ON THE DYNAMICAL PULSE-WIDTH-MODULATION CONTROL OF ROBOTIC MANIPULATOR SYSTEMS

Pulse-width-modulation (PWM) feedback strategies have been of limited theoretical interest in the control of nonlinear mechanical systems, s uch as robotic manipulators. The chattering, associated with an underl ying discontinuous control policy, has traditionally been regarded as a serious drawback when compared with existing smooth control alternat ives. Paradoxically, experimental robotic setups in laboratories, and industries, often include electronic components which effectively impl ement PWM control strategies for the actual regulation of drives actin g on robotic manipulators. This article examines dynamical PWM control as a means of circumventing the implementation drawbacks of the PWM c ontrol strategies and to, possibly, explain the effectiveness of PWM s chemes currently used. The approach also retains the classical robustn ess features associated with the discontinuous control technique.