Robotics 9.

01 Linear Control of Manipulators

09. Linear Control of

Manipulators

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.02 Linear Control of Manipulators

9.1. Introduction
9.2. Feedback and Closed-loop control
9.3. Second-order linear systems
9.4. Control of second-order systems
9.5. Control-law partitioning
9.6. Trajectory-following control
9.7. Disturbance rejection
9.8. Continuous vs. Discrete time control
9.9. Modeling and Control of a single joint
9.10. Architecture of an industrial-robot controller

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Robotics 9.03 Linear Control of Manipulators

9.1. INTRODUCTION
• We have calculated joint-position time histories that correspond to
desired end-effector motions through space

• In this chapter, we discuss how to cause the manipulator actually to

perform these desired motions

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.04 Linear Control of Manipulators

Linear-control technique
• Use of linear-control techniques is valid only when system being studied
can be modeled mathematically by linear differential equations

• For the case of manipulator control, linear methods must be viewed as

approximate methods
 Because dynamics of manipulator are represented by nonlinear
differential equations

• Linear methods are the ones most often used in current industrial practice

• Consideration of linear approach will serve as a basis for the more complex
treatment of nonlinear control systems

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Robotics 9.05 Linear Control of Manipulators

9.2. FEEDBACK AND CLOSE-LOOP CONTROL

We will model a manipulator as a mechanism
• Instrumented with sensors at each joint to measure joint angle
• Has an actuator at each joint to apply a torque on next higher link
• Sometimes velocity sensors are also present at the joints

We wish to cause manipulator joints to follow prescribed position

trajectories but actuators are commanded in term of torque
 We must use some kind of control system to compute appropriate
actuator commands that will realize this desired motions

Almost always, these torques are determined by using feedback from the
joint sensors to compute the torque required

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.06 Linear Control of Manipulators

High-level block diagram

• Show relationship between trajectory generator and physical robot
• Robot accepts a vector of joint torques 𝝉 from control system
• Manipulator’s sensors allow controller to read vectors of joint positions
𝚯 and joint velocities 𝚯
• All signal lines carry 𝑁 × 1 vectors (𝑁 is number of joints of robot)

Fig 9.1: High-level block diagram of a robot control system

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Robotics 9.07 Linear Control of Manipulators

Control system
• One possibility is to use dynamic equation of robot to calculate the
torques required for a particular trajectory
• Given 𝚯𝑑 , 𝚯𝑑 , and 𝚯𝑑 by trajectory generator, we can compute torque:
𝝉 = 𝑴 𝚯𝑑 𝚯𝑑 + 𝑽 𝚯𝑑 , 𝚯𝑑 + 𝑮 𝚯𝑑 (9.1)

• If our dynamic model were complete and accurate and no “noise” or

other disturbances were present, (9.1) realize the desired trajectory
• Unfortunately, in real applications, we always receive imperfection in
dynamic model and inevitable presence of disturbances
• This control technique is called open-loop scheme
 The only way to build a high-performance control system is to make use
of feedback from joint sensors

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.08 Linear Control of Manipulators

Closed-loop system
• Feedback is used to compute any servo error by finding difference
between desired and actual positions (velocities)
𝑬 = 𝚯𝑑 − 𝚯
𝑬 = 𝚯𝑑 − 𝚯

• Control system can then compute how much torque to require of actuators
as some function of servo error
• The basic idea is to compute actuator torques that would tend to reduce
servo errors
• A control system that makes use of feedback is called a closed-loop
system

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Robotics 9.09 Linear Control of Manipulators

Stable system
• A system to be stable if errors remain small when executing various
desired trajectories even in presence of some moderate disturbances
• An improperly designed control system can sometimes result in unstable
performance, servo errors are enlarged instead of reduced

Several tasks of control:

1. The first task of a control engineer is to prove that his or her design
yields a stable system
2. The second is to prove that the closed-loop performance of the system
is satisfactory

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Robotics 9.10 Linear Control of Manipulators

SISO control system

• All signal lines (Fig 9.1) represent 𝑁 × 1 vectors, thus manipulator
control problem is a multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) control problem
• We take a simple approach to constructing a control system by treating
each joint as a separate system to be controlled

• For an N-jointed manipulator, we will design N independent single-input,

single-output (SISO) control systems
• This is the design approach presently adopted by most industrial robot
suppliers
• Independent joint control approach is an approximate method in that the
equation of motion are not independent, but rather are highly coupled

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Robotics 9.11 Linear Control of Manipulators

9.3. SECOND-ORDER LINEAR SYSTEMS

• We consider a block of mass 𝑚 attached to a spring of stiffness 𝑘 and
subject to friction of coefficient 𝑏
• Assuming a frictional force proportional to the block’s velocity
• The equation of motion without applied force (9.3)
𝑚𝑥 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑘𝑥 = 0
• The open-loop dynamics of this 1-DOF system are described by a second-
order linear constant-coefficient differential equation

Fig 9.2: Spring-mass system with friction

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Robotics 9.12 Linear Control of Manipulators

Characteristic motions
• The solution of differential equation (9.3) is a time function 𝑥(𝑡) that
specifies the motion of the block
• This solution will depend on the block’s initial conditions – that is, its
initial position and velocity
• The character of solution depends upon values of parameters 𝑚, 𝑏, 𝑘

For example:
• In case of a very weak spring (𝑘 small) and very heavy friction (𝑏
large), if block were perturbed, it would return to its resting position in a
very slow, sluggish manner
• With a very stiff spring and very low friction, the block might
oscillate several times before coming to rest

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.13 Linear Control of Manipulators

Characteristic equation
• The form of solution of equation (9.3) depends on roots of its
characteristic equation
𝑚𝑠 2 + 𝑏𝑠 + 𝑘 = 0

• This equation has the roots (9.5):

𝑏 𝑏 2 − 4𝑚𝑘
𝑠1 = − +
2𝑚 2𝑚
𝑏 𝑏 2 − 4𝑚𝑘
𝑠2 = − −
2𝑚 2𝑚

• The location of 𝑠1 and 𝑠2 (poles of system) in real-imaginary plane

dictate the nature of motions of system

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Robotics 9.14 Linear Control of Manipulators

Classes of response
We have 3 classes of response to study
1. Real and Unequal Roots: when 𝑏 2 > 4𝑚𝑘 , friction dominates,
sluggish behavior results, called over-damped
2. Complex Roots: when 𝑏 2 < 4𝑚𝑘 , stiffness dominates, oscillatory
behavior results, called under-damped
3. Real and Equal Roots: when 𝑏 2 = 4𝑚𝑘, friction and stiffness are
balanced, yielding the fastest possible non-oscillatory response, called
critically damped

The 3rd case is generally a desirable situation:

System nulls out nonzero initial conditions and return to its nominal
position as rapidly as possible without oscillatory behavior

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.15 Linear Control of Manipulators

Real and unequal roots

• The motion of block in case of real, unequal roots has the form
𝑥 𝑡 = 𝑐1 𝑒 𝑠1 𝑡 + 𝑐2 𝑒 𝑠2 𝑡
• Coefficients 𝑐1 and 𝑐2 are constant that can be computed for any given
set of initial conditions
• The system exhibits sluggish or over-damped motion

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.16 Linear Control of Manipulators

Example 9.1
Determine motion of mass-spring system if parameter values are 𝑚 = 1,
𝑏 = 5, 𝑘 = 6 and block is released from the position 𝑥 = −1 ?

The characteristic equation is

𝑠 2 + 5𝑠 + 6 = 0
Which has the roots 𝑠1 = −2 and 𝑠2 = −3. Hence, the response has form
𝑥 𝑡 = 𝑐1 𝑒 −2𝑡 + 𝑐2 𝑒 −3𝑡
Use given initial conditions 𝑥 0 = −1 and 𝑥 0 = 0, we have
𝑐1 + 𝑐2 = −1
−2𝑐1 − 3𝑐2 = 0
Solving this system of equation give 𝑐1 = −3 and 𝑐2 = 2
The motion of the system for 𝑡 ≥ 0 is given by
𝑥 𝑡 = −3𝑒 −2𝑡 + 2𝑒 −3𝑡
HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.17 Linear Control of Manipulators

Complex roots
• The characteristic equation has complex roots
𝑠1 = 𝜆 + 𝜇𝑖
𝑠2 = 𝜆 − 𝜇𝑖
• The solution still has the form (9.12)
𝑥 𝑡 = 𝑐1 𝑒 𝑠1 𝑡 + 𝑐2 𝑒 𝑠2 𝑡

• Using Euler’s formula: 𝑒 𝑖𝑥 = cos 𝑥 + 𝑖 sin 𝑥

The solution (9.12) to be manipulated into the form (9.14)
𝑥 𝑡 = 𝑐1 𝑒 𝜆𝑡 cos 𝜇𝑡 + 𝑐2 𝑒 𝜆𝑡 sin(𝜇𝑡)
• If we write the constant 𝑐1 and 𝑐2 in the form
𝑐1 = 𝑟 cos 𝛿
𝑐2 = 𝑟 sin 𝛿

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.18 Linear Control of Manipulators

Complex roots
• Then (9.14) can be written in the form
𝑥 𝑡 = 𝑟𝑒 𝜆𝑡 cos(𝜇𝑡 − 𝛿)
Where
𝑟 = 𝑐1 2 + 𝑐2 2
𝛿 = 𝐴𝑡𝑎𝑛2 𝑐2 , 𝑐1
• Resulting motion is an oscillation whose amplitude is exponentially
decreasing toward 0

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.19 Linear Control of Manipulators

Natural frequency
• The parameterization of the characteristic equation given by
𝑠 2 + 2𝜁𝜔𝑛 𝑠 + 𝜔𝑛 2 = 0
Where: 𝜁 is the damping ratio (0 ≤ 𝜁 ≤ 1)
𝜔𝑛 is the natural frequency
• Relationship between poles locations and these parameters are
𝜆 = −𝜁𝜔𝑛
𝜇 = 𝜔𝑛 1 − 𝜁 2
𝜇 is sometimes called damped natural frequency
• For a damped spring-mass system, we have
𝑏
𝜁=
2 𝑘𝑚
𝜔𝑛 = 𝑘
𝑚
HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.20 Linear Control of Manipulators

Real and equal roots

• The solution has the form (9.26)
𝑥 𝑡 = 𝑐1 𝑒 𝑠1 𝑡 + 𝑐2 𝑡𝑒 𝑠2 𝑡
𝑏
• In this case 𝑠1 = 𝑠2 = − , so (9.26) can be written
2𝑚
𝑏
−2𝑚𝑡
𝑥 𝑡 = 𝑐1 + 𝑐2 𝑡 𝑒

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.21 Linear Control of Manipulators

Note
For any passive system like a damped spring-mass system, the systems
are stable if mechanical systems have the properties
𝑚>0
𝑏>0
𝑘>0

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.22 Linear Control of Manipulators

9.4. CONTROL OF SECOND-ORDER SYSTEMS

• We consider a damped spring-mass system with the addition of an
actuator with which it is possible to apply a force 𝑓 to the block
• A free body diagram leads to the equation of motion (9.34)
𝑚𝑥 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑘𝑥 = 𝑓

Fig 9.6: A damped spring-mass system with an actuator

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.23 Linear Control of Manipulators

Control law
• Assume we have sensors capable of detecting block’s position & velocity
• We now propose a control law which computes the force that should be
applied by the actuator as a function of the sensed feedback (9.35)
𝑓 = −𝑘𝑝 𝑥 − 𝑘𝑣 𝑥

Control Physical
system system

Fig 9.7: A closed-loop control system

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.24 Linear Control of Manipulators

Position-regulation system
• It attempts to maintain the position of the block in one fixed place
regardless of disturbance forces applied to the block
• By equating the open-loop dynamics of (9.34) with the control law of
(9.35), we can derive the closed-loop dynamic as
𝑚𝑥 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑘𝑥 = −𝑘𝑝 𝑥 − 𝑘𝑣 𝑥
Or:
𝑚𝑥 + 𝑏 ′ 𝑥 + 𝑘 ′ 𝑥 = 0
Where: 𝑏 ′ = 𝑏 + 𝑘𝑣 and 𝑘 ′ = 𝑘 + 𝑘𝑝
• By setting the control gains, 𝑘𝑣 and 𝑘𝑝 , we can cause the closed-loop
system to appear to have any second system behavior that we wish
• Often, gains would be chosen to obtain critical damping 𝑏 ′ = 2 𝑚𝑘′,
and some desired closed-loop stiffness given direct by 𝑘′

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.25 Linear Control of Manipulators

Example 9.4
If the parameters of the system in Fig. 9.6 are 𝑚 = 1, 𝑏 = 1, and 𝑘 = 1,
find gains 𝑘𝑝 and 𝑘𝑣 for a position-regulation control law that results in the
system’s being critically damped with a closed-loop stiffness of 16.0?

If we wish 𝑘′ to be 16.0, then, for critical damping, we require that:

𝑏 ′ = 2 𝑚𝑘′ = 8.0
Now: 𝑘 = 1 and 𝑏 = 1
So we need:
𝑘𝑝 = 15.0
𝑘𝑣 = 7.0

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.26 Linear Control of Manipulators

9.5. CONTROL-LAW PARTITIONING

• In this method, we will partition the controller into a model-based
portion and a servo portion
■ System’s parameters (𝑚, 𝑏, 𝑘) appear only in model-based portion
■ Servo portion is independent of these parameters
• The open-loop equation of motion for the system is (9.40)
𝑚𝑥 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑘𝑥 = 𝑓
• The controller is set up such that it reduce the system so that it appears to
be a unit mass (no friction, no stiffness)
• The model-based portion appears of the form (9.41)
𝑓 = 𝛼𝑓 ′ + 𝛽
Where: 𝛼 and 𝛽 are functions or constants,
chosen so that, if 𝑓′ is taken as the new input to the system, the
system appears to be a unit mass
HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.27 Linear Control of Manipulators

Mathematical formulation
• Combining (9.40) and (9.41), the system equation is (9.42)
𝑚𝑥 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑘𝑥 = 𝛼𝑓 ′ + 𝛽
• To make the system appear as a unit mass from the 𝑓′ input, we should
choose 𝛼 and 𝛽 as follows (9.43)
𝛼=𝑚
𝛽 = 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑘𝑥
• Making these assignments and plugging them into (9.42), we have (9.44)
𝑥 = 𝑓′
This is the equation of motion for a unit mass
• We design a control law to compute 𝑓′, just as we did before
𝑓 ′ = −𝑘𝑣 𝑥 − 𝑘𝑝 𝑥
• Combining this control law with (9.44) yields
𝑥 + 𝑘𝑣 𝑥 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑥 = 0
HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.28 Linear Control of Manipulators

Mathematical formulation
• Under this methodology, the setting of the control gains is simple and is
independent of the system parameters, that is
𝑘𝑣 = 2 𝑘𝑝

• Must hold for critical damping

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Robotics 9.29 Linear Control of Manipulators

9.6. TRAJECTORY-FOLLOWING CONTROL

• Let us enhance our controller so that the block can be made to follow a
trajectory

• The trajectory is given by a function of time 𝑥𝑑 (𝑡)

• Assume that trajectory is smooth (first two derivatives exist), and that our
trajectory generator provides 𝑥𝑑 , 𝑥𝑑 , and 𝑥𝑑 at all time 𝑡

• We define servo error between desired and actual trajectory as

𝑒 = 𝑥𝑑 − 𝑥

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.30 Linear Control of Manipulators

Mathematical formulation
• A servo control law that will cause trajectory following is (9.50)
𝑓 ′ = 𝑥𝑑 + 𝑘𝑣 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑒

• Combine (9.50) with (9.54) leads to:

𝑥 = 𝑥𝑑 + 𝑘𝑣 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑒
Or (9.52):
𝑒 + 𝑘𝑣 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑒 = 0

• This is a second-order differential equation for which we can choose

the coefficients, so we can design any response we wish

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.31 Linear Control of Manipulators

Trajectory-following controller
• If our model is perfect, and if there is no noise and no initial error, the
block will follow the desired trajectory exactly
• If there is an initial error, it will be suppressed according to (9.52), and
thereafter the system will follow the trajectory exactly

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.32 Linear Control of Manipulators

9.7. DISTURBANCE REJECTION

One of the purposes of a control system is to maintain good performance
(minimize errors) even in presence of external disturbances or noise

Fig 9.10: A trajectory-following control system with a disturbance acting

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Robotics 9.33 Linear Control of Manipulators

Mathematical formulation
• An analysis of closed-loop system leads to error equation (9.53)
𝑒 + 𝑘𝑣 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑒 = 𝑓𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡

• If it is know that 𝑓𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡 is bounded, that a constant 𝑎 exists such that

𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑓𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑡 < 𝑎
𝑡

• Then the solution 𝑒(𝑡) of (9.53) is also bounded due to property of stable
linear systems known as bounded input, bounded output (BIBO) stability
 For a large class of possible disturbance, we can at least be assured that
the system remains stable

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.34 Linear Control of Manipulators

Steady-state error
• Let’s consider the simplest kind of disturbance (𝑓𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡 is a constant)

• Setting derivatives to zero in (9.53) yields the steady-state equation

𝑘𝑝 𝑒 = 𝑓𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡
Or (9.56):
𝑓𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡
𝑒=
𝑘𝑝

• The value of 𝑒 given by (9.56) represents a steady-state error

 The higher the position gain 𝑘𝑝 , the smaller will be the steady-state error

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.35 Linear Control of Manipulators

Addition of an integral term

• To eliminate steady-state error, we need to add an integral term to the
control law, the control law becomes a PID control law (9.57)

𝑓 ′ = 𝑥𝑑 + 𝑘𝑣 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑒𝑑𝑡

• Which results in the error equation (9.58)

𝑒 + 𝑘𝑣 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑒𝑑𝑡 = 𝑓𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡

• If 𝑒 𝑡 = 0 for 𝑡 < 0, we can write (9.58) for 𝑡 > 0 as

𝑒 + 𝑘𝑣 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑒 = 𝑓𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡
• In the steady-state (constant disturbance) we have: 𝑘𝑖 𝑒 = 0, so
𝑒=0

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.36 Linear Control of Manipulators

9.8. CONTINUOUS VS. DISCRETE TIME CONTROL

• In previous control systems, we assumed that the control computer
performs computation of the control law in zero time
 The value of actuator force 𝑓 is a continuous function of time

• In reality, computation requires some time, and resulting commanded

force is therefore a discrete staircase function

• We shall employ this approximation of a very fast control computer

throughout the book
• Approximation is good if the rate at which new values of 𝑓 are computed
is much faster than the natural frequency of system being controlled
• In discrete time control or digital control, we take the servo rate of the
control system into account when analyzing the system

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.37 Linear Control of Manipulators

Continuous time control

Assume that the computations can be performed quickly enough that our
continuous time assumption is valid

There are several points that need to be considered in choosing a

sufficiently fast servo rate:
• Tracking reference inputs
• Disturbance rejection
• Antialiasing
• Structural resonances

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.38 Linear Control of Manipulators

Tracking reference inputs

• The frequency content of the desired or reference input places an absolute
lower bound on the sample rate

• The sample rate must be at least twice the bandwidths of reference inputs

• This is usually not the limiting factor

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Robotics 9.39 Linear Control of Manipulators

Disturbance rejection
• An upper bound on performance is given by a continuous-time system

• If the sample period is longer than the correlation time of the disturbance
effects, then these disturbances will not be suppressed

• Perhaps a good rule of thump is that the sample period should be 10 times
shorter than the correlation time of the noise

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Robotics 9.40 Linear Control of Manipulators

Antialiasing
• Any time an analog sensor is used in a digital control scheme
 There will be a problem with aliasing unless the sensor’s output is
strictly band limited

• In most cases, sensors do not have a band limited output

 And so sample rate should be chosen such that the amount of energy that
appears in the aliased signal is small

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Robotics 9.41 Linear Control of Manipulators

Structural resonances
• We have not included bending modes in our characterization of a
manipulator’s dynamics

• All real mechanisms have finite stiffness and so will be subject to various
kinds of vibrations

• If it is important to suppress these vibrations, we must choose a sample

rate at least twice the natural frequency of these resonances

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.42 Linear Control of Manipulators

9.9. MODELING AND CONTROL OF A SINGLE JOINT

• In this section, we will develop a simplified model of a single rotary
joint of a manipulator
• A few assumptions will be made that will allow us to model the resulting
system as a second-order linear system

■ A common actuator founded in many industrial robots is the direct

current (DC) torque motor
■ The stator consists of a housing, bearings, and either permanent magnets
or electromagnets
■ The rotor consists of a shaft and windings through which current moves
to power the motor

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Robotics 9.43 Linear Control of Manipulators

DC torque motor
• The underlying physical phenomenon that causes a motor to generate a
torque when current passes through the windings can be expressed as
𝐹 = 𝑞𝑉 × 𝐵
Where: charge 𝑞, moving with velocity 𝑉 through a magnetic field 𝐵,
experiences a force 𝐹

• The torque-producing ability of a motor is stated by means of a single

motor torque constant, which relates armature current to output torque as
𝜏𝑚 = 𝑘𝑚 𝑖𝑎

• A second motor constant, the back emf constant, describes the voltage
generated for a given rotational velocity
𝑣 = 𝑘𝑒 𝜃𝑚

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.44 Linear Control of Manipulators

Motor-armature inductance
• The circuit is described by a first-order differential equation
𝑙𝑎 𝑖𝑎 + 𝑟𝑎 𝑖𝑎 = 𝑣𝑎 − 𝑘𝑒 𝜃𝑚
Where: voltage source 𝑣𝑎 , inductance of armature windings 𝑙𝑎 , resistance
of armature windings 𝑟𝑎 , the generated back emf 𝑣

Fig 9.11: The armature circuit of a DC torque motor

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.45 Linear Control of Manipulators

Motor-armature inductance
• It is generally desirable to control the torque generated by the motor
(rather than the velocity) with electronic motor driver circuitry

• Our first simplifying assumption is that the inductance of the motor can be
neglected
• We also have assumption that torque ripple is negligible effect
 We can essentially command torque directly

• Although there may be a scale factor (𝑘𝑚 ) to contend with, we will

assume that the actuators acts as a pure torque source that we can command
directly

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.46 Linear Control of Manipulators

Effective inertia
• The gear ratio 𝜂 cause an increase in the torque seen at the load and a
reduction in a speed of the load, given by (9.66)
𝜏 = 𝜂𝜏𝑚
𝜃 = 1/𝜂 𝜃𝑚
Where: 𝜂 > 1

Fig 9.12: Mechanical model of a DC torque motor connected through

gearing to an inertial load
HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.47 Linear Control of Manipulators

Effective inertia
• Writing a torque balance for this system in terms of torque at the rotor
yields (9.67)
𝜏𝑚 = 𝐼𝑚 𝜃𝑚 + 𝑏𝑚 𝜃𝑚 + 1/𝜂 𝐼𝜃 + 𝑏𝜃
Where: 𝐼𝑚 and 𝐼 are the inertias of the motor rotor and the load
𝑏𝑚 and 𝑏 are viscous friction coefficients for rotor and load
bearing
• From (9.66) and (9.67), we can write in terms of motor variables as
1 𝑏
𝜏𝑚 = 𝐼𝑚 + 2 𝜃𝑚 + 𝑏𝑚 + 2 𝜃𝑚
𝜂 𝜂
• Or in terms of load variables as
𝜏 = 𝐼 + 𝜂 2 𝐼𝑚 𝜃 + 𝑏 + 𝜂 2 𝑏𝑚 𝜃
The term: 𝐼 + 𝜂 2 𝐼𝑚 is sometimes called the effective inertia
𝑏 + 𝜂 2 𝑏𝑚 can be called the effective damping
HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.48 Linear Control of Manipulators

Unmodeled flexibility
• The other major assumption we have made in our model is that the
gearing, the shaft, the bearings, and the driven link are not flexible

• In reality, all of these elements have finite stiffness, and their flexibility
would increase the order of the system

• If the system is sufficiently stiff, the natural frequencies of these

unmodeled resonances are very high and can be neglected

• If the lowest structural resonance is 𝜔𝑟𝑒𝑠 , then we must limit our closed-
loop natural frequency according to
1
𝜔𝑛 ≤ 𝜔𝑟𝑒𝑠
2

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.49 Linear Control of Manipulators

Estimating resonant frequency

• In each case where a structural flexibility can be identified, an
approximate analysis of the resulting vibration is possible if we can
describe the effective mass or inertia of the flexible member

• This is done by approximating the situation by a simple spring-mass

system, exhibits the natural frequency
𝑘
𝜔𝑛 =
𝑚
Where: 𝑘 is the stiffness of the flexible member
𝑚 is the equivalent mass displaced in vibrations

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.50 Linear Control of Manipulators

Control of a single joint

In summary we make the following 3 major assumptions

1. The motor inductance 𝑙𝑎 can be neglected

2. Taking into account high gearing, we model the effective inertia as a

constant equal to 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 + 𝜂 2 𝐼𝑚

3. Structural flexibilities are neglected, except that the lowest structural

resonance 𝜔𝑟𝑒𝑠 is used in setting the servo gains

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.51 Linear Control of Manipulators

Control of a single joint

• With these assumptions, a single joint of a manipulator can be controlled
with the partitioned controller given by
𝛼 = 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 + 𝜂 2 𝐼𝑚
𝛽 = 𝑏 + 𝜂 2 𝑏𝑚 𝜃
𝜏 ′ = 𝜃𝑑 + 𝑘𝑣 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑒

• The resulting system closed-loop dynamics are

𝑒 + 𝑘𝑣 𝑒 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑒 = 𝜏𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡
Where the gains are chosen as
2
1
𝑘𝑝 = 𝜔𝑛 = 𝜔𝑟𝑒𝑠 2
4
𝑘𝑣 = 2 𝑘𝑝 = 𝜔𝑟𝑒𝑠

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.52 Linear Control of Manipulators

9.10. ARCHITECTURE OF AN INDUSTRIAL-ROBOT

CONTROLLER
• We briefly look at the architecture of the control system of the Unimation
PUMA 560 industrial robot

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.53 Linear Control of Manipulators

PUMA 560 robot control system

• The hardware architecture is that of a two-level hierarchy: a DEC LSI-11
computer serving as the top-level “master” control computer passing
commands to 6 Rockwelll 6503 microprocessors

• Each of these microprocessors controls an individual joint with a PID

control law

• Each joint of the PUMA 560 is instrumented with an incremental optical

encoder
The encoders are interfaced to an up/down counter, which the
microprocessor can read to obtain the current joint position

• There are no tachometers in PUMA 560, joint positions are differenced on

subsequent servo cycles to obtain an estimate of joint velocity
HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.54 Linear Control of Manipulators

Joint control system

• To command torques to DC torque motors, microprocessor is interfaced to
a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) so that motor current can be
commanded to the current-driver circuits
• The current is controlled by adjusting the voltage across the armature as
needed to maintain the desired armature current

Fig 9.15: Functional blocks of the joint-control system of PUMA 560

HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong
Robotics 9.55 Linear Control of Manipulators

LSI-11 computer
• Each 28 ms, computer sends a new command (set-point) to the joint
microprocessors
• The joint microprocessors are running on a 0.875 ms cycle (interpolate
desired position set-point, compute servo error, compute PID control law,
command a new value of torque to the motors
• Computer carries out all “high-level” operations of overall control system
+ Takes care of interpreting VAL program commands one by one
+ Perform any needed inverse kinematic computations, plan a desired
trajectory, begin generating trajectory via points
• Computer is also interfaced to standard peripherals as
+ Terminal
+ Floppy disk drive
+ Teach pendant
HCM City Univ. of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Phung Tri Cong