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E. R. de Pieri
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Departamento de Automação e Sistemas
DAS CTC UFSC
88040-900 Florianópolis, SC. Brazil
edson@das.ufsc.br
J. of the Braz. Soc. Mechanical Sciences Copyright 2002 by ABCM July 2002, Vol. XXIV / 169
Dynamic Model of the Robotic Manipulator σ i ( x, t ) ; i = 1, K , m . (2)
The dynamic equation in the joint space for a robot manipulator
with n degrees of freedom can be written as (Asada & Slotine, Equating this set of functions to zero:
1986):
σ 1 ( x, t )
H ( q ) q&& + C ( q , q& ) q& + G ( q ) = u (1) σ ( x, t )
σ ( x, t ) = 2 = 0, (3)
M
where q is the vector (n × 1) of generalized coordinates (joint
positions), H(q) is the (n × n) inertia matrix, C(q, q& ) is the (n × n) σ m ( x, t )
matrix of centripetal and coriolis forces, G(q) is the (n × 1) vector of
gravitational forces and u is the (n × 1) vector of torques (the the sliding surface is obtained. The functions (2) are designed so
control inputs). that the original system, restricted to the intersection of these
This model does not take into account actuators' dynamics surfaces, presents the desired dynamic behavior. Figure 1 shows an
(motors and gearboxes), as well as friction forces. Besides, the example of a sliding surface for two state vector functions. The
robot is considered rigid, i.e., without flexibility in the links and in “surface” in the figure is actually a line, representing the intersection
the joints (Canudas, Siciliano and Bastin, 1996; Lewis, Abdallah of the planes defined by the switching functions.
and Dawson, 1993). With these assumptions, the obtained model is
simpler and represents well the manipulator for the purpose of this
paper, once the goal is the design of a controller that provides
robustness to the system despite inaccuracies in the model.
[1
σ ( x , t ) = Kx = K K
2
] ⋅ xx1 = 0 (6)
resulting in unforeseen unstable behavior;
• the actuators are placed under undue stress, so their
2 breakages can take place or their lifetime are reduced.
so that To solve this problem, a continuous control law that approaches
the discontinuous law operation close to the switching surface
x = − K −1K x (7) region can be used, obtaining thus a reference tracking with
2 2 11
controlled accuracy. There is a tradeoff relationship between the
and the dynamics of the system is given by a reduced order model level of chattering in the control signal and the accuracy in reference
with dimension m. Also, when x1 goes to zero, x2 vanishes. tracking: the more exact the tracking of references, the higher the
The dynamics of this nonlinear system can be changed such that level of chattering.
the desired behavior during the sliding phase is obtained, through a Using the boundary layer concept (DeCarlo, Zak and Matthews,
convenient selection of the gain matrix K. 1988, Slotine and Li, 1991, Utkin, 1977), it can be shown that
The second phase of the controller design consists of the sliding occurs along a neighborhood of size equal to 2ε of the
determination of the switched control law that causes the system sliding surface defined as:
state to be attracted to the sliding surface. Upon reaching this
surface, the state is kept there by the VS control until the system {x | σ ( x, t ) ≤ ε } (9)
equilibrium is reached. For this end, the controller signal must be
designed so that the vectors tangent to the state trajectory point where ε > 0.
towards the surface (DeCarlo, Zak and Matthews, 1988, Utkin, Figure 3 shows the system state behavior when a boundary layer
1977, Utkin, 1983). is used.
A control law that complies with the above requisite is the
switched law:
− u , if σ i ( x, t ) > 0
0i
u i = −u sgn(σ i ( x, t )) = 0 , if σ i ( x, t ) = 0 (8)
0i
+ u , if σ i ( x, t ) < 0
0i
where u0i is the absolute value of the maximum signal control for
the input i. Notice that regardless of the values of the state variables
and gain K in Eq. (6), the control action ui(x,t) is limited to ±u0i.
In practice, the VS control introduces a problem. An ideal
sliding mode (Utkin, 1977) will exist only when the state trajectory
is confined to the sliding surface, i.e., when σ(x,t) is identically zero Figure 3. Boundary layer enclosing the sliding surface.
for t ≥ t1 for some t1. However, due to physical limitations of the
actuators such as, for example, delay, dead zone and hysteresis, it is To implement the boundary layer, the function sgn(⋅) in Eq. (8)
impossible to achieve an extremely fast switching, so that an ideal is changed to:
sliding mode is not reached.
Due to this limitation, a high frequency noise arises in the
sgn(ξ ) , if ξ ≥ ε
control action when the system state is close to the sliding surface.
This phenomenon is known as chattering (DeCarlo, Zak and sat(ξ / ε ) = ξ . (10)
Matthews, 1988, El-Khazali and DeCarlo, 1995, Utkin, 1977): ε , if ξ < ε
J. of the Braz. Soc. Mechanical Sciences Copyright 2002 by ABCM July 2002, Vol. XXIV /171
~ ~ .
system with one input and one output, and the coupling is treated as σ i (θ i , ω i , t ) = k θ i + k ω (20)
an external disturbance. 1i 2i i
For the development of the controller, the following state
variables are used: If the control action applied to the manipulator is able to keep
the system trajectory on the sliding surface from some time t1, as
θ q shown in the Fig. 1, Eq. (20) is identically zero:
ω = q& (11)
~
σ i (θ i , ω i , t ) = k θ i + k ω~ i = 0 . (21)
1i 2i
where θ and ω are the joints positions and velocities, respectively. ~ gives:
Considering that the gravitational forces term G(q) can be Isolating ω i
computed with great accuracy in real time, so that it can be
eliminated of Eq. (1), the system model can be expressed with state k ~
~& 1i
equations in the regular form (4): ω~ i = θ i = − θi . (22)
k
2i
θ& 0 I θ 0
ω& = 0
[ −
− H ( q )C ( q, q& )
1 ] ⋅ + −1 ⋅ u ,
ω H ( q )
(12)
Therefore, from the time t1, the position and velocity errors are
going to converge exponentially to zero.
or: The rate of the system state convergence towards the sliding
surface depends on the gain values kji, as shown by Eq. (22). The
q larger the gain k1i (and smaller the gain k2i), the faster the
q& = f ( q, q& , t ) = [0 I ] ⋅ convergence of the joint error i to zero. However, a faster
1 1
q& convergence requires a larger control effort.
q&
2 2 2
[ q
q&
] [ ]
= f ( q, q& , t ) + B ( q, q& , t )u = 0 H −1 ( q)C ( q, q& ) ⋅ + H −1 ( q) ⋅ u
Simulation Results
(13)
For a numeric simulation example, consider the robotic
The objective is to control the joints’ positions and velocities; manipulator with two degrees of freedom (2 DOF) in a horizontal
thus, a natural choice for the sliding surface is: plane as shown in Fig. 4.
[1
σ (θ , ω , t ) = K K
2
] ⋅ ωθ + r (t ) (14)
σ i (θ i , ω i , t ) = k θ i + k ω i + ri (t ) . (15)
1i 2i
ri (t ) = − k1i θ di − k 2i ω di (16) Figure 4. Robot Manipulator with Two Degrees of Freedom (2-DOF).
where ωdi is the first temporal derivative of the desired position θdi. The following notation is used in this figure:
Replacing the reference ri(t) (16) in Eq. (15) gives: • qi - angular position of joint i, in radians;
• li - length of link i, in meters;
σ i (θ i , ω i , t ) = k (θ i − θ ) + k (ω i − ω ) . (17) • ri - distance between joint i and the center of mass of link
1i di 2i di i, in meters;
• mi - mass of link i, in kilograms;
Defining the negative error vectors for the position and velocity
• Ii - moment of inertia of link i with respect to the axis that
of the joints as:
passes through the center of mass and is parallel to the z axis,
~ in kilograms times squared meters.
θ = θ −θd (18) The manipulator in Fig. 4 represents the links one and two of
the SCARA manipulator shown in Fig. 5.
and:
ω~ = ω − ω (19)
d
Figure 6. Simulation results: joint positions. Figure 7. Simulation results: joint velocities.
For a better evaluation of performance, Figs. 8 and 9 display the that the control keeps the errors small despite the use of a boundary
corresponding errors. The maximum position errors are about 2.0 × layer
10-3 rad and the velocity errors are about 2.0 × 10-2 rad/s, showing
J. of the Braz. Soc. Mechanical Sciences Copyright 2002 by ABCM July 2002, Vol. XXIV /173
Figure 8. Simulation results: joint position errors. Figure 9. Simulation results: joint velocity errors.
Fig. 10 shows the sliding surface proximity, that is, the plots are the result of the use of a boundary layer for avoidance of
functions σ1(x,t) and σ2(x,t) on the boundary layer. Ideally, both excessive chattering.
functions should be identically zero. The deviations shown in the
Figure 10. Simulation results: surface proximity. Figure 11. Simulation results: control signals.
Figure 11 shows the control applied in the robot manipulator. simulation) and the noisier environment given by the practical setup.
Note that it presents some significant chattering only at the The new values are:
beginning of the simulation and they are kept between maximum
levels given by the controller's parameters, that are below the robot's ε 1 = 0.10 ; ε 2 = 0.30 . (25)
limits used in the practical implementation (see the Appendix).
The available physical parameters of the manipulator used in the
Implementation on an Industrial Robot simulation are not exact. Besides, frictions, flexibility and the
actuators dynamics are not simulated. Thus, as expected, the results
The same controller simulated numerically was implemented in from the practical implementation are different from the simulation,
XOberon (Reiser, 1991) to control an industrial SCARA whose as can be seen by the illustrations below.
model served as the basis for the simulation. On the practical Figures 12 and 13 show the positions and velocities profiles,
experiment, basically the same controller's parameters (23) are used, respectively. The references are shown in dotted lines and the
including the sampling period (1.0 ms). The references are the same measured values in continuous lines. Tracking is still accomplished
as those used in the simulation (Figs. 6 and 7). The only necessary with good accuracy.
adjustment is an increase in the boundary layers to accommodate for
physical limitations of the actuators (not considered in the
Tracking errors are shown in Figs. 14 and 15. These errors are Accuracy is good, and the errors in steady state are next to zero.
larger than the errors in the numeric simulation, due mainly to the The positions errors are on the range of 2.0 × 10-2 rad and the
fact that the boundary layer used here is greater than the one in the velocities errors are about 1.0 × 10-1 rad/s.
simulation.
Figure 14. Experimental results: joint position errors. Figure 15. Experimental results: joint velocity errors.
Figure 16 shows the sliding surface proximity. The control reflecting the “lagging” of the actual position along the trajectory.
signals are shown in Fig. 17. Again, the noisier situation faced in the In the final half of the trajectory (t > 0.75 s), the control effort is
practical implementation implies larger variations in the control smaller since the error in velocity changes signal, meaning that a
signal. Another point of interest is the ever-positive control torque, “braking” action is in order.
16. Experimental results: surface proximity. Figure 17. Experimental results: control signals.
J. of the Braz. Soc. Mechanical Sciences Copyright 2002 by ABCM July 2002, Vol. XXIV /175
Table A3. Time Constants of the Motors.
Conclusions
The use of a robust controller for the trajectory tracking of Motor bls55 Motor bls72
industrial manipulators with n degrees of freedom (DOF) was joints two, three and four joint one
developed in this paper. The controller design was based on the mechanical: 1.7 ms mechanical: 2.1 ms
theory of variable structure (VS) systems. Considering the electrical: 1.4 ms electrical: 1.1 ms
theoretical development, a controller was designed and tested in
simulation for a two DOF arm. Simulation results showed the References
excellence of the controller in following a timed path. This result
led to the testing of the controller in an industrial arm, namely a two Ambrosino, G., Celetano, G. and Garofalo, F., 1984, "Variable Structure
Model Reference Adaptative Control Systems", International Journal of
DOF SCARA manipulator. The aim has been to demonstrate the Control, vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 1339-1349.
capabilities of such control method and its viability for practical use. Asada, H. and Slotine, J-J. E., 1986, "Robot Analysis and Control",
Again, the results corroborated the theoretical development John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, USA.
inasmuch as the performance obtained was well within the expected Canudas, C., Siciliano, B. and Bastin, G., 1996, "Theory of Robot
range of accuracy. Control", Springer-Verlag, New York, USA.
Craig, J. J., 1986, "Introduction to Robotics: Mechanics & Control",
The robustness of VS control was demonstrated, as well as its Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, USA.
advantages for applications in robot manipulators when the DeCarlo, R. A., Zak, S. H. and Matthews, G. P., 1988, "Variable
mathematical models that represent them with an adequate accuracy Structure Control of Nonlinear Multivariable Systems: A Tutorial", Proc. of
is not available–which is frequently the case. In the industrial arm the IEEE, vol. 76, no. 3, pp. 212-232, March.
used in this paper, for instance, no dynamic effect due to friction Doyle, J.C., K. Glover, P. Khargonekar, B.A. Francis; “State-Space
Solutions to Standard H2 and H∋ Control Problems”. IEEE Transacions on
was considered in the model, and still the resulting performance in Automatic Control, vol. 34, pp. 831-847, 1989.
tracking the desired trajectory was very good. El-Khazali, R. and DeCarlo, R., 1995, "Output Feedback Variable
The tuning of the controllers, so much in the simulation as in the Structure Control Design, Automática, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 805-816.
practical implementation, was done empirically. Probably the best Filippov, A. F., 1964, "Differential Equations with Discontinuous Right
Hand Sides", Am. Math. Soc. Transl., vol. 42, pp. 199-231.
possible performance (response time, overshoot, etc.) was not
Fu, L.-C. and Liao, T.-L., 1990, "Globally Stable Robust Tracking of
reached. To repair this deficiency, further work can be done with Nolinear Systems Using Variable Structure Control and with an Application
techniques for automatic tuning that give optimum values for to a Robotic Manipulator", IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, vol.
controller’s parameters. However, in the authors’ experience, trial- 35, no. 12, pp. 1345-1350, December.
and-error tuning is adequate for producing performances with good Gao, W., Wang, Y. and Homaifa, A., 1995, "Discrete-Time Variable
Structure Control Systems", IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics,
accuracy, thanks to the robustness and convergence properties of VS vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 117-122, April.
control. Lewis, F. L., Abdallah, C. T. and Dawson, D. M., 1993, "Control of
Robot Manipulators", Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, USA.
Li, Y., Ng, K. C., Murray-Smith, D. J., Gray, G. J. and Sharman, K.,
Appendix 1996, "Genetic Algorithm Automated Approach to the Design of Sliding
Mode Control Systems", International Journal of Control, vol. 63, no. 4, pp.
Table A1. Dimensions and Masses of the SCARA Manipulator.
721-739.
Reiser, M., 1991, "The Oberon System: user guide and programmer's
Link Length Center of Mass Mass Inertia
manual", Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, New York, USA.
i li (m) ri (m) mi (kg) Ii (kg m2) Slotine, J-J. E. and Li, W., 1991, "Applied Nonlinear Control", Prentice
1 0.25 0.118 11.4 0.23 Hall, New Jersey, USA.
2 0.25 0.116 19.5 0.16 Utkin, V. I., 1977, "Variable Structure Systems with Sliding Modes",
IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, vol. AC-22, no. 2, pp. 212-222,
3 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.10 April.
4 0.0 0.0 1.5 0.10 Utkin, V. I., 1983, "Variable Structure Systems: Present and Future",
Automation and Remote Control, vol. 44, no. 9, pp. 1105-1120, September.
Table A2. Limit Values of the SCARA Manipulator. Utkin, V. I., 1992, "Sliding Modes in Control Optimization", Springer-
Verlag, New York, USA.
Link Maximum Minimum Maximum Maximum Wolovich, W.A., 1995, “Automatic Control Systems: Basic Analysis
i Position Position Velocity Torque and Design”, Saunders College Publishing, USA.
1 2.25 rad -2.25 rad 3.0 rad/s 333.0 N m
2 1.90 rad -1.90 rad 3.0 rad/s 157.0 N m
3 0.40 m 0.14 m 0.88 m/s 6.975 N m
4 2.50 rad -2.50 rad 20.0 rad/s 16.74 N m