多模态控制在机器人路径规划中的应用

路径规划作为机器人基本动作实现的基础,其优劣将直接影响动作的实时性和准确性。经典PID控制虽然能准确跟踪目标,但缺乏轨迹优化能力,提出应用多模态控制方法,通过不同的感知驱动相应运动控制,以静态目标导航和动态目标导航为例详细介绍了多模态控制设计方法,并以上海交大的中型机器人Frontier-I为例,通过实验与PID进行比较,验证了方法的有效性。     

多机器人主—从行星式编队控制

研究了二阶积分器描述的多机器人主—从行星式编队控制问题,提出了将多机器人编队分解为每个机器人对各自具有时变速度的虚拟机器人的跟踪控制,使得每个机器人相对于虚拟机器人的位置与速度跟踪误差收敛为零且彼此不相碰撞,此时编队系统收敛到理想队形.在统一的算法框架下,分别实现了跟随者以领航者为中心的公转运动编队(revolution formation,RF)模式和跟随者与领航者保持期望距离、期望速度的编队(desiredformation,DF)模式.公转运动编队(RF)模式适用于异构多机器人系统的环境探索任务;保持期望距离、期望速度的编队(DF)模式适用于自主水下机器人(AUV)、无人机(UAV)等合作与协调任务.应用李亚普诺夫稳定性理论对控制算法的稳定性进行了分析,并通过计算机仿真验证了该方法的有效性.     

Robot Control Optimization Using Reinforcement Learning

Conventional robot control schemes are basically model-based methods. However, exact modeling of robot dynamics poses considerable problems and faces various uncertainties in task execution. This paper proposes a reinforcement learning control approach for overcoming such drawbacks. An artificial neural network (ANN) serves as the learning structure, and an applied stochastic real-valued (SRV) unit as the learning method. Initially, force tracking control of a two-link robot arm is simulated to verify the control design. The simulation results confirm that even without information related to the robot dynamic model and environment states, operation rules for simultaneous controlling force and velocity are achievable by repetitive exploration. Hitherto, however, an acceptable performance has demanded many learning iterations and the learning speed proved too slow for practical applications. The approach herein, therefore, improves the tracking performance by combining a conventional controller with a reinforcement learning strategy. Experimental results demonstrate improved trajectory tracking performance of a two-link direct-drive robot manipulator using the proposed method.     

Fuzzy controller for wall-climbing microrobots

This paper presents a fuzzy control system that incorporates sensing, control and planning to improve the performance of the wall-climbing microrobots in unstructured environments. After introduction of the robot system, a task reference method is proposed which is based on a fuzzy multisensor data fusion scheme. The method provides a novel mechanism to efficiently integrate task scheduling, action planning and motion control in a unified framework. A robot gait generation method is described which switches the robot locomotion between different motion modes with the help of a finite state machine driven by sensory information. A fuzzy motion controller is designed to improve control performance and reduce power consumption by the suitable selection of fuzzy sets and inference methods, as well as the definition of corresponding membership functions and control rule bases. A fuzzy logic compensator is developed to compensate the gravitational effects according to different robot configurations and task situations. Experimental results prove the validity of the proposed methods.     

柔性机械臂运动轨迹的鲁棒自适应控制

本文针对多连杆柔性机械臂的运动轨迹问题，讨论了动力学建模，控制系统结构设计以及鲁棒自适应控制法，运用假设模记方法得到了柔性机械臂动力学所似方程，通过对柔性机械臂动力学特性分析，建立了等价动力学模型，依此提出了一种鲁棒自适应控制算法，并给出仿真研究结果。     

Dynamics and Noncollocated Model‐Free Position Control for a Space Robot with Multi‐Link Flexible Manipulators

In this paper, both the dynamics and noncollocated model‐free position control (NMPC) for a space robot with multi‐link flexible manipulators are developed. Using assumed modes approach to describe the flexible deformation, the dynamic model of the flexible space robotic system is derived with Lagrangian method to represent the system dynamic behaviors. Based on Lyapunov's direct method, the robust model‐free position control with noncollocated feedback is designed for position regulation of the space robot and vibration suppression of the flexible manipulators. The closed‐loop stability of the space robotic system can be guaranteed and the guideline of choosing noncollocated feedback is analyzed. The proposed control is easily implementable for flexible space robot with both uncertain complicated dynamic model and unknown system parameters, and all the control signals can be measured by sensors directly or obtained by a backward difference algorithm. Numerical simulations on a two‐link flexible space robot are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control.     

Control of underactuated robot manipulators using switching computed torque method: GA based approach

A new concept for controlling of underactuated robot manipulators is presented by using switching computed torque method. One fundamental feature of the present approach is to use the partly stable controllers (PSCs) in order to fulfill the ultimate control objective. Dynamic model of an underactuated robot system is directly analyzed to synthesize partly stable, computed torque controllers without performing rigorous linearizations or any other deformation methods to the original nonlinear system. Here, we use genetic algorithms (GAs) to employ the optimum control action for a given time frame with the available set of elemental controllers, depending on which links or state variables are controlled, i.e. the selection of optimum switching sequence of the control actions. Two underactuated robot manipulators are taken into consideration so as to illustrate the design procedure. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method. This basic concept has led authors to explore a vast research area on controlling underactuated manipulators.     

Multi-Agent System-Based Fuzzy Controller Design with Genetic Tuning for a Mobile Manipulator Robot in the Hand Over Task

This paper presents an application of the multi-agent system approach to a service mobile manipulator robot that interacts with a human during an object delivery and hand-over task in two dimensions. The base, elbow and shoulder of the robot are identified as three different agents, and are controlled using fuzzy control. The control variables of the controllers are linear velocity of the base, angular velocity of the elbow, and angular velocity of the shoulder. Main inputs to the system are the horizontal and vertical distances between the human and robot hands. These are input to all three agents. In developing the fuzzy control rules, effective delivery and avoidance of contact with humans, not to cause physical damage, are considered. The membership functions of the fuzzy controllers are tuned by using genetic algorithms. In tuning, the performance is calculated considering the distance deviation from the direct path, time spent to reach the human hand and energy consumed by the actuators. The proposed multi-agent system structure based on fuzzy control for the object delivery task succeeded in both effective and safe delivery.     

Dynamic modelling and adaptive robust tracking control of a space robot with two-link flexible manipulators under unknown disturbances

In this paper, both the closed-form dynamics and adaptive robust tracking control of a space robot with two-link flexible manipulators under unknown disturbances are developed. The dynamic model of the system is described with assumed modes approach and Lagrangian method. The flexible manipulators are represented as Euler–Bernoulli beams. Based on singular perturbation technique, the displacements/joint angles and flexible modes are modelled as slow and fast variables, respectively. A sliding mode control is designed for trajectories tracking of the slow subsystem under unknown but bounded disturbances, and an adaptive sliding mode control is derived for slow subsystem under unknown slowly time-varying disturbances. An optimal linear quadratic regulator method is proposed for the fast subsystem to damp out the vibrations of the flexible manipulators. Theoretical analysis validates the stability of the proposed composite controller. Numerical simulation results demonstrate the performance of the closed-loop flexible space robot system.     

Extended active observer for force estimation and disturbance rejection of robotic manipulators

The current control methods applied to robotic manipulators either require full state and force measurements, or use the state and force estimation in the absence of any kind of disturbance. As an alternative approach, a new adaptive motion control approach for robotic manipulators extending the existing active observer for simultaneous inertial parameters and force estimation is proposed. The scheme provides accurate force and full state estimation in the presence of robot inertial parameter variations and measurement noise, both subsequently used in the design of a controller. Since the proposed method relies mainly on the position of the plant, it significantly reduces the difficulty and cost of implementation. The velocity, parameter and force signals are estimated from the position. The approach is applied to a typical two-degree-of-freedom (2DOF) robotic manipulator through computer simulation. The results are encouraging and demonstrate the noise rejection ability of the scheme.     

A novel efficient algorithm for mobile robot localization

Being autonomous is one of the most important goals in mobile robots. One of the fundamental works to achieve this goal is giving the ability to a robot for finding its own correct position and orientation. Different methods have been introduced to solve this problem. In this paper, a novel method based on the harmony search (HS) algorithm for robot localization through scan matching is proposed. Simulation results show that the proposed method in comparison with a genetic algorithm-based approach has better accuracy and higher performance. Furthermore a new hybrid algorithm based on harmony search and differential evolution (DE) algorithms is proposed and evaluated on different benchmark functions. Finally the hybrid algorithm has been applied for mobile robot localization and it outperformed the HS-based approach.     

On the use of velocity feedback for robot impact control

Most of the existing impact control strategies have relied on integral action and robot joint velocity feedback to achieve the desired damping effect. The limitations of such approaches are discussed in this paper. Based on a robot tip velocity reconstruction scheme, a positive tip velocity feedback method was introduced. This helped overcome the non-colocation problem due to the higher order arm dynamics and enhanced the impact suppression. A control strategy which includes the velocity feedback and an integral control was then developed and implemented on an industrial robot.     

3D environmental extremum seeking navigation of a nonholonomic mobile robot

A nonholonomic under-actuated robot with bounded control travels in a 3D region. A single sensor provides the value of an unknown scalar field at the current location of the robot. We present a new kinematic control paradigm to drive the robot to the maximizer of the field, which is different from conventionally trying to align the velocity vector with the field gradient. The proposed strategy does not employ gradient estimation and is non-demanding with respect to both computation and motion. Its mathematically rigorous analysis and justification are provided. Simulation results confirm the applicability and performance of the proposed guidance approach.     

移动机器人视觉导航控制研究

该文研究了移动机器人视觉导航的控制问题。针对导航中的图像畸变以及视野有限易造成导航线丢失等问题,提出了一种简单的单目视觉目标定位算法和一种新的控制策略。在导航时,首先利用定位算法精确地获取地面目标的深度信息,然后控制机器人沿一系列切线方向平滑接近导航线(或目标),并根据实施控制的时间间隔控制速度,以保证机器人视野中导航线(或目标)不丢失。实际的应用证明了该定位算法和策略的有效性。     

Manipulator motion control in operational space using joint velocity inner loops

This paper addresses the operational space motion control—trajectory tracking—of robot manipulators endowed with joint velocity feedback inner loops. A general structure for model-based joint velocity controllers is proposed for the inner loop. The required joint velocity reference is provided by an outer loop inspired from the robot kinematic control approach. It is shown that above two-loops control schemes lead to a nice cascade structure for the corresponding closed-loop systems. A stability result adapted for analysis of this particular kind of systems is developed in the paper; sufficient conditions for global exponential stability of this class of cascade systems are obtained. The effectiveness of the proposed control approach is evaluated on a direct-drive mechanical arm, and compared with a typical control strategy based on inverse kinematics resolution for computation of the desired motion in joint space, and the use of the computed-torque technique. The experimental evidences show better performance of the proposed two-loops controller.     

一种基于局部感知的多机器人动态跟随方法

主要研究了未知环境中的多机器人系统的无碰协调跟随问题, 提出了一种跟随机器人的基于局部感知的多模式控制方法, 分为到达、旋转角度调整、跟随、避障和随机搜索五种模式, 其中跟随模式采用模糊距离调整与角度调整策略实现对领航机器人的跟随并尽量与之保持一定的距离, 当需要避障时, 切线约束的避障策略使得自主机器人安全躲避潜在的危险. 该方法降低了多机器人系统对通讯的依赖性, 易于扩展, 通过实验对有效性进行了验证.     

Smooth continuous transition between tasks on a kinematic control level: Obstacle avoidance as a control problem

Kinematically redundant robots allow simultaneous execution of several tasks with different priorities. Beside the main task, obstacle avoidance is one commonly used subtask. The ability to avoid obstacles is especially important when the robot is working in a human environment. In this paper, we propose a novel control method for kinematically redundant robots, where we focus on a smooth, continuous transition between different tasks. The method is based on a new and very simple null-space formulation. Sufficient conditions for the tasks design are given using the Lyapunov-based stability discussion. The effectiveness of the proposed control method is demonstrated by simulation and on a real robot. Pros and cons of the proposed method and the comparison with other control methods are also discussed.     

可重构星球探测机器人控制系统的设计与实现

介绍了一种新型可重构星球探测机器人系统. 基于这种机器人功能和结构的分解特点,设计了模块化控制系统,使用CAN总线技术作为模块间主要通讯方式. 提出了控制原理和集中式控制算法,有效地实现了一台子机器人在不同模式状态下自主运动和操作的控制, 并通过原理样机实验验证了这套控制系统的可行性.     

Sliding mode control for robust and smooth reference tracking in robot visual servoing

An approach based on sliding mode is proposed in this work for reference tracking in robot visual servoing. In particular, 2 sliding mode controls are obtained depending on whether joint accelerations or joint jerks are considered as the discontinuous control action. Both sliding mode controls are extensively compared in a 3D‐simulated environment with their equivalent well‐known continuous controls, which can be found in the literature, to highlight their similarities and differences. The main advantages of the proposed method are smoothness, robustness, and low computational cost. The applicability and robustness of the proposed approach are substantiated by experimental results using a conventional 6R industrial manipulator (KUKA KR 6 R900 sixx [AGILUS]) for positioning and tracking tasks.     

基于hp自适应伪谱法的空间机器人路径规划

针对空间机器人运动过程中基座姿态产生较大扰动的问题,基于hp自适应高斯伪谱法提出了一种以基座所受反作用力矩最小为目标函数的空间机器人路径规划方法.首先,综合考虑空间机器人运动过程中存在的关节角度约束、关节角速度约束、控制力矩约束及初始状态和终端状态约束等约束条件,将空间机器人路径规划问题看成满足一系列约束条件和边界条件并实现特定性能指标最优的最优控制问题.其次,结合hp自适应高斯伪谱法（hp-AGPM）与非线性规划技术,求解带有边界约束和路径约束的优化控制问题,得到满足约束且性能指标最优的空间机器人运动轨迹.最后,以平面2自由度空间机械臂为例对所设计方法进行仿真验证,并与其他伪谱法进行对比分析.仿真结果表明：本文算法能在10.6 s的时间内规划出满足各约束条件且容许偏差低于10^-6的最优运动轨迹,并且在计算速度和配点数量上都优于其他伪谱法.