Virtual internal model following control of robot arms

An alternative architecture of a robotic servo system with external information is developed. We name it Virtual Internal Model Following Control. First, a continuous path tracking problem of a robot arm in a working coordinate system is discussed and the control problem with external information is formulated. Then the virtual internal model is defined based on the formulation. This model is used to describe a control strategy for external information. The total servo system is synthesized based on the model following servo control concept. This architecture enables a robot to utilize general external information which includes information through sensors. As an example of the proposed control architecture, mechanical impedance control problem is discussed.