Comparison between two actuation schemes for underactuated brachiation robots

In this paper we present a comparative study of two actuation schemes for underactuated brachiation robots, using the nonlinear model based predictive control (MPC) technique to the motion control. The actuation schemes are based on two underactuated robots, the Acrobot and the Pendubot, both with 2 links. However, in this work a robot with 3 links, i.e., two arms and a body, is used. We adopt the MPC to control the underactuated brachiation robot due to its advantages, mainly the construction of an optimal stabilizing control law and due to its ability to consider in a direct way the constraints into the optimization problem. At the end we present computational simulations with their respective results and we highlight some important considerations.