Fundamental dynamics based adaptive energy control for cooperative swinging of complex pendulum-like objects

We present an adaptive energy-based controller for cooperative swinging of complex pendulum-like objects by two agents. The complex pendulum-like object has two oscillation degrees of freedom of which one is to be controlled to a goal energy and the other one has to be damped. The closed-loop fundamental dynamics of a simple pendulum are extended to the two-agent pendulum. Based on the fundamental dynamics, a simple adaptive mechanism identifies the natural frequency of the system. An amplitude factor is adapted such that an agent behaves as a leader or a follower. A leader knows the goal energy and controls the system according to desired reference dynamics. A follower either imitates the leader´s energy flow or estimates the leader´s goal energy. Properties as stability of both leader-follower structures are analyzed analytically based on the fundamental dynamics assumption. The applicability of the control approaches to a complex pendulum-like object is shown in simulation.