Neural network-based motion control of an underactuated wheeled inverted pendulum model

Design and Experimental Validation of Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Fast Trajectory Planning and Control for Mobile Robot in Unknown Environment

This article is concerned with the problem of planning optimal maneuver trajectories and guiding the mobile robot toward target positions in uncertain environments for exploration purposes. A hierarchical deep learning-based control framework is proposed which consists of an upper level motion planning layer and a lower level waypoint tracking layer. In the motion planning phase, a recurrent deep neural network (RDNN)-based algorithm is adopted to predict the optimal maneuver profiles for the mobile robot. This approach is built upon a recently proposed idea of using deep neural networks (DNNs) to approximate the optimal motion trajectories, which has been validated that a fast approximation performance can be achieved. To further enhance the network prediction performance, a recurrent network model capable of fully exploiting the inherent relationship between preoptimized system state and control pairs is advocated. In the lower level, a deep reinforcement learning (DRL)-based collision-free control algorithm is established to achieve the waypoint tracking task in an uncertain environment (e.g., the existence of unexpected obstacles). Since this approach allows the control policy to directly learn from human demonstration data, the time required by the training process can be significantly reduced. Moreover, a noisy prioritized experience replay (PER) algorithm is proposed to improve the exploring rate of control policy. The effectiveness of applying the proposed deep learning-based control is validated by executing a number of simulation and experimental case studies. The simulation result shows that the proposed DRL method outperforms the vanilla PER algorithm in terms of training speed. Experimental videos are also uploaded, and the corresponding results confirm that the proposed strategy is able to fulfill the autonomous exploration mission with improved motion planning performance, enhanced collision avoidance ability, and less training time.

Adaptive NN Tracking Control for Uncertain MIMO Nonlinear System With Time-Varying State Constraints and Disturbances

In this article, an adaptive neural network (NN) tracking control scheme is proposed for uncertain multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) nonlinear system in strict-feedback form subject to system uncertainties, time-varying state constraints, and bounded disturbances. The radial basis function NNs (RBFNNs) are adopted to approximate the system uncertainties. By constructing the intermediate variables, the external disturbances that cannot be directly measured are approximated by the disturbance observers. The time-varying barrier Lyapunov function (TVBLF) is constructed to guarantee the boundedness of the errors lie in the sets. To overcome the potential singularity problem that the denominator of the barrier function term approaches zero in controller design, the adaptive NN tracking control scheme with time-varying state constraints is proposed. Based on the TVBLF, the controller will be designed to guarantee tracking performance without violating the appropriate error constraints. The analysis of TVBLF shows that all closed-loop signals remain semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded (SGUUB). The simulation results are performed to validate the validity of the proposed scheme.

Robust Admittance Control of Optimized Robot-Environment Interaction Using Reference Adaptation

In this article, a robust control scheme is proposed for robots to achieve an optimal performance in the process of interacting with external forces from environments. The environmental dynamics are defined as a linear model, and the interaction performance is evaluated by a defined cost function, which is composed of trajectory errors and force regulation. Based on admittance control, the reference adaptation method is used to minimize the cost function and achieve the optimal interaction performance. To make the trajectory tracking controller robust to the unknown disturbance of internal system dynamics, an auxiliary system is defined and the approximation optimal controller is designed. Experiments on the Baxter robot are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Mechatronic Device Control by Artificial Intelligence

Nowadays, artificial intelligence is used everywhere in the world and is becoming a key factor for innovation and progress in many areas of human life. From medicine to industry to consumer electronics, its influence is ever-expanding and permeates all aspects of our modern society. This article presents the use of artificial intelligence (prediction) for the control of three motors used for effector control in a spherical parallel kinematic structure of a designed device. The kinematic model used was the "Agile eye" which can achieve high dynamics and has three degrees of freedom. A prototype of this device was designed and built, on which experiments were carried out in the framework of motor control. As the prototype was created through the means of the available equipment (3D printing and lathe), the clearances of the kinematic mechanism were made and then calibrated through prediction. The paper also presents a method for motor control calibration. On the one hand, using AI is an efficient way to achieve higher precision in positioning the optical axis of the effector. On the other hand, such calibration would be rendered unnecessary if the clearances and inaccuracies in the mechanism could be eliminated mechanically. The device was designed with imperfections such as clearances in mind so the effectiveness of the calibration could be tested and evaluated. The resulting control of the achieved movements of the axis of the device (effector) took place when obtaining the exact location of the tracked point. There are several methods for controlling the motors of mechatronic devices (e.g., Matlab-Simscape). This paper presents an experiment performed to verify the possibility of controlling the kinematic mechanism through neural networks and eliminating inaccuracies caused by imprecisely produced mechanical parts.

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.

Learning and Near-Optimal Control of Underactuated Surface Vessels With Periodic Disturbances

In this article, we propose a novel learning and near-optimal control approach for underactuated surface (USV) vessels with unknown mismatched periodic external disturbances and unknown hydrodynamic parameters. Given a prior knowledge of the periods of the disturbances, an analytical near-optimal control law is derived through the approximation of the integral-type quadratic performance index with respect to the tracking error, where the equivalent unknown parameters are generated online by an auxiliary system that can learn the dynamics of the controlled system. It is proved that the state differences between the auxiliary system and the corresponding controlled USV vessel are globally asymptotically convergent to zero. Besides, the approach theoretically guarantees asymptotic optimality of the performance index. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated via simulations based on the real parameters of an USV vessel.

Adaptive Fuzzy Control for a Class of MIMO Underactuated Systems With Plant Uncertainties and Actuator Deadzones: Design and Experiments

In the field of modern industrial engineering, many mechanical systems are underactuated, exhibiting strong nonlinear characteristics and high flexibility. However, the lack of control inputs brings about many difficulties for controller design and stability/convergence analysis., some unavoidable practical issues, e.g., plant uncertainties and actuator deadzones, make the control of underactuated systems even more challenging. Hence, with the aid of elaborately constructed finite-time convergent surfaces, this article provides the first solution to address the control problem for a class of multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) underactuated systems subject to plant uncertainties and actuator deadzones. Specifically, this article overcomes the main obstacle in sliding-mode surface analysis for MIMO underactuated systems, that is, by the presented analysis method, the asymptotic stability of the system equilibrium point is strictly proven based on the composite surfaces. In addition, the unknown parts of the actuated/unactuated dynamic equations and actuator deadzones can be simultaneously handled, which is important for real applications. Furthermore, we apply the proposed method to two kinds of typical underactuated systems, that is: 1) tower cranes and 2) double-pendulum cranes, and implement a series of hardware experiments to verify its effectiveness and robustness.

Design and Implementation of Deep Neural Network-Based Control for Automatic Parking Maneuver Process

This article focuses on the design, test, and validation of a deep neural network (DNN)-based control scheme capable of predicting optimal motion commands for autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs) during the parking maneuver process. The proposed design utilizes a multilayer structure. In the first layer, a desensitized trajectory optimization method is iteratively performed to establish a set of time-optimal parking trajectories with the consideration of noise-perturbed initial configurations. Subsequently, by using the preplanned optimal parking trajectory data set, several DNNs are trained in order to learn the functional relationship between the system state-control actions in the second layer. To obtain further improvements regarding the DNN performances, a simple yet effective data aggregation approach is designed and applied. These trained DNNs are then utilized as the motion controllers to generate feedback actions in real time. Numerical results were executed to demonstrate the effectiveness and the real-time applicability of using the proposed control scheme to plan and steer the AGV parking maneuver. Experimental results were also provided to justify the algorithm performance in real-world implementations.

Reference modification for trajectory tracking using hybrid offline and online neural networks learning

In this paper, we propose a hybrid offline/online neural networks learning method, which combines complementary advantages of two types of neural networks (NNs): deep NN (DNN) and single-layer radial basis function NN (RBFNN). Firstly, after analyzing the mechatronic system’s model, we select reasonable features as the input of the DNN to learn the inverse dynamic characteristics of the closed-loop system offline, so as to establish the mapping between the desired trajectory and the reference trajectory of the system. The trained DNN is used to generate a new reference trajectory and compensate for the tracking error in advance, which can speed up the convergence of online learning control based on RBFNN. This reference trajectory is further modified iteratively when the tracking task is repeated. For this purpose, a single-layer RBFNN model is established, and an online learning algorithm is developed to update the RBFNN parameters. The proposed hybrid offline/online NN method can improve the tracking performance of mechatronic systems by modifying the reference trajectory on top of the baseline controller without affecting the system stability. To verify the effectiveness of this method, we conduct experiments on a piezoelectric drive platform.

Stabilization and tracking control of an x-z type inverted pendulum system using Lightning Search Algorithm tuned nonlinear PID controller

Inverted pendulum systems (IPSs) are mostly used to demonstrate the control rules for keeping the pendulum at a balanced upright position due to a slight force applied to the cart system. This paper presents an application for nonlinear control of an x-z type IPS by using a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller with newly established evolutionary tuning method Lightning Search Algorithm (LSA). A single, double and triple PID controller system is tested with the conventional and the self-tuning controllers to get a better understanding of the performance of the given system. The mathematical modelling of the x-z type IPS, the theoretical explanation of the LSA and the simulation analysis of the x-z type IPS is put forward entirely. The LSA algorithm solves the optimization problem of PID controller in an evolutionary way. The most effective way of making comparisons is evaluating the performance results with a well-known optimization technique or with the previous accepted results. We have compared the system’s performance with particle swarm optimization and with a classical control study in the literature. According to the simulation results, LSA-tuned PID controller has the ability to decrease the overshoot better than the conventional-tuned controllers. Finally, it can be concluded that the LSA-supported PID can better stabilize the pendulum angle and track the reference better for non-disturbed and the slightly disturbed systems.

Gradient Descent-Based Adaptive Learning Control for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles With Unknown Uncertainties

This article investigates the adaptive learning control problem for a class of nonlinear autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with unknown uncertainties. The unknown nonlinear functions in the AUVs are approximated by radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs), in which the weight updating laws are designed via gradient descent algorithm. The proposed gradient descent-based control scheme guarantees the semiglobal uniform ultimate boundedness (SUUB) of the system and the fast convergence of the weight updating laws. In order to reduce the computational burden during the backstepping control design process, the command-filter-based design technique is incorporated into the adaptive learning control strategy. Finally, simulation studies are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Adaptive Fuzzy Tracking Control Design for a Class of Uncertain Nonstrict-Feedback Fractional-Order Nonlinear SISO Systems

In this article, a class of uncertain nonstrict-feedback fractional-order nonlinear single-input-single-output (SISO) systems is investigated. Fuzzy-logic systems (FLSs) are employed to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions and model the uncertain fractional-order nonlinear systems. For the states measurable case, an adaptive fuzzy state-feedback control scheme is developed under the framework of the backstepping technique. For the states unmeasurable case, an observer-based output-feedback control design is proposed by introducing a serial-parallel estimation model and using the dynamic surface control (DSC) technique. Under the drive of the reference signals, the semiglobally uniformly ultimate boundedness for all signals and the tracking errors converging to a small neighborhood of the origin are proved based on the Lyapunov function theory by choosing appropriate design parameters. Two examples with numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the availability of the proposed control approaches.

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.

Recurrent Neural Network for Kinematic Control of Redundant Manipulators With Periodic Input Disturbance and Physical Constraints

Input disturbances and physical constraints are important issues in the kinematic control of redundant manipulators. In this paper, we propose a novel recurrent neural network to simultaneously address the periodic input disturbance, joint angle constraint, and joint velocity constraint, and optimize a general quadratic performance index. The proposed recurrent neural network applies to both regulation and tracking tasks. Theoretical analysis shows that, with the proposed neural network, the end-effector tracking and regulation errors asymptotically converge to zero in the presence of both input disturbance and the two constraints. Simulation examples and comparisons with an existing controller are also presented to validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed controller.

Distributed adaptive neural networks leader-following formation control for quadrotors with directed switching topologies

The leader-following formation problem is discussed for a team of quadrotors under directed switching topologies. To obtain a more general dynamic model, we describe the quadrotor system in a non-affine pure-feedback form with mismatched unknown nonlinearities. By employing an adaptive neural networks state observer to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions and to reconstruct the immeasurable inner states, we propose a novel distributed output feedback formation control protocol with the backstepping method combining with the dynamic surface control technique. From the Lyapunov stability theorem, all signals in the closed-loop formation system are proven to be cooperatively semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded for any given bounded initial conditions. Finally, we proved that we verify the performance of the proposed formation control approach by a simulation study.

Nonlinear Optimal Control for the Wheeled Inverted Pendulum System

The article proposes a nonlinear optimal control method for the model of the wheeled inverted pendulum (WIP). This is a difficult control and robotics problem due to the system’s strong nonlinearities and due to its underactuation. First, the dynamic model of the WIP undergoes approximate linearization around a temporary operating point which is recomputed at each time step of the control method. The linearization procedure makes use of Taylor series expansion and of the computation of the associated Jacobian matrices. For the linearized model of the wheeled pendulum, an optimal (H-infinity) feedback controller is developed. The controller’s gain is computed through the repetitive solution of an algebraic Riccati equation at each iteration of the control algorithm. The global asymptotic stability properties of the control method are proven through Lyapunov analysis. Finally, by using the H-infinity Kalman Filter as a robust state estimator, the implementation of a state estimation-based control scheme becomes also possible.

Biologically-Inspired Learning and Adaptation of Self-Evolving Control for Networked Mobile Robots

This paper presents a biologically-inspired learning and adaptation method for self-evolving control of networked mobile robots. A Kalman filter (KF) algorithm is employed to develop a self-learning RBFNN (Radial Basis Function Neural Network), called the KF-RBFNN. The structure of the KF-RBFNN is optimally initialized by means of a modified genetic algorithm (GA) in which a Lévy flight strategy is applied. By using the derived mathematical kinematic model of the mobile robots, the proposed GA-KF-RBFNN is utilized to design a self-evolving motion control law. The control parameters of the mobile robots are self-learned and adapted via the proposed GA-KF-RBFNN. This approach is extended to address the formation control problem of networked mobile robots by using a broadcast leader-follower control strategy. The proposed pragmatic approach circumvents the communication delay problem found in traditional networked mobile robot systems where consensus graph theory and directed topology are applied. The simulation results and numerical analysis are provided to demonstrate the merits and effectiveness of the developed GA-KF-RBFNN to achieve self-evolving formation control of networked mobile robots.

Adaptive Reinforcement Learning Control Based on Neural Approximation for Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems With Unknown Nonaffine Dead-Zone Input

In this paper, an optimal control algorithm is designed for uncertain nonlinear systems in discrete-time, which are in nonaffine form and with unknown dead-zone. The main contributions of this paper are that an optimal control algorithm is for the first time framed in this paper for nonlinear systems with nonaffine dead-zone, and the adaptive parameter law for dead-zone is calculated by using the gradient rules. The mean value theory is employed to deal with the nonaffine dead-zone input and the implicit function theory based on reinforcement learning is appropriately introduced to find an unknown ideal controller which is approximated by using the action network. Other neural networks are taken as the critic networks to approximate the strategic utility functions. Based on the Lyapunov stability analysis theory, we can prove the stability of systems, i.e., the optimal control laws can guarantee that all the signals in the closed-loop system are bounded and the tracking errors are converged to a small compact set. Finally, two simulation examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the design algorithm.

Neural-Learning-Based Control for a Constrained Robotic Manipulator With Flexible Joints

Nowadays, the control technology of the robotic manipulator with flexible joints (RMFJ) is not mature enough. The flexible-joint manipulator dynamic system possesses many uncertainties, which brings a great challenge to the controller design. This paper is motivated by this problem. In order to deal with this and enhance the system robustness, the full-state feedback neural network (NN) control is proposed. Moreover, output constraints of the RMFJ are achieved, which improve the security of the robot. Through the Lyapunov stability analysis, we identify that the proposed controller can guarantee not only the stability of flexible-joint manipulator system but also the boundedness of system state variables by choosing appropriate control gains. Then, we make some necessary simulation experiments to verify the rationality of our controllers. Finally, a series of control experiments are conducted on the Baxter. By comparing with the proportional-derivative control and the NN control with the rigid manipulator model, the feasibility and the effectiveness of NN control based on flexible-joint manipulator model are verified.

Adaptive Neural Control for Robotic Manipulators With Output Constraints and Uncertainties

This paper investigates adaptive neural control methods for robotic manipulators, subject to uncertain plant dynamics and constraints on the joint position. The barrier Lyapunov function is employed to guarantee that the joint constraints are not violated, in which the Moore-Penrose pseudo-inverse term is used in the control design. To handle the unmodeled dynamics, the neural network (NN) is adopted to approximate the uncertain dynamics. The NN control based on full-state feedback for robots is proposed when all states of the closed loop are known. Subsequently, only the robot joint is measurable in practice; output feedback control is designed with a high-gain observer to estimate unmeasurable states. Through the Lyapunov stability analysis, system stability is achieved with the proposed control, and the system output achieves convergence without violation of the joint constraints. Simulation is conducted to approve the feasibility and superiority of the proposed NN control.

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.

Prescribed Performance Control of Uncertain Euler-Lagrange Systems Subject to Full-State Constraints

This paper studies the zero-error tracking control problem of Euler-Lagrange systems subject to full-state constraints and nonparametric uncertainties. By blending an error transformation with barrier Lyapunov function, a neural adaptive tracking control scheme is developed, resulting in a solution with several salient features: 1) the control action is continuous and smooth; 2) the full-state tracking error converges to a prescribed compact set around origin within a given finite time at a controllable rate of convergence that can be uniformly prespecified; 3) with Nussbaum gain in the loop, the tracking error further shrinks to zero as ; and 4) the neural network (NN) unit can be safely included in the loop during the entire system operational envelope without the danger of violating the compact set precondition imposed on the NN training inputs. Furthermore, by using the Lyapunov analysis, it is proven that all the signals of the closed-loop systems are semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded. The effectiveness and benefits of the proposed control method are validated via computer simulation.

Adaptive Fuzzy Neural Network Control for a Constrained Robot Using Impedance Learning

This paper investigates adaptive fuzzy neural network (NN) control using impedance learning for a constrained robot, subject to unknown system dynamics, the effect of state constraints, and the uncertain compliant environment with which the robot comes into contact. A fuzzy NN learning algorithm is developed to identify the uncertain plant model. The prominent feature of the fuzzy NN is that there is no need to get the prior knowledge about the uncertainty and a sufficient amount of observed data. Also, impedance learning is introduced to tackle the interaction between the robot and its environment, so that the robot follows a desired destination generated by impedance learning. A barrier Lyapunov function is used to address the effect of state constraints. With the proposed control, the stability of the closed-loop system is achieved via Lyapunov's stability theory, and the tracking performance is guaranteed under the condition of state constraints and uncertainty. Some simulation studies are carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

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.

Neural-Learning-Based Telerobot Control With Guaranteed Performance

In this paper, a neural networks (NNs) enhanced telerobot control system is designed and tested on a Baxter robot. Guaranteed performance of the telerobot control system is achieved at both kinematic and dynamic levels. At kinematic level, automatic collision avoidance is achieved by the control design at the kinematic level exploiting the joint space redundancy, thus the human operator would be able to only concentrate on motion of robot's end-effector without concern on possible collision. A posture restoration scheme is also integrated based on a simulated parallel system to enable the manipulator restore back to the natural posture in the absence of obstacles. At dynamic level, adaptive control using radial basis function NNs is developed to compensate for the effect caused by the internal and external uncertainties, e.g., unknown payload. Both the steady state and the transient performance are guaranteed to satisfy a prescribed performance requirement. Comparative experiments have been performed to test the effectiveness and to demonstrate the guaranteed performance of the proposed methods.

Asymptotic Fuzzy Neural Network Control for Pure-Feedback Stochastic Systems Based on a Semi-Nussbaum Function Technique

Most existing control results for pure-feedback stochastic systems are limited to a condition that tracking errors are bounded in probability. Departing from such bounded results, this paper proposes an asymptotic fuzzy neural network control for pure-feedback stochastic systems. The control goal is realized by proposing a novel semi-Nussbaum function-based technique and employing it in adaptive backstepping controller design. The proposed Nussbaum function is integrated with adaptive control technique to guarantee that the tracking error is asymptotically stable in probability.

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.

Indoor Autonomous Control of a Two-Wheeled Inverted Pendulum Vehicle Using Ultra Wide Band Technology

In this paper, we aimed to achieve the indoor tracking control of a two-wheeled inverted pendulum (TWIP) vehicle. The attitude data are acquired from a low cost micro inertial measurement unit (IMU), and the ultra-wideband (UWB) technology is utilized to obtain an accurate estimation of the TWIP’s position. We propose a dual-loop control method to realize the simultaneous balance and trajectory tracking control for the TWIP vehicle. A robust adaptive second-order sliding mode control (2-RASMC) method based on an improved super-twisting (STW) algorithm is investigated to obtain the control laws, followed by several simulations to verify its robustness. The outer loop controller is designed using the idea of backstepping. Moreover, three typical trajectories, including a circle, a trifolium and a hexagon, have been designed to prove the adaptability of the control combinations. Six different combinations of inner and outer loop control algorithms have been compared, and the characteristics of inner and outer loop algorithm combinations have been analyzed. Simulation results demonstrate its tracking performance and thus verify the validity of the proposed control methods. Trajectory tracking experiments in a real indoor environment have been performed using our experimental vehicle to further validate the feasibility of the proposed algorithm in practice.

Adaptive control of two-wheeled mobile balance robot capable to adapt different surfaces using a novel artificial neural network–based real-time switching dynamic controller

In this article, a novel real-time artificial neural network–based adaptable switching dynamic controller is developed and practically implemented. It will be used for real-time control of two-wheeled balance robot which can balance itself upright position on different surfaces. In order to examine the efficiency of the proposed controller, a two-wheeled mobile balance robot is designed and a test platform for experimental setup is made for balance problem on different surfaces. In a developed adaptive controller algorithm which is capable to adapt different surfaces, mean absolute target angle deviation error, mean absolute target displacement deviation error and mean absolute controller output data are employed for surface estimation by using artificial neural network. In a designed two-wheeled mobile balance robot system, robot tilt angle is estimated via Kalman filter from accelerometer and gyroscope sensor signals. Furthermore, a visual robot control interface is developed in C++ software development environment so that robot controller parameters can be changed as desired. In addition, robot balance angle, linear displacement and controller output can be observed online on personal computer. According to the real-time experimental results, the proposed novel type controller gives more effective results than the classic ones.

Adaptive Neural Network Control for the Trajectory Tracking of the Furuta Pendulum

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel adaptive neural network-based control scheme for the Furuta pendulum, which is a two degree-of-freedom underactuated system. Adaptation laws for the input and output weights are also provided. The proposed controller is able to guarantee tracking of a reference signal for the arm while the pendulum remains in the upright position. The key aspect of the derivation of the controller is the definition of an output function that depends on the position and velocity errors. The internal and external dynamics are rigorously analyzed, thereby proving the uniform ultimate boundedness of the error trajectories. By using real-time experiments, the new scheme is compared with other control methodologies, therein demonstrating the improved performance of the proposed adaptive algorithm.

Vision-Based Human Tracking Control of a Wheeled Inverted Pendulum Robot

In this paper, a vision-based adaptive control is designed for a wheeled inverted pendulum (WIP) robot to track a moving human target by integration of multisensor data. A new algorithm is employed in the system to combine an OptiTrack camera and a Kinect camera, such that more robust and efficient performance can be achieved for human target detection and tracking. Robust adaptive control has been developed for the WIP robot to maintain its balance on two wheels and to follow the human target using visual feedback. Leader-follower control, dynamic balance control and visual tracking are efficiently combined together to achieved desired tracking and balancing performance. Extensive experiment studies have been performed to test the effectiveness of the proposed control strategies.