作业型飞行机器人研究现状与展望

作业型飞行机器人是指由飞行机器人(通常是旋翼飞行机器人)与作业装置(机械臂)共同组成的具有主动作业能力的一种新型机器人系统.由于主动作业装置与飞行机器人之间的紧密耦合,以及飞行机器人本身对外部干扰的敏感性,作业型飞行机器人系统的研究也面临着诸多难题,如:机械臂运动引起系统重心变化带来的建模与镇定问题,与外界持续接触作业时的安全协调控制问题,以及相应的运动学、动力学规划问题等等.本文将全面分析与总结近几年发表的资料与文献,对作业型飞行机器人系统及相应的动力学建模与耦合分析、自主控制等方面的主要研究成果进行综述,并对其中的关键问题与困难进行分析与展望.     

一种视觉引导的作业型飞行机器人设计

针对作业型飞行机器人执行抓取、投放等作业任务时飞行机器人与被抓取目标之间难以相对定位的问题,提出了一种视觉引导的作业型飞行机器人设计方法.首先,介绍作业型飞行机器人系统的整体机构设计,建立飞行器和空中作业装置的运动学和动力学模型.然后,根据针孔成像模型,在ArUco标记尺寸已知的前提下,通过机载的单目摄像头检测被抓目标上的ArUco标记,利用n点透视(PnP)算法解算摄像头位姿,进而利用摄像头位姿信息对飞行器和作业装置进行分级控制.最后,通过静止实验和户外悬停实验验证了位姿估计算法的有效性,并通过自主抓取直径2 cm、质量100 g的管状物体进一步验证视觉引导的有效性和合理性.     

旋翼飞行机器人研究进展

旋翼飞行机器人是面向空中自主作业需求,将旋翼飞行器与多自由度机械臂相结合所提出的新型机器人.该机器人作业过程中旋翼飞行器、机械臂与作业目标之间的动态相对运动以及与作业目标接触过程中未建模外力、力矩扰动使自主控制受到极大挑战.本文将针对旋翼飞行机器人的结构演变及关键技术、作业机构集成技术进行综述.从动力学建模及动力学特性分析、动态运动约束/力约束下的协调规划、非结构环境下的运动和作业控制、面向任务动态操作的环境感知、面向任务的实验系统构建与实验验证五个方面初步构建了旋翼飞行机器人自主作业理论体系.     

一种带有重心调节机构的作业型飞行机器人建模与控制

针对作业型飞行机器人完成抓取、搬运等任务时所产生的重心偏移问题,设计了一种带有重心调节机构的作业型飞行机器人,并提出了一种重心调节控制策略.该方法通过对作业装置中的机械臂进行运动学推导,动态计算出机械臂运动时复合系统重心位置的改变量,利用力矩平衡方程计算得到调节机构所需转动的角度,从而实现对复合系统重心的调节.为验证所提出控制策略的有效性,在Matlab仿真环境中,分别研究了有无重心调节控制时机械臂运动对复合系统重心轨迹和定点悬停位姿的影响.通过户外实物实验测试了飞行机器人搭载负载情况下,调节机构在定点悬停作业时的稳定效果.实验结果表明,在所述控制策略下,重心调节机构能够在飞行机器人作业过程中实时调节复合系统重心的偏移量,验证了控制策略的有效性.     

接触作业型飞行机械臂系统的力/位置混合控制

针对飞行机械臂系统移动接触作业问题,使用了一个力/位置混合控制框架,用以控制飞行器系统持续可靠地接触外部环境同时保持一定大小的接触力,并实现在接触过程中的期望轨迹跟踪.首先将作业空间分成2个子空间--约束空间和自由空间,并分别进行力控制和位置控制.对于力控制问题,证明闭环无人机系统是一个类弹簧-质量-阻尼系统,然后在约束子空间中设计逆动力学控制器来实现接触力控制.自由飞行空间中的运动控制依靠轨迹规划和位置控制器来实现.最后,开发了基于六旋翼飞行机器人的单自由度飞行机械臂系统,在飞行状态下进行接触墙面并跟踪倾斜直线轨迹的实验.结果显示本文所使用方法能够保证在平稳移动的同时控制期望的接触力.     

面向抓取作业的飞行机械臂系统及其控制

面向飞行机械臂的飞行抓取作业,提出了一个由六旋翼飞行机器人和7自由度机械臂组成的飞行机械臂系统.系统采用分离式控制策略,即飞行机器人和机械臂各有一个控制器.机械臂运动所引起的系统质心和转动惯量的变化量及其导数被用来估计机械臂对飞行机器人的扰动力和力矩.为了减弱机械臂扰动对六旋翼飞行机器人的飞行控制性能的影响,提出了扰动补偿H∞鲁棒飞行控制器.实验结果表明,与没有扰动补偿的控制器相比,当机械臂运动时所提出的扰动补偿H∞鲁棒控制器对系统的飞行控制性能有明显的提升效果.最后,目标物抓取作业实验验证了所提出的飞行机械臂系统的可靠性.     

作业型飞行机器人抓取后重心偏移的轨迹跟踪控制

作业型飞行机器人是指能够对环境施加主动影响的飞行机器人, 它通常由旋翼飞行器与机械臂组合而成. 本文针对作业型飞行机器人在动态飞行抓取后, 重心位置变化产生的系统控制难题, 设计了有效的跟踪控制策略. 首先, 在系统建模时引入重心偏移系统参数和重心偏移控制参数, 并考虑惯性张量不为常数, 提高了系统建模的精度. 然后, 在姿态解算时, 考虑重心偏移对系统性能的影响, 构建包含重心偏移系统参数的解算方法, 得到更高精度的期望翻滚角和期望俯仰角. 接着, 设计了基于滑模控制的重心偏移补偿位置控制器, 实现了有效的位置跟踪控制. 同时, 在姿态反演控制器的基础上, 加入自适应律估计重心偏移控制参数和变化的惯性张量, 再通过小脑神经网络逼近惯性张量的真实值, 提高姿态控制器的精度. 最后, 给出了所设计控制器的稳定性证明, 并在仿真环境下验证了所提出的方法的有效性和优越性.     

多飞行机器人吊运系统研究进展及挑战

多飞行机器人吊运系统是指由多个旋翼飞行机器人、吊绳及单个悬挂负载共同构成的具有空中操作能力的一类新型机电系统,具有灵活性强、地域可达性好、运输便捷、载荷能力强等显著优点.多飞行机器人吊运系统应用广泛,但是其建模与控制还存在诸多挑战.旋翼飞行机器人自身是一种复杂的欠驱动非线性系统,随着吊绳和负载的引入,系统的耦合性、欠驱动特性和非线性也会随之增加.为了全面对多飞行机器人吊运系统的研究进行综述,首先介绍了多飞行机器人吊运系统的常见构型,并对比分析了其优缺点;其次,从动力学建模、协调控制、实验三个方面介绍了多飞行机器人吊运系统的研究现状与挑战;最后,凝练了现存的关键科学问题,对其潜在的应用领域和未来的研究工作进行了探讨与展望.     

3自由度旋翼飞行机械臂系统动力学建模与预测控制方法

旋翼飞行机械臂(rotorcraft aerial manipulator,RAM)系统是安装在飞行机器人上的可操作型机械臂,悬停模式下执行准确的空中操作时旋翼无人机与所加机械臂之间存在相对扰动,通过分离机械臂与飞行机器人进行动力学建模并不能有效消除这种扰动.本文基于对相互扰动力学作用的分析建立整体动力学模型,并在悬停飞行模式下将其简化为线性控制参考模型.进而对旋翼系统控制延时所引起的动力学扰动进行补偿,同时设计预测控制器来消除末端执行器的位置和姿态误差.最后,在存在内部和外部扰动的情况下,设定销钉插入操作任务进行控制方法的对比仿真.末端执行器位姿偏差的仿真结果表明了模型结构与控制方法的有效性.     

悬挂伸缩刀具的树障清理空中机器人飞行控制方法

针对输电线路附近的树障进行清理问题,本文提出了一种新型的悬挂伸缩刀具的树障清理空中机器人并进行了仿真和实物验证.首先,对悬挂伸缩刀具的空中机器人进行了伸缩刀具重心变化下的动力学、运动学建模及接触建模.其次,为避免空中机器人接触作业时机器人倾翻的问题,设计了力估计器用于力感知和导纳控制器用于力控制.针对空中机器人非线性强耦合、伸缩刀具时参数摄动及作业时扰动的问题,设计了线性自抗扰控制(LADRC)的机器人位姿控制器.再次,数值仿真验证了导纳控制能有效避免空中机器人接触作业时产生倾翻的问题,以及基于LADRC控制器的位姿控制具有良好的稳定性和抗扰性.最后,通过实物飞行和接触作业测试,进一步验证了本文悬挂伸缩刀具的树障清理空中机器人及其控制方法的有效性.     

A new approach to robust position/force control of flexible-joint robot manipulators

In this paper a new approach employing smooth robust compensators is proposed for the control of uncertain elastic-joint robot manipulators during contact tasks. It is assumed that the flexible-joint manipulators consist of two subsystems: the rigid subsystem and the flexible subsystem. The output of the flexible subsystem is assumed to be the input of the rigid subsystem. The control design is carried out in two steps. First, a desired input is designed for the rigid subsystem, which can robustly stabilize it. Second, a robust controller is designed to stabilize the flexible subsystem so that it generates the necessary torque designed for the rigid subsystem. By using this approach, the robot manipulator can exert a preset amount of force on the environment while tracking a desired trajectory with global asymptotic stability. Lyapunov's direct method is used here to prove the global asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system. The assumption of weak joint elasticity is relaxed and exact knowledge of joint stiffness is not required for the control design. Also, exact knowledge of robot kinematic and dynamic parameters and actuator parameters are not required. Unlike other approaches, this approach takes the environmental stick-slip friction as well as its dependency on normal contact force into consideration. It compensates for the adverse effects of the stick-slip friction. The proposed controller produces a smooth control action, and ensures smooth motion on the contact surface. The efficacy of the proposed controller is illustrated with the help of a numerical example of a two-link flexible-joint robot. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Nonlinear robust adaptive Cartesian impedance control of UAVs equipped with a robot manipulator

In this paper, a new nonlinear robust adaptive impedance controller is addressed for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with a robot manipulator that physically interacts with environment. A UAV equipped with a robot manipulator is a novel system that can perform different tasks instead of human being in dangerous and/or inaccessible environments. The objective of the proposed robust adaptive controller is control of the UAV and its robotic manipulator’s end-effector impedance in Cartesian space in order to have a stable physical interaction with environment. The proposed controller is robust against parametric uncertainties in the nonlinear dynamics model of the UAV and the robot manipulator. Moreover, the controller has robustness against the bounded force sensor inaccuracies and bounded unstructured modeling (nonparametric) uncertainties and/or disturbances in the system. Tracking performance and stability of the system are proved via Lyapunov stability theorem. Using simulations on a quadrotor UAV equipped with a three-DOF robot manipulator, the effectiveness of the proposed robust adaptive impedance controller is investigated in the presence of the force sensor error, and parametric and non-parametric uncertainties.     

Dynamic Analysis and Control Synthesis of Grasping and Slippage of an Object Manipulated by a Robot

Grasping an object by a cooperating system such as multi-fingered hands and multi-manipulator robotic system has received much attention. Research has focused on analysis of force-closure grasps and the synthesis of optimal grasping, when there is no slipping condition. Although the control system is designed to keep the contact force in the friction cone and avoid the slipping condition, slippage can occur for many reasons. In this research, dynamics analysis and control synthesis of a manipulator moving an object on a horizontal surface using the contact force of an end-effector are performed considering the slipping condition. Equality and inequality equations of frictional contact conditions are replaced by a single second-order differential equation with switching coefficients in order to facilitate the dynamic modeling. Accuracy of this modeling is verified by comparing the results of the model with those of SimMech. Using this modeling of friction, a set of reduced order form is obtained for equations of motion of the system. A new method is proposed to control the object motion and the end-effector undesired slippage based on the reduced form. Finally, performance of the method is evaluated both numerically and experimentally.     

Adaptive robust posture control of a parallel manipulator driven by pneumatic muscles

Rather severe parametric uncertainties and uncertain nonlinearities exist in the dynamic modeling of a parallel manipulator driven by pneumatic muscles. Those uncertainties not only come from the time-varying friction forces and the static force modeling errors of pneumatic muscles but also from the inherent complex nonlinearities and unknown disturbances of the parallel manipulator. In this paper, a discontinuous projection-based adaptive robust control strategy is adopted to compensate for both the parametric uncertainties and uncertain nonlinearities of a three-pneumatic-muscles-driven parallel manipulator to achieve precise posture trajectory tracking control. The resulting controller effectively handles the effects of various parameter variations and the hard-to-model nonlinearities such as the friction forces of the pneumatic muscles. Simulation and experimental results are obtained to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive robust controller.     

多臂空间机器人稳定抓取力分配和柔顺控制策略

针对影响多臂抓取稳定性的接触力不平衡和接触振动问题,提出多臂空间机器人力分配和柔顺控制策略.首先,分析满足多臂稳定抓取的力学条件,基于摩擦锥约束设计抓取力安全系数,并将其引入力优化模型进行抓取力分配,实现目标物体稳定抓取条件下受力最小;然后,分析抓取过渡过程的振动成因,设计基于动能消耗的末端输出力控制策略实现快速振动抑制和柔顺抓取;最后,设计机械臂末端控制律切换策略,一旦在抓取过渡过程中发生接触脱离可引导其快速返回物体表面.仿真结果表明,所提出方法提升了稳定抓取安全裕度,显著降低了机械臂末端的振动幅值、持续时间和接触力,提升了空间机器人多臂抓取目标操作的稳定性和柔顺性.     

六自由度并联式机器人拉格朗日动力方程

本文对六自由度并联机器人的动力学问题进行了研究.文中根据一二阶影响系数矩阵,导出了仅依赖于系统的质量分布和几何特性的广义惯性张量和广义惯性功率模型矩阵,建立了多回路系统的拉格朗日动力方程和运动控制方程.最后给出了实例计算.     

QFT-based design of force and contact transition controllers for a flexible link manipulator

This paper deals with the modeling, system identification and robust control of flexible link manipulators that are required to perform contact task operations. For a single flexible link (SFL) manipulator in contact, two infinite dimensional models are developed and dynamic differences with respect to the force sensing devices are examined. Generalized orthonormal basis functions (GOBFs) are adopted for system identification and new algorithms are developed that improve the identification of resonant systems. The identification results, combined with estimated measures of model uncertainties, are directly used in the design of robust controllers. For the contact transition control, a switching condition is proposed based on robust position and force controllers. The stability of the switching controller is examined using a piecewise quadratic Lyapunov approach. Both simulation and experimental results are presented showing the effectiveness of the proposed technique.     

Lyapunov-Based Nonlinear Disturbance Observer for Serial n-Link Robot Manipulators

In this paper we extend the work done by Chen et al. (IEEE Trans Ind Electron 47(4):932–938, 2000) which proposed a nonlinear disturbance observer for two-link robot manipulators to n-link robot manipulators. A general form of dynamic equations of serial n-link robot manipulator is considered, and the stability analysis of the proposed observer is performed by using Lyapunov’s direct method. Although it seems that the formulation of disturbance observer is easy to derive, choosing the disturbance observer gain to guarantee stability is really hard. In this paper it is shown that the design parameter can be selected depends on the maximum velocity and physical parameters of robot manipulator to guarantee the global asymptotic stability of the disturbance observer. Using this nonlinear disturbance observer, no accurate dynamic model is required to achieve high precision motion control, because it makes the system robust against internal disturbances such as unmodeled dynamics and external disturbances such as friction in joints. The effectiveness of the proposed observer is investigated by numerical simulation for three-Dofs robot manipulator. In fact, controller with disturbance observer has more superior tracking performance, with a wide range of payloads and in the presence of friction in joints. It is also found that, although the proposed observer is designed for slow varying disturbances, it can estimate rapid time varying disturbances very well.