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Singularity‐avoiding swing‐up control for underactuated three‐link gymnast robot using virtual coupling between control torques
Author(s) -
Lai Xuzhi,
Zhang Ancai,
Wu Min,
She Jinhua
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international journal of robust and nonlinear control
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.361
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1099-1239
pISSN - 1049-8923
DOI - 10.1002/rnc.3082
Subject(s) - swing , control theory (sociology) , underactuation , nonholonomic system , computer science , torque , coupling (piping) , robot , control engineering , control (management) , engineering , mobile robot , artificial intelligence , physics , mechanical engineering , thermodynamics
SUMMARY An underactuated three‐link gymnast robot (UTGR) is a simple model of a gymnast on a high bar. The control objective of a UTGR is to swing it up from a point near the straight‐down position and to stabilize it at the straight‐up position. To achieve this, we first divide the motion space into two subspaces, swing‐up area and balancing area, and design a controller for each. The design of a swing‐up control law that ensures that the UTGR enters the balancing area is crucial because the UTGR is subject to a nonholonomic constraint and is highly nonlinear during the swing‐up motion. This study focused on how to design a swing‐up control law that contains no singularities. The key concept is the introduction of a virtual coupling between control torques, which converts the problem of avoiding singularities to one of imposing constraints on the parameters of the control law and properly selecting those parameters. A swing‐up control law thus designed ensures that the UTGR enters the balancing area in a natural stretched‐out posture. This makes it easy to stabilize the UTGR in the balancing area. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.