Precise Trajectory Following for Robotic Manipulators

A control strategy proposed [1],[2],[3] for a special class of nonlinear dynamic systems with uncertain parameters and uncertain inputs is applied to the control of a two-link manipulator with bounded but unknown inertia and a variable payload. In this approach, "precise" tracking of a specified output trajectory is ensured despite the uncertainties entering the mathematical model. In particular, the appeal of such design procedure lies on a special decomposition which allows one to exploit linear control theory on the one hand and carry a separate treatment of the nonlinear effects together with uncertainties on the other.