On tracking control of a class of complementary-slackness hybrid mechanical systems

In this note we consider the problem of feedback control of n-dof (degree-o f-freedom) rigid manipulators subject to a scalar frictionless unilateral c onstraint f(X)greater than or equal to0 (X is an element of R-n is the vect or of generalized coordinates). The stability analysis relies on a stabilit y concept that incorporates the hybrid and nonsmooth dynamical feature of t he overall system. It is shown that stability of the closed-loop system can be obtained, This work generalizes the results in [Brogliato et al. (IEEE Trans. Automat. Control 42(2) (1997) 200-215)] which were mainly restricted to the l-dof case. It also clarifies some concepts related to the hybrid n ature of closed-loop complementary-slackness mechanical systems. (C) 2000 E lsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.