MPC and H-Infinity Based Feedback Control of Non-Linear Robotic Manipulator

Pressing demands of accuracy, repeatability, reliability and productivity in today's robotic applications has highlighted significance of modern control techniques. This research proposes two non-linear design techniques, Model Predictive Control (MPC) and H-infinity control for a six Degree Of Freedom (DOF) robotic arm. The derived dynamics of the manipulator based on Euler Lagrange formulation is used to design the control laws. To characterize and validate the performance, the developed laws are then simulated in MATLAB/Simulink. This paper also investigates the coupling effects between various joints and non-linear dynamics of the manipulator. The controller parameters are fine tuned for optimum response. The control is subjected to various test inputs for investigating trajectory tracking performance. The pilot study shows that the proposed control laws are effective for reducing settling time, overshoot and steady state error for various joints. Simulation results demonstrate that the reference motion trajectories can be followed with adequate accuracy.