Nonlinear Observation and Control of a Lightweight Robotic Manipulator Actuated by Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) Wires

Doctoral thesis (2019)

In the last decade, the industry of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) has gone through immense growth and diversification. Nowadays, we find drone based applications in a wide range of industries, such as ... [more ▼]

In the last decade, the industry of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) has gone through immense growth and diversification. Nowadays, we find drone based applications in a wide range of industries, such as infrastructure, agriculture, transport, among others. This phenomenon has generated an increasing interest in the field of aerial manipulation. The implementation of aerial manipulators in the UAV industry could generate a significant increase in possible applications. However, the restriction on the available payload is one of the main setbacks of this approach. The impossibility to equip UAVs with heavy dexterous industrial robotic arms has driven the interest in the development of lightweight manipulators suitable for these applications. In the pursuit of providing an alternative lightweight solution for the aerial manipulators, this thesis proposes a lightweight robotic arm actuated by Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wires. Although SMA wires represent a great alternative to conventional actuators for lightweight applications, they also imply highly nonlinear dynamics, which makes them difficult to control. Seeking to present a solution for the challenging task of controlling SMA wires, this work investigates the implications and advantages of the implementation of state feedback control techniques. The final aim of this study is the experimental implementation of a state feedback control for position regulation of the proposed lightweight robotic arm. Firstly, a mathematical model based on a constitutive model of the SMA wire is developed and experimentally validated. This model describes the dynamics of the proposed lightweight robotic arm from a mechatronics perspective. The proposed robotic arm is tested with three output feedback controllers for angular position control, namely a PID, a Sliding Mode and an Adaptive Controller. The controllers are tested in a MATLAB simulation and finally implemented and experimentally tested in various different scenarios. Following, in order to perform the experimental implementation of a state feedback control technique, a state and unknown input observer is developed. First, a non-switching observable model with unknown input of the proposed robotic arm is derived from the model previously presented. This model takes the martensite fraction rate of the original model as an unknown input, making it possible to eliminate the switching terms in the model. Then, a state and unknown input observer is proposed. This observer is based on the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) for state estimation and sliding mode approach for unknown input estimation. Sufficient conditions for stability and convergence are established. The observer is tested in a MATLAB simulation and experimentally validated in various different scenarios. Finally, a state feedback control technique is tested in simulation and experimentally implemented for angular position control of the proposed lightweight robotic arm. Specifically, continuous and discrete-time State-Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE) control laws are derived and implemented. To conclude, a quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis between an output feedback control approach and the implemented state feedback control is carried out under multiple scenarios, including position regulation, position tracking and tracking with changing payloads. [less ▲]

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 ▲]

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 ▲]

Observer design for Lightweight Robotic arm actuated by Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wire

in Quintanar Guzman, Serket; Kannan, Somasundar; Voos, Holger (Eds.) et al 14th International Workshop on Advanced Control and Diagnosis, Bucharest, Romania, 16-17 November 2017 (2017)

Operational Space Control of a Lightweight Robotic Arm Actuated By Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) Wires

in ASME 2016 Conferences on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, Vermont 28-30 September 2016 (2016, September)

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)