Neural-adaptive control of single-master-multiple-slaves teleoperation for coordinated multiple mobile manipulators with time-varying communication delays and input uncertainties

Hybrid Orientation and Position Collaborative Motion Generation Scheme for a Multiple Mobile Redundant Manipulator System Synthesized by a Recurrent Neural Network

To enable distributed multiple mobile manipulator systems to complete collaborative tasks safely and stably, this article investigates and presents a motion generation scheme that considers both orientation and position coordination based on a distributed recurrent neural network. Moreover, physical limits are also considered. Specifically, the orientation and position coordination constraints and physical limits are modeled separately as equality and inequality constraints with coupled variables. Subsequently, a motion generation scheme for multiple mobile manipulators based on quadratic programming is established. Finally, a distributed linear variational inequality-based primal-dual neural network is constructed to solve the motion generation scheme and obtain the motion trajectories of all the mobile manipulators. The simulation results demonstrate that the hybrid orientation and position collaboration motion generation scheme effectively addresses the position and orientation coordination problem for multiple mobile manipulator systems. Compared to other schemes, the proposed scheme based on a distributed computing structure greatly enhances the stability of the system. Additionally, the proposed approach introduces orientation coordination and physical limits, which increases the practicality of the system.

Hierarchical finite-time cooperative control for teleoperation of networked disturbed mobile manipulators

This paper investigates the teleoperation problem of networked disturbed mobile manipulators (NDMMs), in which the human operator remotely controls multiple slave mobile manipulators through a master manipulator. Each individual of the slave ones consisted of a nonholonomic mobile platform and a holonomic constrained manipulator that is mounted on the nonholonomic mobile platform. The cooperative control objective of the considered teleoperation problem includes: (1) synchronizing the states of the slave manipulators to the human-controlled master one; (2) forcing the mobile platforms of the slave ones to form a user-defined formation; (3) controlling the geometric center of all the platforms to track a reference trajectory. We present a hierarchical finite-time cooperative control (HFTCC) framework to achieve the cooperative control goal in a finite time. The presented framework includes the distributed estimator, the weight regulator and the adaptive local controller, where the estimator generates the estimated states of the desired formation and trajectory, the regulator selects the slave robot that the master one needs to track, as well as the presented adaptive local controller guarantees the finite-time convergence of the controlled states with model uncertainties and disturbances. Additionally, for improving the telepresence, a novel super twisting observer is presented to reconstruct the interaction force between the salve mobile manipulators and the remote operating environment on the master (i.e., the human) side. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control framework is demonstrated by several simulation results.

Modeling and Control of Robotic Manipulators Based on Symbolic Regression

Model-based design is an important method of addressing problems associated with designing complex control systems. For complex dynamic systems in the presence of uncertainties, the modeling process from the first principles becomes extremely tedious and simplification in mechanism and parameter measurement may result in model inaccuracy. On the contrary, machine learning has the characteristic of fitting complicated equations, which makes it widely used in the research of model identification. However, it only brings a black-box model where the design schemes based on an analytical model cannot be applied. In this article, a simple and novel scheme for modeling and control of robotic manipulators is proposed; without prior knowledge, a dynamic model in an analytical form is obtained from artificially excited training data using the symbolic regression technique, and then, a controller is designed based on the dynamic model. Due to the ingenious experimental design, on one hand, the amount of training data is far less than the system identification method by machine learning. On the other hand, a decoupling feature is used in the model that greatly simplifies controller design. The experimental results on two-degree of freedom (DOF) and 6-DOF robotic manipulator simulators verify that the scheme is feasible and effective.

Force Distribution and Estimation for Cooperative Transportation Control on Multiple Unmanned Ground Vehicles

This article presents an effective design of omnidirectional four-mecanum-wheeled vehicles to transport an object and track a predefined trajectory cooperatively. Furthermore, a novel design of the rotary platform is presented for multiple unmanned ground vehicles (m-UGVs) to load objects and provide better maneuverability in confined spaces during cooperative transportation. The number of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) is adjustable according to the object's weight and size in the proposed framework because transportation is accomplished without physical grippers. Moreover, to minimize the complexity in dealing with the interactive force between the object and UGVs, no force/torque sensor is used in the design of the control algorithm. Instead, an adaptive sliding-mode controller is formulated to cope with the dynamic uncertainties and smoothly transport an object along a desired trajectory. Thus, three external force analyses-gradient projection method, adaptive force estimation, and radial basis function neural network force estimation-are proposed for m-UGVs. In addition, the stability and the performance tracking of the m-UGV system in the presence of dynamic uncertainties using the proposed force estimation are investigated by employing the Lyapunov theory. Finally, experiments on cooperative transportation are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and efficacy of the m-UGV system.

A Hybrid State/Disturbance Observer-Based Feedback Control of Robot with Multiple Constraints

Controlling the manipulator is a big challenge due to its hysteresis, deadzone, saturation, and the disturbances of actuators. This study proposes a hybrid state/disturbance observer-based multiple-constraint control mechanism to address this difficulty. It first proposes a hybrid state/disturbance observer to simultaneously estimate the unmeasurable states and external disturbances. Based on this, a barrier Lyapunov function is proposed and implemented to handle output saturation constraints, and a back-stepping control method is developed to provide sufficient control performance under multiple constraints. Furthermore, the stability of the proposed controller is analyzed and proved. Finally, simulations and experiments are carried out on a 2-DOF and 6-DOF robot, respectively. The results show that the proposed control method can effectively achieve the desired control performance. Compared with several commonly used control methods and intelligent control methods, the proposed method shows superiority. Experiments on a 6-DOF robot verify that the proposed method has good tracking performance for all joints and does not violate constraints.

Adaptive Neural Digital Control of Hysteretic Systems With Implicit Inverse Compensator and Its Application on Magnetostrictive Actuator

Hysteresis is a complex nonlinear effect in smart materials-based actuators, which degrades the positioning performance of the actuator, especially when the hysteresis shows asymmetric characteristics. In order to mitigate the asymmetric hysteresis effect, an adaptive neural digital dynamic surface control (DSC) scheme with the implicit inverse compensator is developed in this article. The implicit inverse compensator for the purpose of compensating for the hysteresis effect is applied to find the compensation signal by searching the optimal control laws from the hysteresis output, which avoids the construction of the inverse hysteresis model. The adaptive neural digital controller is achieved by using a discrete-time neural network controller to realize the discretization of time and quantizing the control signal to realize the discretization of the amplitude. The adaptive neural digital controller ensures the semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded (SUUB) of all signals in the closed-loop control system. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated via the magnetostrictive-actuated system.

Novel Adaptive Finite-Time Control of Teleoperation System With Time-Varying Delays and Input Saturation

In this paper, two novel adaptive finite-time control schemes are proposed for position tracking of nonlinear teleoperation system, which dynamic uncertainties, actuator saturation, and time-varying communication delays are considered. First, a novel auxiliary variable is designed to provide more stable performance. The radial basis function (RBF) neural network is introduced to estimate dynamic uncertainties. Second, two adaptive finite-time control schemes are investigated. In control scheme I, the RBF neural network and the gain switching strategy are applied to compensate the actuator saturation. In control scheme II, an auxiliary compensation filter and the compensation adaptive update laws, which contain the finite-time structure, are developed for dealing with saturation. Third, the finite-time adaptive controller is designed in each of these two control schemes. Based on the multiple Lyapunov function method, the closed-loop teleoperation system with these two control methods is proved to be bounded and finite-time stability. Finally, the simulation experiments are performed and the comparisons with other control methods are shown. The effectiveness of the proposed control schemes is demonstrated.

Mutual-Collision-Avoidance Scheme Synthesized by Neural Networks for Dual Redundant Robot Manipulators Executing Cooperative Tasks

Collision between dual robot manipulators during working process will lead to task failure and even robot damage. To avoid mutual collision of dual robot manipulators while doing collaboration tasks, a novel recurrent neural network (RNN)-based mutual-collision-avoidance (MCA) scheme for solving the motion planning problem of dual manipulators is proposed and exploited. Because of the high accuracy and low computation complexity, the linear variational inequality-based primal-dual neural network is used to solve the proposed scheme. The proposed scheme is applied to the collaboration trajectory tracking and cup-stacking tasks, and shows its effectiveness for avoiding collision between the dual robot manipulators. Through network iteration and online learning, the dual robot manipulators will learn the ability of MCA. Moreover, a line-segment-based distance measure algorithm is proposed to calculate the minimum distance between the dual manipulators. If the computed minimum distance is less than the first safe-related distance threshold, a speed brake operation is executed and guarantees that the robot cannot exceed the second safe-related distance threshold. Furthermore, the proposed MCA strategy is formulated as a standard quadratic programming problem, which is further solved by an RNN. Computer simulations and a real dual robot experiment further verify the effectiveness, accuracy, and physical realizability of the RNN-based MCA scheme when manipulators cooperatively execute the end-effector tasks.

An active disturbance rejection control for hysteresis compensation based on Neural Networks adaptive control

In the present paper, an active disturbance rejection control(ADRC) scheme via radial basis function(RBF) neural networks is designed for adaptive control of non-affine nonlinear systems facing hysteresis disturbance in which RBF neural network approximation is utilized to tackle the system uncertainties and ADRC is designed to real-time estimate and compensate disturbance with unknown backlash-like hysteresis. Combining the adaptive neural networks design with ADRC design techniques, a new dual-channel composite controller scheme is developed herein whereby adaptive neural networks are used as feed-forward inverse control and ADRC as closed-loop feedback control. Furthermore, as compared to adaptive neural networks control algorithm, the proposed RBF-ADRC dual-channel composite controller can guarantee that the desired signal can be tracked with a small domain of the origin and it is confirmed to be effective under Lyapunov stability theory and MATLAB simulations.

Bilateral Teleoperation of Single-Master Multislave Systems With Semi-Markovian Jump Stochastic Interval Time-Varying Delayed Communication Channels

Communication time delays in a bilateral teleoperation system often carries a stochastic nature, particularly when we have multiple masters or slaves. In this paper, we tackle the problem for a single-master multislave (SMMS) teleoperation system by assuming an asymmetric and semi-Markovian jump protocol for communication of the slaves with the master under time-varying transition rates. A nonlinear robust controller is designed for the system that guarantees its global robust H_∞ stochastic stability in the sense of the Lyapunov theory. Employing the nonlinear feedback linearization technique, the dynamics of the closed-loop teleoperator is decoupled into two interconnected subsystems: 1) master-slave tracking dynamics (coordination) and 2) multislave synchronization dynamics. Employing an improved reciprocally convex combination technique, the stability analysis of the closed-loop teleoperator is conducted using the Lyapunov-Krasovskii methodology, and the stability conditions are expressed in the form of linear matrix inequalities that can be solved efficiently using numerical algorithms. Numerical studies and simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed controller design algorithm in both tracking and synchronization performance of the SMMS system, and robustly handling the stochastic and nondifferentiable nature of communication delays.

A Brief Survey of Telerobotic Time Delay Mitigation

There is a substantial number of telerobotics and teleoperation applications ranging from space operations, ground/aerial robotics, drive-by-wire systems to medical interventions. Major obstacles for such applications include latency, channel corruptions, and bandwidth which limit teleoperation efficacy. This survey reviews the time delay problem in teleoperation systems. We briefly review different solutions from early approaches which consist of control-theory-based models and user interface designs and focus on newer approaches developed since 2014. Future solutions to the time delay problem will likely be hybrid solutions which include modeling of user intent, prediction of robot movements, and time delay prediction all potentially using time series prediction methods. Hence, we examine methods that are primarily based on time series prediction. Recent prediction approaches take advantage of advances in nonlinear statistical models as well as machine learning and neural network techniques. We review Recurrent Neural Networks, Long Short-Term Memory, Sequence to Sequence, and Generative Adversarial Network models and examine each of these approaches for addressing time delay. As time delay is still an unsolved problem, we suggest some possible future research directions from information-theory-based modeling, which may lead to promising new approaches to advancing the field.

Multi-Lateral Teleoperation Based on Multi-Agent Framework: Application to Simultaneous Training and Therapy in Telerehabilitation

In this paper, a new scheme for multi-lateral remote rehabilitation is proposed. There exist one therapist, one patient, and several trainees, who are participating in the process of telerehabilitation (TR) in this scheme. This kind of strategy helps the therapist to facilitate the neurorehabilitation remotely. Thus, the patients can stay in their homes, resulting in safer and less expensive costs. Meanwhile, several trainees in medical education centers can be trained by participating partially in the rehabilitation process. The trainees participate in a "hands-on" manner; so, they feel like they are rehabilitating the patient directly. For implementing such a scheme, a novel theoretical method is proposed using the power of multi-agent systems (MAS) theory into the multi-lateral teleoperation, based on the self-intelligence in the MAS. In the previous related works, changing the number of participants in the multi-lateral teleoperation tasks required redesigning the controllers; while, in this paper using both of the decentralized control and the self-intelligence of the MAS, avoids the need for redesigning the controller in the proposed structure. Moreover, in this research, uncertainties in the operators' dynamics, as well as time-varying delays in the communication channels, are taken into account. It is shown that the proposed structure has two tuning matrices (L and D) that can be used for different scenarios of multi-lateral teleoperation. By choosing proper tuning matrices, many related works about the multi-lateral teleoperation/telerehabilitation process can be implemented. In the final section of the paper, several scenarios were introduced to achieve "Simultaneous Training and Therapy" in TR and are implemented with the proposed structure. The results confirmed the stability and performance of the proposed framework.

Quasi-Synchronization of Time Delay Markovian Jump Neural Networks With Impulsive-Driven Transmission and Fading Channels

The problem of quasi-synchronization (QS) for the Markovian jump master-slave neural networks with time-varying delay is studied in this article, where the mismatch parameters and unreliable communication channels are considered as well. A set of stochastic variables with different expectations are used to describe the fading phenomena of parallel communication channels. An impulsive-driven transmission strategy is designed to reduce the communication load, and a corresponding impulsive controller is then designed. A synchronization error system (SES) is obtained, and a convex QS condition is established for the SES. A linear matrix inequality-based iterative algorithm is proposed to reduce the bound of the SES, and the corresponding controller gains are calculated. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the developed result.

Admittance-Based Adaptive Cooperative Control for Multiple Manipulators With Output Constraints

This paper proposes a novel adaptive control methodology based on the admittance model for multiple manipulators transporting a rigid object cooperatively along a predefined desired trajectory. First, an admittance model is creatively applied to generate reference trajectory online for each manipulator according to the desired path of the rigid object, which is the reference input of the controller. Then, an innovative integral barrier Lyapunov function is utilized to tackle the constraints due to the physical and environmental limits. Adaptive neural networks (NNs) are also employed to approximate the uncertainties of the manipulator dynamics. Different from the conventional NN approximation method, which is usually semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded, a switching function is presented to guarantee the global stability of the closed loop. Finally, the simulation studies are conducted on planar two-link robot manipulators to validate the efficacy of the proposed approach.

Synchronization control for bilateral teleoperation system with position error constraints: A fixed-time approach

In this work, a novel exponential-type Barrier Lyapunov Function (EBLF) is proposed to address the synchronization control issue for a class of bilateral teleoperation systems with system uncertainties, external disturbances, and constraint requirement. The most prominent feature of the EBLF is that it can be used in a unified scheme, which deals with full state constrained and output constrained problems. Moreover, a novel control strategy is incorporated with the EBLF to achieve fixed-time convergence into a small set while the synchronization position tracking errors are guaranteed to never exceed the predefined constraints through the "adding a power integrator" technique, and the estimated settling time is shown to be independent of initial values. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

Adaptive neural network based position tracking control for Dual-master/Single-slave teleoperation system under communication constant time delays

The novel trajectory tracking control strategies for trilateral teleoperation systems with Dual-master/Single-slave robot manipulators under communication constant time delays are proposed in this article. By incorporating this design technique into the neural network (NN) based adaptive control framework, two controllers are designed for the trilateral teleoperation systems in free motion. First, with acceleration measurements, an adaptive controller under the synchronization variables containing the position and velocity error is constructed to guarantee the position and velocity tracking errors between the trilateral teleoperation systems asymptotically converge to zero. Second, without acceleration measurements, an adaptive controller under the new synchronization variables is presented such that the trilateral teleoperation systems can obtain the same trajectory tracking performance as the first controller. Third, in term of establishing suitable Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals, the asymptotic tracking performances of the trilateral teleoperation systems can be derived independent of the communication constant time delays. Moreover, these two controllers are obtained without the knowledge of upper bounds of the NN approximation errors, respectively. Finally, simulation results are presented to demonstrate the validity of the proposed methods.

A Robust Adaptive Trajectory Tracking Algorithm Using SMC and Machine Learning for FFSGRs with Actuator Dead Zones

The actuator dead zone of free-form surface grinding robots (FFSGRs) is very common in the grinding process and has a great impact on the grinding quality of a workpiece. In this paper, an improved trajectory tracking algorithm for an FFSGR with an asymmetric actuator dead zone was proposed with consideration of friction forces, model uncertainties, and external disturbances. The presented control algorithm was based on the machine learning and sliding mode control (SMC) methods. The control compensator used neural networks to estimate the actuator’s dead zone and eliminate its effects. The robust SMC compensator acted as an auxiliary controller to guarantee the system’s stability and robustness under circumstances with model uncertainties, approximation errors, and friction forces. The stability of the closed-loop system and the asymptotic convergence of tracking errors were evaluated using Lyapunov theory. The simulation results showed that the dead zone’s non-linearity can be estimated correctly, and satisfactory trajectory tracking performance can be obtained in this way, since the influences of the actuator’s dead zone were eliminated. The convergence time of the system was reduced from 1.1 to 0.8 s, and the maximum steady-state error was reduced from 0.06 to 0.015 rad. In the grinding experiment, the joint steady-state error decreased by 21%, which proves the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control method.

Dexterous Remote Manipulation by Means of a Teleoperation System

Humans are experts in manipulation and grasping tasks. However, several industrial tasks represent a risk to human operators, for instance, handling radioactive material or transporting heavy objects. Teleoperation robotic schemes extend human capabilities, but they are highly nonlinear systems. In this paper, we address the problem of dexterous remote manipulation by means of a unilateral heterogenous teleoperation scheme composed by a single-master and multiple-slave manipulators handling a rigid object. In order to achieve a stable grasp, a decentralized force/position controller with continuous and bounded input torques based on the Orthogonalization Principle and a second-order sliding mode control is proposed for the slave robots. In addition, a trajectory planning method based on holonomic constraints is proposed to control multiple-slave manipulators with a single-master device. Experimental results are presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach.

Adaptive Formation Control of Cooperative Teleoperators With Intermittent Communications

Most research so far in teleoperation control has assumed that all information is transmitted continuously. Unfortunately, the damaged and electromagnetic interfered line cause communication link failure. In addition, the unreliable link further leads to port data congestion. The data packet will be discarded when the buffer overflows. Consequently, it is unknown whether stability of the teleoperator could be guaranteed in the presence of intermittent communications. In order to overcome these drawbacks, in this paper, we provide a solution to the formation control problem of a single-master-multislave teleoperator in the situation where each robot is allowed to communicate with its neighbors only at some irregular discrete time instants. The relationship among control gains, topology, and maximum-allowable connected interval is presented. Simulations are performed to show the validity of our proposed approach.

Finite-Horizon l2-l∞ Synchronization for Time-Varying Markovian Jump Neural Networks Under Mixed-Type Attacks: Observer-Based Case

This paper studies the synchronization issue of time-varying Markovian jump neural networks (NNs). The denial-of-service (DoS) attack is considered in the communication channel connecting master NNs and slave NNs. An observer is designed based on the measurements of master NNs transmitted over this unreliable channel to estimate their states. The deception attack is used to destroy the controller by changing the sign of the control signal. Then, the mixed-type attacks are expressed uniformly, and a synchronization error system is established using this function. A finite-horizon l₂-l_∞ performance is proposed, and sufficient conditions are derived to ensure that the synchronization error system satisfies this performance. The controllers are then obtained by a recursive linear matrix inequality algorithm. At last, a simulation result to show the feasibility of the developed results is given.

A Novel Cooperative Teleoperation Framework for Nonlinear Time-Delayed Single-Master/Multi-Slave System

This paper proposes a novel control framework for a single-master/multi-slave teleoperation system to grasp and handle an object, considering nonlinearity and uncertainty in the dynamics of the slaves and time-varying delay in the communication channel. Based on passive decomposition approach, the dynamics of the slaves are decomposed into two decoupled systems, and then two higher order sliding mode controllers are designed to control them. Also, a synchronization control methodology for the master is developed. Stability is fully studied using the passivity property and Lyapunov theorem. Finally, simulation and practical results confirm that the control system works well against the conditions.

A modular bilateral haptic control framework for teleoperation of robots

This paper presents a novel approach to implement bilateral control loops between local haptic devices and remote industrial manipulators using a layer of simulation and virtual reality. The remote scene of manipulation has been visualized in an open-source software environment, where forward and inverse kinematics of the manipulators can be computed. Therefore, the explicit knowledge of mathematical models of the robots is not required for the implementation of the proposed bilateral control schemes. A haptic coupling has been designed between the human operator and the task in the remote environment. Virtually introduced force feedback has contributed to the performance of the proposed bilateral loop by facilitating the adaptation of unexperienced human operators. Teleoperation of one remote manipulator has been experimentally demonstrated with the proposed controllers. Structural modularity of the bilateral haptic control schemes makes them directly extendable for the teleoperation of multiple collaborative robots. Stability and transparency of the proposed bilateral haptic controllers have been theoretically and experimentally investigated.

Adaptive impedance control of uncertain robot manipulators with saturation effect based on dynamic surface technique and self-recurrent wavelet neural networks

Saturation nonlinearities, among the known challenges in control engineering, are ubiquitous in robotic systems and can lead to stability and performance degradation. In this paper, an adaptive dynamic surface impedance (ADSI) control approach is developed for an n-link robotic manipulator by employing self-recurrent wavelet neural networks (SRWNNs) in order to overcome the saturation effect. The proposed control approach is inspired by the theory of dynamic surface control (DSC) and SRWNNs. As a novel application of the dynamic surface method to obtain a simple structure, the target impedance is formulated in the state–space, and effective dynamic surfaces are defined to track the desired impedance behavior. In fact, DSC is used to force the robot manipulator to track the desired impedance, while the robot interacts with an environment. In addition, SRWNNs are applied to approximate the parametric uncertainties and external disturbances in the robot dynamical model. Self-feedback neurons are embedded as memory units in SRWNNs to model the sudden dynamic jumps of the environment. Using Lyapunov's method, an ADSI controller is designed, and adaptation laws are induced to guarantee the stability of the closed-loop system. Finally, simulations are conducted to verify the proper performance of the proposed approach for removing the saturation effect and tracking the target impedance. It is worth noting that the simulation results indicate the robustness of the controller against uncertainties and external disturbances.

Robust Zeroing Neural-Dynamics and Its Time-Varying Disturbances Suppression Model Applied to Mobile Robot Manipulators

This paper proposes a novel robust zeroing neural-dynamics (RZND) approach as well as its associated model for solving the inverse kinematics problem of mobile robot manipulators. Unlike existing works based on the assumption that neural network models are free of external disturbances, four common forms of time-varying disturbances suppressed by the proposed RZND model are investigated in this paper. In addition, theoretical analyses on the antidisturbance performance are presented in detail to prove the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed RZND model with time-varying disturbances suppressed for solving the inverse kinematics problem of mobile robot manipulators. That is, the RZND model converges toward the exact solution of the inverse kinematics problem of mobile robot manipulators with bounded or zero-oriented steady-state position error. Moreover, simulation studies and comprehensive comparisons with existing neural network models, e.g., the conventional Zhang neural network model and the gradient-based recurrent neural network model, together with extensive tests with four common forms of time-varying disturbances substantiate the efficacy, robustness, and superiority of the proposed RZND approach as well as its time-varying disturbances suppression model for solving the inverse kinematics problem of mobile robot manipulators.

Adaptive Neural Network Control for Robotic Manipulators With Unknown Deadzone

This paper addresses the problem of robotic manipulators with unknown deadzone. In order to tackle the uncertainty and the unknown deadzone effect, we introduce adaptive neural network (NN) control for robotic manipulators. State-feedback control is introduced first and a high-gain observer is then designed to make the proposed control scheme more practical. One radial basis function NN (RBFNN) is used to tackle the deadzone effect, and the other RBFNN is also proposed to estimate the unknown dynamics of robot. The proposed control is then verified on a two-joint rigid manipulator via numerical simulations and experiments.

Multilateral Telecoordinated Control of Multiple Robots With Uncertain Kinematics

This paper addresses the telecoordinated control of multiple robots in the simultaneous presence of asymmetric time-varying delays, nonpassive external forces, and uncertain kinematics/dynamics. To achieve the control objective, a neuroadaptive controller with utilizing prescribed performance control and switching control technique is developed, where the basic idea is to employ the concept of motion synchronization in each pair of master-slave robots and among all slave robots. By using the multiple Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals method, the state-independent input-to-output practical stability of the closed-loop system is established. Compared with the previous approaches, the new design is straightforward and easier to implement and is applicable to a wider area. Simulation results on three pairs of three degrees-of-freedom robots confirm the theoretical findings.

A Novel Switching-Based Control Framework for Improved Task Performance in Teleoperation System With Asymmetric Time-Varying Delays

This paper addresses the adaptive control for task-space teleoperation systems with constrained predefined synchronization error, where a novel switched control framework is investigated. Based on multiple Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals method, the stability of the resulting closed-loop system is established in the sense of state-independent input-to-output stability. Compared with previous work, the developed method can simultaneously handle the unknown kinematics/dynamics, asymmetric varying time delays, and prescribed performance control in a unified framework. It is shown that the developed controller can guarantee the prescribed transient-state and steady-state synchronization performances between the master and slave robots, which is demonstrated by the simulation study.

Adaptive Control of Semi-Autonomous Teleoperation System With Asymmetric Time-Varying Delays and Input Uncertainties

This paper addresses the adaptive task-space bilateral teleoperation for heterogeneous master and slave robots to guarantee stability and tracking performance, where a novel semi-autonomous teleoperation framework is developed to ensure the safety and enhance the efficiency of the robot in remote site. The basic idea is to stabilize the tracking error in task space while enhancing the efficiency of complex teleoperation by using redundant slave robot with subtask control. To unify the study of the asymmetric time-varying delays, passive/nonpassive exogenous forces, dynamic parameter uncertainties and dead-zone input in the same framework, a novel switching technique-based adaptive control scheme is investigated, where a special switched error filter is developed. By replacing the derivatives of position errors with their filtered outputs in the coordinate torque design, and employing the multiple Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals method, the complete closed-loop master (slave) system is proven to be state-independent input-to-output stable. It is shown that both the position tracking errors in task space and the adaptive parameter estimation errors remain bounded for any bounded exogenous forces. Moreover, by using the redundancy of the slave robot, the proposed teleoperation framework can autonomously achieve additional subtasks in the remote environment. Finally, the obtained results are demonstrated by the simulation.

Adaptive Neural Control of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems Using Disturbance Observer

This paper studies the problem of prescribed performance adaptive neural control for a class of uncertain multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) nonlinear systems in the presence of external disturbances and input saturation based on a disturbance observer. The system uncertainties are tackled by neural network (NN) approximation. To handle unknown disturbances, a Nussbaum disturbance observer is presented. By incorporating the disturbance observer and NNs, an adaptive prescribed performance neural control scheme is further developed. Then, the expected asymptotically convergent tracking errors between system output signals and desired signals are achieved. Numerical simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

Adaptive Neural Network Control of a Robotic Manipulator With Time-Varying Output Constraints

The control problem of an uncertain n -degrees of freedom robotic manipulator subjected to time-varying output constraints is investigated in this paper. We describe the rigid robotic manipulator system as a multi-input and multi-output nonlinear system. We devise a disturbance observer to estimate the unknown disturbance from humans and environment. To solve the uncertain problem, a neural network which utilizes a radial basis function is used to estimate the unknown dynamics of the robotic manipulator. An asymmetric barrier Lyapunov function is employed in the process of control design to avert the contravention of the time-varying output constraints. Simulation results validate the validity of the presented control scheme.

Smooth Neuroadaptive PI Tracking Control of Nonlinear Systems With Unknown and Nonsmooth Actuation Characteristics

This paper considers the tracking control problem for a class of multi-input multi-output nonlinear systems subject to unknown actuation characteristics and external disturbances. Neuroadaptive proportional-integral (PI) control with self-tuning gains is proposed, which is structurally simple and computationally inexpensive. Different from traditional PI control, the proposed one is able to online adjust its PI gains using stability-guaranteed analytic algorithms without involving manual tuning or trial and error process. It is shown that the proposed neuroadaptive PI control is continuous and smooth everywhere and ensures the uniformly ultimately boundedness of all the signals of the closed-loop system. Furthermore, the crucial compact set precondition for a neural network (NN) to function properly is guaranteed with the barrier Lyapunov function, allowing the NN unit to play its learning/approximating role during the entire system operation. The salient feature also lies in its low complexity in computation and effectiveness in dealing with modeling uncertainties and nonlinearities. Both square and nonsquare nonlinear systems are addressed. The benefits and the feasibility of the developed control are also confirmed by simulations.

Adaptive Neural Network Control of a Marine Vessel With Constraints Using the Asymmetric Barrier Lyapunov Function

In this paper, we consider the trajectory tracking of a marine surface vessel in the presence of output constraints and uncertainties. An asymmetric barrier Lyapunov function is employed to cope with the output constraints. To handle the system uncertainties, we apply adaptive neural networks to approximate the unknown model parameters of a vessel. Both full state feedback control and output feedback control are proposed in this paper. The state feedback control law is designed by using the Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse in case that all states are known, and the output feedback control is designed using a high-gain observer. Under the proposed method the controller is able to achieve the constrained output. Meanwhile, the signals of the closed loop system are semiglobally uniformly bounded. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to verify the feasibility of the proposed controller.

Neural Network-Based Passivity Control of Teleoperation System Under Time-Varying Delays

In this paper, a novel neural network (NN)-based four-channel wave-based time domain passivity approach (TDPA) is proposed for a teleoperation system with time-varying delays. The designed wave-based TDPA aims to robustly guarantee the channels passivity and provide higher transparency than the previous power-based TDPA. The applied NN is used to estimate and eliminate the system's dynamic uncertainties. The system stability with linearity assumption on human and environment has been analyzed using Lyapunov method. The proposed algorithm is validated through experimental work based on a 3-DOF bilateral teleoperation platform in the presence of different time delays.

Adaptive Neural Control of Uncertain MIMO Nonlinear Systems With State and Input Constraints

An adaptive neural control strategy for multiple input multiple output nonlinear systems with various constraints is presented in this paper. To deal with the nonsymmetric input nonlinearity and the constrained states, the proposed adaptive neural control is combined with the backstepping method, radial basis function neural network, barrier Lyapunov function (BLF), and disturbance observer. By ensuring the boundedness of the BLF of the closed-loop system, it is demonstrated that the output tracking is achieved with all states remaining in the constraint sets and the general assumption on nonsingularity of unknown control coefficient matrices has been eliminated. The constructed adaptive neural control has been rigorously proved that it can guarantee the semiglobally uniformly ultimate boundedness of all signals in the closed-loop system. Finally, the simulation studies on a 2-DOF robotic manipulator system indicate that the designed adaptive control is effective.

Asymmetric Actuator Backlash Compensation in Quantized Adaptive Control of Uncertain Networked Nonlinear Systems

This paper mainly aims at the problem of adaptive quantized control for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems preceded by asymmetric actuator backlash. One challenging problem that blocks the construction of our control scheme is that the real control signal is wrapped in the coupling of quantization effect and nonsmooth backlash nonlinearity. To resolve this challenge, this paper presents a two-stage separation approach established on two new technical components, which are the approximate asymmetric backlash model and the nonlinear decomposition of quantizer, respectively. Then the real control is successfully separated from the coupling dynamics. Furthermore, by employing the neural networks and adaptation method in control design, a quantized controller is developed to guarantee the asymptotic convergence of tracking error to an adjustable region of zero and uniform ultimate boundedness of all closed-loop signals. Eventually, simulations are conducted to support our theoretical results.

Generalized Dynamic Switched Synchronization between Combinations of Fractional-Order Chaotic Systems

This paper proposes a novel generalized switched synchronization scheme amongnfractional-order chaotic systems with various operating modes. Digital dynamic switches and dynamic scaling factors are employed, which offer many new capabilities. Dynamic switches determine the role of each system as a master or a slave. A system can either have a fixed role throughout the simulation time (static switching) or switch its role one or more times (dynamic switching). Dynamic scaling factors are used for each state variable of the master system. Such scaling factors control whether the master is a single system or a combination of several systems. In addition, these factors determine the generalized relation between the original systems from which the master system is built as well as the slave system(s). Moreover, they can be utilized to achieve different kinds of generalized synchronization relations for the purpose of generating new attractor diagrams. The paper presents a mathematical formulation and analysis of the proposed synchronization scheme. Furthermore, many numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the successful generalized switched synchronization of several fractional-order chaotic systems. The proposed scheme provides various functions suitable for applications such as different master-slave communication models and secure communication systems.

Performance-Based Adaptive Fuzzy Tracking Control for Networked Industrial Processes

In this paper, the performance-based control design problem for double-layer networked industrial processes is investigated. At the device layer, the prescribed performance functions are first given to describe the output tracking performance, and then by using backstepping technique, new adaptive fuzzy controllers are designed to guarantee the tracking performance under the effects of input dead-zone and the constraint of prescribed tracking performance functions. At operation layer, by considering the stochastic disturbance, actual index value, target index value, and index prediction simultaneously, an adaptive inverse optimal controller in discrete-time form is designed to optimize the overall performance and stabilize the overall nonlinear system. Finally, a simulation example of continuous stirred tank reactor system is presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed control method.

Adaptive Fault-Tolerant Control of Uncertain Nonlinear Large-Scale Systems With Unknown Dead Zone

In this paper, an adaptive neural fault-tolerant control scheme is proposed and analyzed for a class of uncertain nonlinear large-scale systems with unknown dead zone and external disturbances. To tackle the unknown nonlinear interaction functions in the large-scale system, the radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) is employed to approximate them. To further handle the unknown approximation errors and the effects of the unknown dead zone and external disturbances, integrated as the compounded disturbances, the corresponding disturbance observers are developed for their estimations. Based on the outputs of the RBFNN and the disturbance observer, the adaptive neural fault-tolerant control scheme is designed for uncertain nonlinear large-scale systems by using a decentralized backstepping technique. The closed-loop stability of the adaptive control system is rigorously proved via Lyapunov analysis and the satisfactory tracking performance is achieved under the integrated effects of unknown dead zone, actuator fault, and unknown external disturbances. Simulation results of a mass-spring-damper system are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive neural fault-tolerant control scheme for uncertain nonlinear large-scale systems.

Neural Network Control-Based Adaptive Learning Design for Nonlinear Systems With Full-State Constraints

In order to stabilize a class of uncertain nonlinear strict-feedback systems with full-state constraints, an adaptive neural network control method is investigated in this paper. The state constraints are frequently emerged in the real-life plants and how to avoid the violation of state constraints is an important task. By introducing a barrier Lyapunov function (BLF) to every step in a backstepping procedure, a novel adaptive backstepping design is well developed to ensure that the full-state constraints are not violated. At the same time, one remarkable feature is that the minimal learning parameters are employed in BLF backstepping design. By making use of Lyapunov analysis, we can prove that all the signals in the closed-loop system are semiglobal uniformly ultimately bounded and the output is well driven to follow the desired output. Finally, a simulation is given to verify the effectiveness of the method.

Adaptive Fuzzy Tracking Control of Nonlinear Systems With Asymmetric Actuator Backlash Based on a New Smooth Inverse

This paper is concentrated on the problem of adaptive fuzzy tracking control for an uncertain nonlinear system whose actuator is encountered by the asymmetric backlash behavior. First, we propose a new smooth inverse model which can approximate the asymmetric actuator backlash arbitrarily. By applying it, two adaptive fuzzy control scenarios, namely, the compensation-based control scheme and nonlinear decomposition-based control scheme, are then developed successively. It is worth noticing that the first fuzzy controller exhibits a better tracking control performance, although it recourses to a known slope ratio of backlash nonlinearity. The second one further removes the restriction, and also gets a desirable control performance. By the strict Lyapunov argument, both adaptive fuzzy controllers guarantee that the output tracking error is convergent to an adjustable region of zero asymptotically, while all the signals remain semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded. Lastly, two comparative simulations are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy controllers.