Mathematical simulation of a seven link biped robot on various surfaces and ZMP considerations

In recent years, numerous researches have been done based on simulation of legged mechanism, especially on biped robots simulation and control. The following article focuses on the biped robot simulation and control over various manners such as horizontal, ascending and descending surfaces with the aid of mathematical modeling methods (in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment). Similar parameters to human walking process will be obtained such as ZMP and joint’s actuator torques. The mathematical simulation has been used to interpolate trajectory of the robot path with the given break points. Of course, after the robot’s path determination, third-order spline method will be used because of the very high precision and ability to calculate the kinematic and dynamic parameters. With the aid of this program, common parameters such as linear and angular velocity and acceleration, joint’s angles and inertial forces for the given specifications and conditions (Nominal, no disturbances) will be calculated and simulated. Also, the two types of ZMP (Fixed and moving) have been considered and calculated with the aid of the software.     

Mathematical modeling and trajectory planning of mobile manipulators with flexible links and joints

This paper is concerned with mathematical modeling and optimal motion designing of flexible mobile manipulators. The system is composed of a multiple flexible links and flexible revolute joints manipulator mounted on a mobile platform. First, analyzing on kinematics and dynamics of the model is carried out then; open-loop optimal control approach is presented for optimal motion designing of the system. The problem is known to be complex since combined motion of the base and manipulator, non-holonomic constraint of the base and highly non-linear and complicated dynamic equations as a result of the flexible nature of both links and joints are taken into account. In the proposed method, the generalized coordinates and additional kinematic constraints are selected in such a way that the base motion coordination along the predefined path is guaranteed while the optimal motion trajectory of the end-effector is generated. This method by using Pontryagin’s minimum principle and deriving the optimality conditions converts the optimal control problem into a two point boundary value problem. A comparative assessment of the dynamic model is validated through computer simulations, and then additional simulations are done for trajectory planning of a two-link flexible mobile manipulator to demonstrate effectiveness and capability of the proposed approach.     

On the dynamic model and motion planning for a spherical rolling robot actuated by orthogonal internal rotors

The paper deals with the dynamics of a spherical rolling robot actuated by internal rotors that are placed on orthogonal axes. The driving principle for such a robot exploits nonholonomic constraints to propel the rolling carrier. A full mathematical model as well as its reduced version are derived, and the inverse dynamics are addressed. It is shown that if the rotors are mounted on three orthogonal axes, any feasible kinematic trajectory of the rolling robot is dynamically realizable. For the case of only two rotors the conditions of controllability and dynamic realizability are established. It is shown that in moving the robot by tracing straight lines and circles in the contact plane the dynamically realizable trajectories are not represented by the circles on the sphere, which is a feature of the kinematic model of pure rolling. The implication of this fact to motion planning is explored under a case study. It is shown there that in maneuvering the robot by tracing circles on the sphere the dynamically realizable trajectories are essentially different from those resulted from kinematic models. The dynamic motion planning problem is then formulated in the optimal control settings, and properties of the optimal trajectories are illustrated under simulation.     

Mathematical modelling and dynamic response of a multi-straight-line path tracing flexible robot manipulator with rotating-prismatic joint

In this study, mathematical modelling and dynamic response of a flexible robot manipulator with rotating-prismatic joint are investigated. The tip end of the flexible robot manipulator traces a multi-straight-line path under the action of an external driving torque and an axial force. Considered robot manipulator consists of a rotating prismatic joint and a sliding flexible arm with a tip mass. Flexible arm is assumed to be an Euler–Bernoulli beam carrying an end-mass. Equations of motion of the flexible manipulator are obtained by using Lagrange’s equation of motion. Effect of rotary inertia, axial shortening and gravitation is considered in the analysis. Equations of motion are solved by using fourth order Runge–Kutta method. Numerical simulations obtained by using a developed computer program are presented and physical trend of the results are discussed.     

A model of parameter adaptive law with time varying function for robot control

In this article, a model of adaptive control law for controlling robot manipulators using the Lyapunov based theory of guaranteed the stability of uncertain a system is derived. The novelty of obtained result is that the adaptive control algorithm is developed using a parameter estimation rule depending on manipulator kinematic, dynamic parameters and tracking error. This study is supported by a computer simulation and tracking performance has been improved.     

The Lightweight Robot ElRob: Interesting Aspects in Modeling and Control

The articulated robot ElRob, consisting of flexible links and joints, is considered in several publications. Recent developments are presented in this work. The overall goal of the research is to decrease the effects of structural elasticities in lightweight robots. For this purpose model-based control concepts are investigated and very accurate and efficient kinematic and dynamic models are necessary. The robot is split into groups of bodies, the so called subsystems, with separated describing velocities and coordinate systems. To obtain structured equations of motion the Projection Equation is used. The beams are modelled using the floating frame of reference formulation and a Ritz-approach. Because of its flexibility, the examined robot is an underactuated system leading to special difficulties. As an example is it not possible to compute the desired joint angles with respect to a reference path in task space for the flexible system (inverse kinematic problem). Different methods to solve this drawback and other problems resulting from flexibility are discussed with special focus on feed forward control and different feedback control concepts. The resulting end point error, the necessary control input and other interesting results for the laboratory experiment are presented and compared. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Investment strategies and compensation of a mean–variance optimizing fund manager

This paper introduces a general continuous-time mathematical framework for solution of dynamic mean–variance control problems. We obtain theoretical results for two classes of functionals: the first one depends on the whole trajectory of the controlled process and the second one is based on its terminal-time value. These results enable the development of numerical methods for mean–variance problems for a pre-determined risk-aversion coefficient. We apply them to study optimal trading strategies pursued by fund managers in response to various types of compensation schemes. In particular, we examine the effects of continuous monitoring and scheme’s symmetry on trading behavior and fund performance.     

空间机器人组装超大型结构的动力学分析北大核心CSCD

超大型航天结构具有超大柔性、超低固有频率的特点,空间机器人在轨组装时应尽可能避免激起超大型结构的柔性振动.空间机器人组装超大型结构模块的过程分成抓捕阶段、位姿调整与稳定阶段、安装阶段和爬行阶段.通过对安装阶段的动力学与控制研究,提出共线安装的轨迹规划方法,有效避免了柔性结构振动.首先,采用自然坐标法和绝对节点坐标法建立主结构-空间机器人-待组装结构的在轨组装系统动力学模型.然后,将共线安装的要求转化为空间机器人的轨迹规划约束,要求空间机器人质心到主结构/待组装结构的距离保持不变,实现共线安装的轨迹规划.数值仿真表明:提出的组装方法在组装过程中可有效避免超大型结构的横向运动,降低夹持力矩.最后,分析了系统参数对组装过程动力学响应的影响,为超大型航天器的在轨组装提供了参考.     

Studying the sensitivity of pollutants’ concentrations caused by variations of chemical rates

A systematic procedure for sensitivity analysis of a case study in the area of air pollution modeling has been performed. Contemporary mathematical models should include a large set of chemical and photochemical reactions to be established as a reliable simulation tool. The Unified Danish Eulerian Model is in the focus of our investigation as one of the most advanced large-scale mathematical models that describes adequately all physical and chemical processes.Variance-based methods are one of the most often used approaches for providing sensitivity analysis. To measure the extent of influence of the variation of the chemical rate constants in the mathematical model over pollutants’ concentrations the Sobol’ global sensitivity indices are estimated using efficient techniques for small sensitivity indices to avoid a loss of accuracy. Studying relationships between input parameters and the model’s output as well as internal mechanisms is very useful for a verification and an improvement of the model and also for development of monitoring and control strategies of harmful emissions, for a reliable prediction of the final output of scenarios when the concentration levels of pollutants are exceeded. The proposed procedure can also be applied when other large-scale mathematical models are used.     

A stochastic control formalism for dynamic biologically conformal radiation therapy

State-of-the-art methods for optimizing cancer treatment over several weeks of external beam radiotherapy take a static–deterministic view of the treatment planning process, mainly focusing on spatial distribution of dose. Recent progress in quantitative functional imaging as well as mathematical models of tumor response to radiotherapy is increasingly enabling treatment planners to monitor/predict a patient’s biological response over weeks of treatment. In this paper we introduce dynamic biologically conformal radiation therapy (DBCRT), a mathematical framework intended to exploit these emerging technological and biological modeling advances to design patient-specific radiation treatment strategies that dynamically adapt to the spatiotemporal evolution of a patient’s biological response over several treatment sessions in order to achieve the best possible health outcome. More specifically, we propose a discrete-time stochastic control formalism where we use the patient’s biological condition to model the system state and the beam intensities as controls. Three approximate control schemes are then applied and compared for efficiency. Numerical simulations on test cases show that DBCRT results in a 64–98% improvement in treatment efficacy as compared to the more conventional static–deterministic approach.     

A 2D chaotic path planning for mobile robots accomplishing boundary surveillance missions in adversarial conditions

The path-planning algorithm represents a crucial issue for every autonomous mobile robot. In normal circumstances a patrol robot will compute an optimal path to ensure its task accomplishment, but in adversarial conditions the problem is getting more complicated. Here, the robot’s trajectory needs to be altered into a misleading and unpredictable path to cope with potential opponents. Chaotic systems provide the needed framework for obtaining unpredictable motion in all of the three basic robot surveillance missions: area, points of interests and boundary monitoring. Proficient approaches have been provided for the first two surveillance tasks, but for boundary patrol missions no method has been reported yet. This paper addresses the mentioned research gap by proposing an efficient method, based on chaotic dynamic of the Hénon system, to ensure unpredictable boundary patrol on any shape of chosen closed contour.     

Flexible-link robots with combined trajectory tracking and vibration control

This work deals with asymptotic trajectory tracking and active damping injection on a flexible-link robot by application of Multiple Positive Position Feedback. The flexible-link robot is modeled and validated by using finite element methods and experimental modal analysis, and then a reduced order model of the flexible-link robot dynamics, up to the first dominant vibration modes, is employed for experimental evaluation on a test rig. Then, a combined control scheme is synthesized in two parts: first, a Sliding-Mode Control based on a cascaded Proportional-Integral-Derivative for regulation and trajectory tracking tasks, via a direct current motor torque as the control input for the overall system dynamics, and, second, a Multiple Positive Position Feedback for active vibration control and attenuation of residual vibrations on the tip position, via the input voltage applied to a piezoelectric patch actuator attached directly on the flexible beam. The results are evaluated on an experimental platform, where the dynamic performance of the overall active vibration control scheme leads to fast and effective tracking results, with damping ratios increased up to 300%.     

Computer system for kinematic and dynamic analysis synthesis of rigid and flexible multibody systems

In the paper an overview of a general numerical algorithm and program system library for deriving the kinematic constraint equations and dynamic equations of motion, as well as, computation of their first and second order partial derivatives with respect to kinematic parameters of motion, design parameters and mass and inertia characteristics for rigid and flexible multibody systems is presented. These are the main basic computational modules for implementation of kinematic and dynamic synthesis, optimization and design. The main theoretical basis consists in matrix methods for deriving the kinematic constraints and dynamic equations, as well as, the generalized Newton – Euler dynamic equations for rigid and flexible bodies, and finite element discretization in relative coordinates. Block–scheme of the computational procedures and problem oriented program compilation is presented. An example of kinematic synthesis of six–link path generating mechanism with singular points is presented. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

一种基于Dijkstra算法的机器人避障问题路径规划

移动机器人的避障问题是移动机器人控制领域的研究热点.针对给定的移动机器人避障问题,探讨了最短路径及最短时间路径的路径规划问题.对于最短路径问题,建立了简化的路径网格模型,将其抽象为由节点及边构成的两维图,再使用经典的Dijkstra算法获得可行的最短路径.对于最短时间路径问题,通过分析移动机器人弯道运行的速度曲线,基于几何方法得出了移动时间与过渡圆弧圆心之间严格的数学关系,此后借助MATLAB优化函数获得最佳的移动路径.算法可为类似机器人避障问题的解决提供借鉴.     

An adaptive sliding mode backstepping control for the mobile manipulator with nonholonomic constraints

To solve disturbances, nonlinearity, nonholonomic constraints and dynamic coupling between the platform and its mounted robot manipulator, an adaptive sliding mode controller based on the backstepping method applied to the robust trajectory tracking of the wheeled mobile manipulator is described in this article. The control algorithm rests on adopting the backstepping method to improve the global ultimate asymptotic stability and applying the sliding mode control to obtain high response and invariability to uncertainties. According to the Lyapunov stability criterion, the wheeled mobile manipulator is divided into several stabilizing subsystems, and an adaptive law is designed to estimate the general nondeterminacy, which make the controller be capable to drive the trajectory tracking error of the mobile manipulator to converge to zero even in the presence of perturbations and mathematical model errors. We compare our controller with the robust neural network based algorithm in nonholonomic constraints and uncertainties, and simulation results prove the effectivity and feasibility of the proposed method in the trajectory tracking of the wheeled mobile manipulator.     

Path planning for robots under stochastic uncertainty *

In order to reduce large online measurement and correction expenses, the a priori informations on the random variations of the model parameters of a robot and its working environment are taken into account already at the planning stage. Thus, instead of solving a deterministic path planning problem with a fixed nominal parameter vector, here, the optimal velocity profile along a given trajectory in work space is determined by using a stochastic optimization approach. Especially, the standard polygon of constrained motion-depending on the nominal parameter vector-is replaced by a more general set of admissible motion determined by chance constraints or more general risk constraints. Robust values (with respect to stochastic parameter variations) of the maximum, minimum velocity, acceleration, deceleration, resp., can be obtained then by solving a univariate stochastic optimization problem Considering the fields of extremal trajectories, the minimum-time path planning problem under stochastic uncertainty can be solved now by standard optimal deterministic path planning methods     

Adaptive control of kinematically redundant robots

A redundant robot has more degrees of freedom than those neededto position the Robert end-effector uniquely. In a usual robotictask, only end-effector position trajectory is specified. Thejoint position trajectory is unknown, and it must be selectedfrom a self-motion manifold for a specified end-effector. Inmany situations, the robot dynamic parameters such as the linkmass, inertia, and joint viscous friction are unknown. The lackof knowledge of the joint trajectory and the dynamic parametersmake it difficult to control redundant robots. In this paper we show, through careful formulation of the problem,that the adaptative control of redundant robots can be addressedas a reference-velocity traking problem in the joint space.A control law ensures bounded estimation of the unknown dynamicparameters of the robot, and the convergence to zero of thevelocity traking error is derived. To ensure the joint motionon the self-motion manifold remains bounded, a homeomorphictransformation is found. This transformation decomposes thedynamics of the velocity tracking error into a cascade systemconsisting of the dynamics in the end-effector error coordinatesand the dynamics on the self-motion manifold. The dynamics onthe self-motion manifold is shown to be related to the conceptof zero dynamics. In the shown that, if the reference jointtrajectory is selected to optimize a certain type of objectivefunction, then stable dynamics on the self-motion manifold result.This ensures the overall stability of the adaptive system. Detailedsimulations are given to test the theoretical developments.The proposed adaptive scheme does not require measurements ofthe joint acceleration or the inversion of the inertia matrixof the robot.     

Modeling and Quasi-Static Trajectory Control of a Self-Balancing Two-Wheeled Vehicle

This paper introduces the kinematical and dynamical model as well as a quasi-static trajectory control of a self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle. The mobile robot is about 60cm tall, autonomous, unstable and driven by two wheels. Hence, it can be used for transport purposes. Due to the nonholonomic constraints only few modeling techniques are feasible. In this case, the modeling is based on the Projection Equation, followed by the derivation of various control strategies. In order to allow a desired velocity and to stabilize the inclination angle of the robot a partial feedback linearization in combination with a LQR controller is applied. The quasi-static trajectory controller, which is based on the kinematical model, uses a flatness based approach in order to remain on the desired path. Continuous curvature paths, composed by clothoids, enable good performance results in simulation and experiment. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Omnidirectional walking of legged robots with a failed leg

This paper studies omnidirectional walking of a hexapod robot with a locked joint failure by proposing crab gaits and turning gaits. Due to the reduced workspace of a failed leg, fault-tolerant gaits have limitations in their mobility. As for crab gaits, an accessible range of the crab angle is derived for a given configuration of the failed leg. As for turning gaits, the conditions on turning trajectories guaranteeing fault tolerance are derived for spinning gaits and circling gaits. Based on the principles of fault-tolerant gait planning, periodic crab gaits and turning gaits are proposed in which a hexapod robot realizes tripod walking after a locked joint failure, having a reasonable stride length and stability margin. The proposed fault-tolerant gaits are then applied to an obstacle avoidance problem of a hexapod robot with a locked joint failure. The kinematic constraints of fault-tolerant gaits should be considered in planning the robot trajectory.