Decentralized discrete model referenced adaptive manipulator control

A decentralized digital model-reference adaptive manipulator trajectory controller was tested using a distributed multiprocessor architecture and a PUMA 560 industrial robot. The controller is composed of a nominal model-based component and an auxiliary model reference adaptive component. The purpose of the model reference adaptive control signal is to compensate for deviations of the model parameters from their actual values. Nonlinear interaction and coupling between joints is treated as a disturbance torque that is tuned and compensated for. The motivation for decentralized control is the ease and speed of parallel implementation of the developed control algorithms using relatively inexpensive hardware