ADAPTIVE-CONTROL OF ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS USING MULTIPLE MODELS AND SWITCHING

This article addresses the tracking control problem of robotic manipul ators with unknown or changing dynamics. A novel adaptive control stra tegy is proposed to improve the overall tracking performance. The prop osed method makes use of multiple dynamic models of the manipulator in an indirect adaptive controller architecture. The models used for the identification of the manipulator are identical, except for the initi al estimates of the unknown inertial parameters of the manipulator and its load. The torque input that is applied to the joint actuators is determined at every instant by the identification model that best appr oximates the robot dynamics. The mathematical formulation of the contr oller algorithm and the stability analysis of the overall system are p resented. Simulations and experimental test results are also included to demonstrate the improvement; in the tracking performance when the p roposed method is used.