of a two-link lightweight robotic arm using shape memory alloy wires as actuators. Both a single-wire actuated system and an antagonistic configuration system ... [more ▼]

This article presents the design and control of a two-link lightweight robotic arm using shape memory alloy wires as actuators. Both a single-wire actuated system and an antagonistic configuration system are tested in open and closed loops. The mathematical model of the shape memory alloy wire, as well as the kinematics and dynamics of the robotic arm, are presented. The operational space control of the robotic arm is performed using a joint space control in the inner loop and closed-loop inverse kinematics in the outer loop. In order to choose the best joint space control approach, a comparative study of four different control approaches (proportional derivative, sliding mode, adaptive, and adaptive sliding mode control) is carried out for the proposed model. From this comparative analysis, the adaptive controller was chosen to perform operational space control. This control helps us to perform accurate positioning of the end-effector of shape memory alloy wire–based robotic arm. The complete operational space control was successfully tested through simulation studies performing position reference tracking in the end-effector space. Through simulation studies, the proposed control solution is successfully verified to control the hysteretic robotic arm. [less ▲]

Model predictive control for cooperative control of space robots

in Model predictive control for cooperative control of space robots (2017, January)

The problem of Orbital Manipulation of Passive body is discussed here. Two scenarios including passive object rigidly attached to robotic servicers and passive body attached to servicers through ... [more ▼]

The problem of Orbital Manipulation of Passive body is discussed here. Two scenarios including passive object rigidly attached to robotic servicers and passive body attached to servicers through manipulators are discussed. The Model Predictive Control (MPC) technique is briefly presented and successfully tested through simulations on two cases of position control of passive body in the orbit. [less ▲]

Hierarchical control of aerial manipulation vehicle

in AIP Conference Proceedings (2017), 1798(1), 020069

Hierarchical Control of the Aerial Manipulator is treated here. The modelling aspect of the highly coupled Aerial Vehicle which includes Quadrotor and manipulator is discussed. The control design to ... [more ▼]

Hierarchical Control of the Aerial Manipulator is treated here. The modelling aspect of the highly coupled Aerial Vehicle which includes Quadrotor and manipulator is discussed. The control design to perform tasks in operational space is addressed along with stability discussion. The simulation studies are successfully performed to validate the design methodology. [less ▲]

Adaptive Control of Hysteretic Robotic arm in Operational Space

in 5th International Conference on Mechatronics and Control Engineering ICMCE, venice, Italy, 2016 (2016, December 14)

The focus of the current article is on Operational Space Control of a single degree of freedom robotic arm with hysteretic joint behaviour due to actuation by a single Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wire. A ... [more ▼]

The focus of the current article is on Operational Space Control of a single degree of freedom robotic arm with hysteretic joint behaviour due to actuation by a single Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wire. A Closed Loop Inverse Kinematics Algorithm is used in the outer loop with Adaptive joint control in the inner loop. A composite stability analysis is used to analyse the stability of the closed loop system and finally successfully validated through simulation study. [less ▲]

A real-time model predictive position control with collision avoidance for commercial low-cost quadrotors

in IEEE Multi-Conference on Systems and Control (MSC 2016), Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2016 (2016, September 20)

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are the future technology for autonomous fast transportation of individual goods. They have the advantage of being small, fast and not to be limited to the local ... [more ▼]

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are the future technology for autonomous fast transportation of individual goods. They have the advantage of being small, fast and not to be limited to the local infrastructure. This is not only interesting for delivery of private consumption goods up to the doorstep, but also particularly for smart factories. One drawback of autonomous drone technology is the high development costs, that limit research and development to a small audience. This work is introducing a position control with collision avoidance as a first step to make low-cost drones more accessible to the execution of autonomous tasks. The paper introduces a semilinear state-space model for a commercial quadrotor and its adaptation to the commercially available AR.Drone 2 system. The position control introduced in this paper is a model predictive control (MPC) based on a condensed multiple-shooting continuation generalized minimal residual method (CMSCGMRES). The collision avoidance is implemented in the MPC based on a sigmoid function. The real-time applicability of the proposed methods is demonstrated in two experiments with a real AR.Drone quadrotor, adressing position tracking and collision avoidance. The experiments show the computational efficiency of the proposed control design with a measured maximum computation time of less than 2ms. [less ▲]

Lightweight robotic arm actuated by Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) Wires

in 8th International Conference on Electronics, Computers and Artificial Intelligence, Ploiesti, Romania, 30 June-02 July 2016 (2016, July 01)

A Modularization Approach for Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of Distributed Fast Systems

in 24th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (MED), Athens, Greece, June 21-24, 2016 (2016, June 22)

Distributed interconnected systems are omnipresent today. The development of advanced control methods for such systems are still challenging. Herein, the real-time applicability, flexibility, portability ... [more ▼]

Distributed interconnected systems are omnipresent today. The development of advanced control methods for such systems are still challenging. Herein, the real-time applicability, flexibility, portability and ease of implementation are issues of the existing control solutions, especially for more advanced methods such as model predictive control. This paper is addressing these issues by presenting an efficient modular composition scheme for distributed fast nonlinear systems. The advantage of this modularization approach is the capability of changing control objectives, constraints, dynamics and system topology online while maintaining fast computation. This work analyzes the functions that have to be provided for a continuation generalized minimal residual method (CGMRES) model predictive controller based on the underlying control problem. The specific structure of these functions allows their decomposition into suitable fast modules. These modules are then used to recompose the functions which are required for the control of distributed systems in a computational efficient way, while maintaining the flexibility to dynamically exchange system parts. To validate this computational efficiency, the computation time of the proposed modular control approach is compared with a standard nonmodular implementation in a pursuit scenario of quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Furthermore the real-time applicability is discussed for the given scenario. [less ▲]

Model Predictive Control for Spacecraft Rendezvous

in 4th International Conference on Control, Mechatronics and Automation ICCMA '16, Barcelona, Spain, 2016 (2016)

The current paper addresses the problem of Spacecraft Rendezvous using Model Predictive Control (MPC). The Clohessy-Wiltshire-Hill equations are used to model the spacecraft relative motion. Here the ... [more ▼]

The current paper addresses the problem of Spacecraft Rendezvous using Model Predictive Control (MPC). The Clohessy-Wiltshire-Hill equations are used to model the spacecraft relative motion. Here the rendezvous problem is discussed by trajectory control using MPC method. Two different scenarios are addressed in trajectory control. The first scenario consist of position control with fuel constraint, secondly the position control is performed in the presence of obstacles. Here the problem of fuel consumption and obstacle avoidance is addressed directly in the cost function. The proposed methods are successfully analysed through simulations. [less ▲]