An energy based approach for the control of a micro-robotic contact scenario

Abstract: Energy based approaches have proven to be specially well suited for the modeling and control of mechanical systems. Among these approaches the port-Hamiltonian framework presents interesting properties for the structural modeling of complex systems and for the design of non-linear controllers using passivity In this paper we use this framework to model a typical micro-robotic contact scenario and to propose a simple but effective globally stabilizing controller. The model and the controller take into account the transitions from a non-contact to a contact state (and the inverse) by the introduction of a non-linear (switching) contact element. A one degree of freedom experimental micro-robotic setup is used to test and illustrate the results.