An Adaptive Controller for Two Cooperating Flexible Manipulators

The control problem for two serial flexible multilink robots which carry a common rigid payload is considered. An adaptive controller with feedback and feedforward elements is presented which can track a prescribed trajectory for the payload with simultaneous vibration suppression when the manipulated payload is sufficiently large. A free load‐sharing parameter appears in the passivity‐based control law which allows the torque requirement to be shared between the two arms in a largely arbitrary fashion. Simulation results using a complex model are given which demonstrate excellent tracking performance in the face of complete payload uncertainty. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.