Real-Time Projected Adaptive Control for Closed-Chain Co-Manipulative Continuum Robots

TL;DR

This paper introduces a real-time adaptive control method for co-manipulative continuum robots with closed-chain dynamics, effectively handling unknown object parameters and ensuring stable task-space tracking.

Contribution

It formulates a finite-dimensional dynamic model using GVS representation and develops an adaptive control law with Lyapunov stability for CCRs.

Findings

Simulation results demonstrate accurate task-space regulation.

Experimental validation confirms real-time trajectory tracking.

The control framework handles uncertain parameters effectively.

Abstract

In co-manipulative continuum robots (CCRs), multiple continuum arms cooperate by grasping a common flexible object, forming a closed-chain deformable mechanical system. The closed-chain coupling induces strong dynamic interactions and internal reaction forces. Moreover, in practical tasks, the flexible object's physical parameters are often unknown and vary between operations, rendering nominal model-based controllers inadequate. This paper presents a projected adaptive control framework for CCRs formulated at the dynamic level. The coupled dynamics are expressed using the Geometric Variable Strain (GVS) representation, yielding a finite-dimensional model that accurately represents the system, preserves the linear-in-parameters structure required for adaptive control, and is suitable for real-time implementation. Closed-chain interactions are enforced through Pfaffian velocity constraints, and an orthogonal projection is used to express the dynamics in the constraint-consistent motion subspace. Based on the projected dynamics, an adaptive control law is developed to compensate online for uncertain dynamic parameters of both the continuum robots and the manipulated flexible object. Lyapunov analysis establishes closed-loop stability and convergence of the task-space tracking errors to zero. Simulation and experiments on a tendon-driven CCR platform validate the proposed framework in task-space regulation and trajectory tracking.