A new algorithm for workspace analysis for robot manipulators

Summary A new algorithm to determine the workspace of a robot manipulator is presented in this paper. The method is based on the concept of dividing the robot structure into a regional structure and an orientational structure and is much more efficient than many methods currently available. Another advantage is that the method is expedient to plot the contours of the workspace of a robot manipulator on an arbitrarily defined plane or determine the extreme points along a general direction. The problem of determining subspaces of different joint configurations is also addressed and a method to compute them is proposed. Since for an ordinary industrial robot the regional structure is usually solvable to the first three joint variables, the method proposed is efficient computationally. The applicability of the method is demonstrated by some numeric examples.

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Sommario Nel lavoro viene presentato un nuovo algoritmo per determinare il campo di lavoro di un manipolatore robotico. Il metodo utilizza il concetto di dividere la struttura del manipolatore ad una struttura regionale ed una struttura orientamentale ed è molto più efficace di molti metodi esistenti. Un altro vantaggio del metodo è che esso è conveniente per disegnare i contorni del campo di lavoro su un piano specificato arbitrariamente oppure per determinare i punti estremi lungo una direzione generale. Nel lavoro è studiato anche il problema di determinare i sottospazi di configurazioni diverse dei giunti e viene presentato un metodo per calcolarli. Siccome per un robot industriale la struttura regionale è normalmente risolubile per le prime tre variabili dei giunti, il metodo presentato è molto efficace computazionalmente. L'applicabilità del metodo è dimostrata da qualche esempio numerico.

     

Dynamic analysis of geometrically nonlinear robot manipulators

In this paper, a method for the dynamic analysis of geometrically nonlinear elastic robot manipulators is presented. Robot arm elasticity is introduced using a finite element method which allows for the gross arm rotations. A shape function which accounts for the combined effects of rotary inertia and shear deformation is employed to describe the arm deformation relative to a selected component reference. Geometric elastic nonlinearities are introduced into the formulation by retaining the quadratic terms in the strain-displacement relationships. This has lead to a new stiffness matrix that depends on the rotary inertia and shear deformation and which has to be iteratively updated during the dynamic simulation. Mechanical joints are introduced into the formulation using a set of nonlinear algebraic constraint equations. A set of independent coordinates is identified over each subinterval and is employed to define the system state equations. In order to exemplify the analysis, a two-armed robot manipulator is solved. In this example, the effect of introducing geometric elastic nonlinearities and inertia nonlinearities on the robot arm kinematics, deformations, joint reaction forces and end-effector trajectory are investigated.     

Solving time-varying inverse kinematics problem of wheeled mobile manipulators using Zhang neural network with exponential convergence

A mobile manipulator is a robotic device composed of a mobile platform and a stationary manipulator fixed to the platform. The forward kinematics problem for such mobile manipulators has a mathematical analytic solution; however, the inverse kinematics problem is mathematically intractable (especially for satisfying real-time requirements). To obtain the accurate solution of the time-varying inverse kinematics for mobile manipulators, a special class of recurrent neural network, named Zhang neural network (ZNN), is exploited and investigated in this article. It is theoretically proven that such a ZNN model globally and exponentially converges to the solution of the time-varying inverse kinematics for mobile manipulators. In addition, the kinematics equations of the mobile platform and the manipulator are integrated into one system, and thus the resultant solution can co-ordinate simultaneously the wheels and the manipulator to fulfill the end-effector task. For comparison purposes, a gradient neural network (GNN) is developed for solving time-varying inverse kinematics problem of wheeled mobile manipulators. Finally, we conduct extensive tracking-path simulations performed on a wheeled mobile manipulator using such a ZNN model. The results substantiate the efficacy and high accuracy of the ZNN model for solving time-varying inverse kinematics problem of mobile manipulators. Besides, by comparing the simulation results of the GNN and ZNN models, the superiority of the ZNN model is demonstrated clearly.     

A recursive approach of inverse dynamics for flexible manipulators

To realize the trajectory control of a flexible manipulator, a so-called virtual rigid manipulator is introduced to describe the specified trajectory. The recursive kinematics relations and dynamics equation in the form of variation are established. A recursive approach of inverse dynamics is developed, which is simple and has higher computation efficiency. A two-links planar flexible manipulator is studied to verify the effectiveness of the approach proposed.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and a Doctoral Program.     

Nonlinear robust and optimal control of robot manipulators

In this paper, we propose a new optimal control method for robust control of nonlinear robot manipulators. Many industrial robot systems are required to perform relatively large angular movement with sufficient accuracy. In real circumstances, highly nonlinear manipulator dynamics and uncertainties such as unknown load placed on the manipulator, external disturbance, and joint friction make the precise control of manipulators a very challenging task. The main contribution of this work is to develop a new robust control strategy to accomplish the precise control of robot manipulators under load uncertainty using a nonlinear optimal control formulation and solution. This methodology is based on the underlying relation between the robust stability and performance optimality. A class of robust control problems can be transformed to an equivalent optimal control problem by incorporating the uncertainty bounds into the cost functional. The θ-D optimal control approach is utilized to find an approximate closed-form feedback solution to the resultant nonlinear optimal control problem via a perturbation process. Numerical simulations show that the proposed robust controller is able to control the robot manipulator precisely under large load variations.     

Velocity and acceleration level inverse kinematic calculation alternatives for redundant manipulators

For both non-redundant and redundant systems, the inverse kinematics (IK) calculation is a fundamental step in the control algorithm of fully actuated serial manipulators. The tool-center-point (TCP) position is given and the joint coordinates are determined by the IK. Depending on the task, robotic manipulators can be kinematically redundant. That is when the desired task possesses lower dimensions than the degrees-of-freedom of a redundant manipulator. The IK calculation can be implemented numerically in several alternative ways not only in case of the redundant but also in the non-redundant case. We study the stability properties and the feasibility of a tracking error feedback and a direct tracking error elimination approach of the numerical implementation of IK calculation both on velocity and acceleration levels. The feedback approach expresses the joint position increment stepwise based on the local velocity or acceleration of the desired TCP trajectory and linear feedback terms. In the direct error elimination concept, the increment of the joint position is directly given by the approximate error between the desired and the realized TCP position, by assuming constant TCP velocity or acceleration. We investigate the possibility of the implementation of the direct method on acceleration level. The investigated IK methods are unified in a framework that utilizes the idea of the auxiliary input. Our closed form results and numerical case study examples show the stability properties, benefits and disadvantages of the assessed IK implementations.

     

Super-twisting algorithm with time delay estimation for uncertain robot manipulators

Nonlinear Dynamics - In a small tubular neighborhood of the heteroclinic orbits, we establish a local coordinate system by using the foundational solutions of the linear variational equation of the...     

Configuration-dependent modal analysis of a Cartesian parallel kinematics manipulator: numerical modeling and experimental validation

In the design optimization of a robot the configuration-dependent modal analysis can be a powerful tool to be exploited when high stiffness and high dynamic performances are concurrently required. In this paper the elastodynamics of a lower-mobility Parallel Kinematic Machine for pure translational motions is analyzed. The vibrational modes and the natural frequencies of the robot are evaluated as functions of the end effector position inside the workspace. A finite element model including kinematic joints is used to perform a series of modal analyses in a grid of points inside the workspace. A polynomial regression gives continuous volume maps of the natural frequencies distributions. The numerical model is validated by comparison with experiments: a modal analysis is conducted on a set of inertance Frequency Response Functions acquired on several points of the machine components as a result of an excitation given by an instrumented hammer. A Natural Frequency Difference analysis validates the model under certain conditions and highlights some critical issues to be focused on in future works.     

Motion planning for redundant prismatic-jointed manipulators in the free-floating mode

This paper investigates the motion planning of redundant free-floating manipulators with seven prismatic joints. On the earth, prismatic-jointed manipulators could only position their end-effectors in a desired way. However, in space, the end-effectors of free-floating manipulators can achieve both the desired orientation and desired position due to the dynamical coupling between manipulator and satellite movement, which is formally expressed by linear and angular momentum conservation laws. In this study, a tractable algorithm particle swarm optimization combined with differential evolution (PSODE) is provided to deal with the motion planning of redundant free-floating prismatic-jointed manipulators, which could avoid the pseudo inverse of the Jacobian matrix. The polynomial functions, as argument in sine functions are used to specify the joint paths. The coefficients of the polynomials are optimized to achieve the desired end-effector orientation and position, and simultaneously minimize the unit-mass-kinetic energy using the redundancy. Relevant simulations prove that this method provides satisfactory smooth paths for redundant free-floating prismatic-jointed manipulators. This study could help to recognize the advantages of redundant prismatic-jointed space manipulators.     

A Lie symmetry approach for the solution of the inverse kinematics problem

In this paper, it is considered the inverse kinematics problem, which is faced from a differential point of view. In particular, it is shown that an asymptotic inverse kinematics can be interpreted as a Lie symmetry of the direct kinematics. A parameterization of all Lie symmetries of the direct kinematics is proposed, and the classical Newton and gradient method are obtained as particular cases.     

Trajectory tracking control using velocity observer and disturbances observer for uncertain robot manipulators without tachometers

This paper deals with trajectory tracking control for rigid robot manipulators with model uncertainty and subject to external disturbances. The approach suggested herein does not require velocity measurement, because these robots are not equipped by tachometers for velocity measurement. For this purpose, two observers are proposed. The first is a velocity observer to estimate the missing velocity, and the second one is a disturbance observer to estimate the disturbance. Thereafter, these observers are integrated with the controller. Furthermore, semi-global asymptotic stability conditions of the composite controller consisting of a nonlinear controller, the velocity observer and the disturbance observer are established, and an estimate region of attraction is also given. This proof is based on Lyapunov theory. Finally, simulation results on two-links manipulator are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the velocity observer based control using disturbance estimation (namely VOBCDE), when the Coulomb and viscous friction is considered as an external disturbance.     

Differential-equation-based representation of truncation errors for accurate numerical simulation

High-order compact finite difference schemes for two-dimensional convection-diffusion-type differential equations with constant and variable convection coefficients are derived. The governing equations are employed to represent leading truncation terms, including cross-derivatives, making the overall O(h⁴) schemes conform to a 3 × 3 stencil. We show that the two-dimensional constant coefficient scheme collapses to the optimal scheme for the one-dimensional case wherein the finite difference equation yields nodally exact results. The two-dimensional schemes are tested against standard model problems, including a Navier-Stokes application. Results show that the two schemes are generally more accurate, on comparable grids, than O(h²) centred differencing and commonly used O(h) and O(h³) upwinding schemes.     

Study of numerical errors in direct numerical simulation and large eddy simulation

By comparing the energy spectrum and total kinetic energy, the effects of numerical errors (which arise from aliasing and discretization errors), subgrid-scale (SGS) models, and their interactions on direct numerical simulation (DNS) and large eddy simulation (LES) are investigated. The decaying isotropic turbulence is chosen as the test case. To simulate complex geometries, both the spectral method and Pade compact difference schemes are studied. The truncated Navier-Stokes (TNS) equation model with Pade discrete filter is adopted as the SGS model. It is found that the discretization error plays a key role in DNS. Low order difference schemes may be unsuitable. However, for LES, it is found that the SGS model can represent the effect of small scales to large scales and dump the numerical errors. Therefore, reasonable results can also be obtained with a low order discretization scheme.     

蚁群算法求解二维拉压不同模量反问题

利用光滑函数技术对二维拉压不同模量本构关系进行光滑化处理,采用初应力方法求解二维拉压不同模量正问题的有限元方程。在此基础上,建立了基于连续域蚁群算法的二维拉压不同模量反问题的数值求解模型,考虑了区域非均质的影响,实现了对拉压弹性模量和泊松比的单一/组合识别。通过两个数值算例,对所提算法进行了数值验证,分别探讨了蚁群算法相关参数、测点分布和数据噪音等对识别结果的影响。数值验证表明,所提算法可有效地求解二维拉压不同模量反问题,并具有较好的计算精度。     

A numerical experiment of backward erosion piping: kinematics and micromechanics

Meccanica - We report on a numerical experiment by which we investigated the propagation of an erosion pipe in a water saturated granular soil. The simulation was performed with a two-dimensional...     

An efficient numerical method for exterior and interior inverse problems of Helmholtz equation

The generalized pulse-spectrum technique (GPST), an efficient and versatile inversion algorithm, is used with adaptive grids to solve both exterior (scattering) and interior (cavity) boundary-shape inverse problems of two-dimensional Helmholtz equation. Numerical simulations of nontrivial examples are carried out to test the feasibility and to study the general characteristics of GPST without the real measurement data. It is found that GPST does efficiently produce very good results.     

On two methods of determining the ellipses and ellipsoids of positioning accuracy of robot manipulators

Summary When analysing the problem of the positioning accuracy of robot manipulators it is important to know how far random deviations of the hand may be from the desired position if the joint positioning errors possess a normal distribution. Two methods of determining the ellipses and ellipsoids of probability concentration are compared. The first of them is based on the standard procedure of the probability calculus. The second approximate method consists in finding at first the polygon or polyhedron of the positioning accuracy, and then in finding the ellipse or ellipsoid with principal axes and second order moments coinciding with those of the polygon or polyhedron, respectively. Examples of application demonstrate that these two methods give very close results.

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Zwei Methoden zur Bestimmung der Ellipsen und Ellipsoide der Positioniergenauigkeit von Handhabungsrobotern

Übersicht Bei der Untersuchung der Positioniergenauigkeit von Handhabungsrobotern ist es wichtig, die Größe zufälliger Abweichungen des Greifers von der erstrebten Position zu kennen, wenn die Lagefehler der Verbindungen eine Normalverteilung besitzen. Es werden zwei Methoden zur Bestimmung der Ellipsen bzw. Ellipsoide der Wahrscheinlichkeitsdichte verglichen. Die erste beruht auf dem Standardverfahren der Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung. Die zweite Näherungsmethode besteht darin, daß zunächst das Polygon bzw. Polyeder der Positioniergenauigkeit bestimmt wird und danach die Ellipse bzw. das Ellipsoid mit den Hauptachsen und Momenten zweiter Ordnung wie das Polygon oder Polyeder. Beispiele zeigen, daß beide Methoden zu sehr ähnlichen Ergebnissen führen.