Distributed formation control of manipulators' end-effector with internal model-based disturbance rejection

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel formation control method for robotic manipulators' end-effectors that effectively rejects persistent sinusoidal and step disturbances using internal model-based compensators and physical virtual spring-damper networks.

Contribution

It introduces an internal model-based disturbance rejection scheme integrated with virtual spring-damper formation control for manipulators.

Findings

Effective disturbance rejection demonstrated through simulations

Maintains formation despite persistent external disturbances

Provides a physically interpretable control approach

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of end-effector formation control for manipulators that are subjected to external disturbances: input disturbance torques and disturbance forces at each end-effector. The disturbances are assumed to be non-vanishing and are superposition of finite number of sinusoidal and step signals. The formation control objective is achieved by assigning virtual springs between end-effectors, by adding damping terms at joints, and by incorporating internal model-based dynamic compensators to counteract the effect of the disturbances; all of which presents a clear physical interpretation of the proposed approach. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.