Velocity feedback control and the dynamic properties of robot manipulators

The available control schemes for robot manipulators apply indiscriminately to all types of manipulators irrespective of their intrinsic dynamic properties. Improved designs of robot manipulators ought to achieve desirable dynamic properties in order to lessen the control effort usually delegated to the joints´ actuators. In principle, linear state, i.e. postion and velocity, feedback is capable of achieving position-to-position control. We show that only velocity feedback is needed to achieve position-to-position control. Moreover, the formulation emphasizes the effect of the parameters, i.e. the length, weight, etc. of the links, on the dynamic properties of the manipulator. Consequently, the formulation underlines the role these parameters play in defining the dynamic properties and thus the emphasis becomes that of design. The formulation is specified by the potential function corresponding to the closed loop velocity feed-back control system.