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At least 397 records · Page 22

Performance limitations of joint variable-feedback controllers due to manipulator structural flexibility

The performance limitations of manipulators under joint variable-feedback control are studied as a function of the mechanical flexibility inherent in the manipulator structure. A finite-dimensional time-domain dynamic model of a two-link two-joint planar manipulator is used in the study. Emphasis is placed on determining the limitations of control algorithms that use only joint variable-feedback information in calculations of control decisions, since most motion control systems in practice are of this kind. Both fine and gross motion cases are studied. Results for fine motion agree well with previously reported results in the literature and are also helpful in explaining the performance limitations in fast gross motions.

Cetinkunt, Sabri↗

Active vibration control for flexible rotor by optimal direct-output feedback control

Experimental research tests were performed to actively control the rotor vibrations of a flexible rotor mounted on flexible bearing supports. The active control method used in the tests is called optimal direct-output feedback control. This method uses four electrodynamic actuators to apply control forces directly to the bearing housings in order to achieve effective vibration control of the rotor. The force actuators are controlled by an analog controller that accepts rotor displacement as input. The controller is programmed with experimentally determined feedback coefficients; the output is a control signal to the force actuators. The tests showed that this active control method reduced the rotor resonance peaks due to unbalance from approximately 250 microns down to approximately 25 microns (essentially runout level). The tests were conducted over a speed range from 0 to 10,000 rpm; the rotor system had nine critical speeds within this speed range. The method was effective in significantly reducing the rotor vibration for all of the vibration modes and critical speeds.

Nonami, K.↗

Time optimal feedback control of discrete systems with bounded inputs

Deadbeat control theory gives a feedback solution to the time optimal control of discrete time systems. Experience has shown the results to be impractical because they ignore bounds on the actuator strength. This paper develops two algorithms for generating time optimal control in feedback form for discrete systems with bounded controls. The results are also applicable for generating recovery regions and the set of reachable states. For multiple control problems a method of generating sublayers is developed which decreases off-line and on-line computational effort. Two algorithms are presented with somewhat different computational and storage requirements. The algorithms are practical within certain dimension constraints, and are natural for implementation with parallel processing.

Chen, Xin↗

Factorization and the synthesis of optimal feedback gains for distributed parameter systems

An approach based on Volterra factorization leads to a new methodology for the analysis and synthesis of the optimal feedback gain in the finite-time linear quadratic control problem for distributed parameter systems. The approach circumvents the need for solving and analyzing Riccati equations and provides a more transparent connection between the system dynamics and the optimal gain. The general results are further extended and specialized for the case where the underlying state is characterized by autonomous differential-delay dynamics. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the second-order convergence rate that is derived for an approximation scheme for the optimal feedback gain in the differential-delay problem.

Milman, Mark H.↗

Digital Phase-Locked Loop With Phase And Frequency Feedback

Advanced design for digital phase-lock loop (DPLL) allows loop gains higher than those used in other designs. Divided into two major components: counterrotation processor and tracking processor. Notable features include use of both phase and rate-of-change-of-phase feedback instead of frequency feedback alone, normalized sine phase extractor, improved method for extracting measured phase, and improved method for "compressing" output rate.

Thomas, J. Brooks↗

Nonlinear Dynamic Compensation For Feedback Control

Nonlinear dynamic compensation scheme enhances stability of feedback control system in which feedback signal includes quantization noise. Compensator slows response of control system at low error signals to diminish effect of quantization noise but provides faster response at large error signals to speed correction of large errors.

Lin, Yu-Hwan↗

Comparison of force and tactile feedback for grasp force control in telemanipulation

The comparative efficacy of using direct force feedback or a simple vibrotactile display to convey changes in the intensity of remote grasp force relayed from a robotic end effector is examined. The findings show that a simple vibrotactile cue, in the absence of direct force feedback, is effective in signaling abrupt changes in remote grasp force regardless of magnitude, and when changes in force are not too slow or protracted in nature (i.e., ramp time less than 2 s). In cases where the operator must dynamically tract and respond to slow but large variations in grasp force, the comparatively crude vibrotactile display would prove helpful; but would not be as effective as that of a direct contact force display. Immediate applications and utility of current generation and near-term prototype tactile displays are discussed.

Wiker, Steven F.↗

Feedback controlled electrostatic and electromagnetic sample positioners

Four different sample positioners are discussed. The four systems share a common operating principle in that the sample positioning is achieved by feedback controlled forces which can be electrostatic, dielectrophoretic, or electromagnetic. The first system is the electrostatic liquid drop positioner which operates at the near ambient position. The second system is the tetrahedral electrostatic positioner which is being developed for the high temperature materials processing in vacuum. The third system is essentially the the same tetrahedral system above except that the position control is achieved by dielectrophoretic forces in the pressurized gas environment. Finally, the feasibility of a feedback controlled electromagnetic positioner is discussed.

Rhim, Won-Kyu↗

Permanent magnet flux-biased magnetic actuator with flux feedback

The invention is a permanent magnet flux-biased magnetic actuator with flux feedback for adjustably suspending an element on a single axis. The magnetic actuator includes a pair of opposing electromagnets and provides bi-directional forces along the single axis to the suspended element. Permanent magnets in flux feedback loops from the opposing electromagnets establish a reference permanent magnet flux-bias to linearize the force characteristics of the electromagnets to extend the linear range of the actuator without the need for continuous bias currents in the electromagnets.

Groom, Nelson J.↗

Performance of a modified feedback loop adaptive array with TVRO satellite signals

Performance of an experimental adaptive antenna array system is evaluated using television receive-only (TVRO) satellite signals. The experimental system is a sidelobe canceller with two auxiliary channels. Modified feedback loops are used to enhance the suppression of weak interfering signals. The modified feedback loops used two spatialy separated antennas, each with an individual amplifier for each auxiliary channel. Thus, the experimental system uses five antenna elements. Instead of using five separate antennas, a reflector antenna with multiple feeds is used to receive signals from various TVRO satellites. The details of the earth station are given. It is shown that the experimental system can null up to two signals originating from interfering TVRO satellites while receiving the signals from a desired TVRO satellite.

Steadman, Karl N.↗

LQG and direct rate feedback control with model reduction on a flexible laboratory grid structure

This paper presents experimental and theoretical comparisons of three control laws applied to a complex laboratory structure. A reduced finite element model was generated for designing the control systems and then corrected based on measured mode shapes and frequencies. A standard time-invariant linear quadratic regulator with state estimation was investigated first. Two simple direct rate feedback control laws both guaranteeing stability were also designed using the reduced model. One minimizes the maximum control force and the other minimizes the same quadratic performance index as the linear quadratic regulator. The three control laws have comparable performance indices with the direct rate feedback designs having better spillover properties. Experimental results for all designs were obtained with digital implementation. It was shown that the performance of the control system designed on the basis of the corrected finite element model agreed better with experimental results than the performance of the control system designed on the basis of the uncorrected model.

Schamel, G. C., II↗

Effect of motor dynamics on nonlinear feedback robot arm control

A nonlinear feedback robot controller that incorporates the robot manipulator dynamics and the robot joint motor dynamics is proposed. The manipulator dynamics and the motor dynamics are coupled to obtain a third-order-dynamic model, and differential geometric control theory is applied to produce a linearized and decoupled robot controller. The derived robot controller operates in the robot task space, thus eliminating the need for decomposition of motion commands into robot joint space commands. Computer simulations are performed to verify the feasibility of the proposed robot controller. The controller is further experimentally evaluated on the PUMA 560 robot arm. The experiments show that the proposed controller produces good trajectory tracking performances and is robust in the presence of model inaccuracies. Compared with a nonlinear feedback robot controller based on the manipulator dynamics only, the proposed robot controller yields conspicuously improved performance.

Tarn, Tzyh-Jong↗

Nonlinear feedback method of robot control - A preliminary experimental study

The nonlinear feedback method of robot control has been experimentally implemented on two PUMA 560 robot arms. The feasibility of the proposed controller, which was shown viable through simulation results earlier, is stressed. The servomechanism operates in task space, and the nonlinear feedback takes care of the necessary transformations to compute the necessary joint currents. A discussion is presented of the implementation with details of the experiments performed. The performance of the controller is encouraging but was limited to 100-Hz sampling frequency and to derived velocity information at the time of the experimentation. The setup of the lab, the software aspects, results, and the control hardware architecture that has recently been implemented are discussed.

Tarn, T. J.↗

A numerical algorithm for optimal feedback gains in high dimensional linear quadratic regulator problems

A hybrid method for computing the feedback gains in linear quadratic regulator problem is proposed. The method, which combines use of a Chandrasekhar type system with an iteration of the Newton-Kleinman form with variable acceleration parameter Smith schemes, is formulated to efficiently compute directly the feedback gains rather than solutions of an associated Riccati equation. The hybrid method is particularly appropriate when used with large dimensional systems such as those arising in approximating infinite-dimensional (distributed parameter) control systems (e.g., those governed by delay-differential and partial differential equations). Computational advantages of the proposed algorithm over the standard eigenvector (Potter, Laub-Schur) based techniques are discussed, and numerical evidence of the efficacy of these ideas is presented.

Banks, H. T.↗

Stereo advantage for a peg-in-hole task using a force-feedback manipulator

An improved assessment methodology has been implemented at NOSC and tested using an instrumented peg-in-hole (PiH) taskboard. Several aspects of the methodology are discussed in light of their implications for future studies of manipulator performance. Using a simple (but high-fidelity) force-feedback manipulator, a group of 9 trained operators showed a consistent advantage for stereoscopic TV viewing over monoscopic TV viewing when performing the PiH task. To introduce a controlled element of spatial uncertainty into the testing procedure, taskboard orientation relative to the manipulator and remote video camera head was changed in a randomized order on a trial-by-trial basis. The stereoscopic advantage demonstrated by this study can reasonably be expected to be even more pronounced as the quality of the stereo TV interface is improved and force-feedback provided through the manipulator system is diminished and/or distorted.

Spain, Edward H.↗

The effects of feedback amplifier characteristics on constant temperature hot-wire anemometer systems

The 3rd-order analysis of Perry and Morrison (1971) was extended to 7th-order by Watmuff (1987) by including both the bridge-capacitance and the frequency-response characteristics of the feedback amplifier. In this paper, the bridge capacitance has been excluded from the analysis. The influence of the gain K, roll-off frequency f(A), and offset voltage E(qi) of the feedback amplifier are examined in more detail together with their interactions with the bridge inductance.

Watmuff, J. H.↗

A feedback control for the advanced launch system

A robust feedback algorithm is presented for a near-minimum-fuel ascent of a two-stage launch vehicle operating in the equatorial plane. The development of the algorithm is based on the ideas of neighboring optimal control and can be derived into three phases. In phase 1, the formalism of optimal control is employed to calculate fuel-optimal ascent trajectories for a simple point-mass model. In phase 2, these trajectories are used to numerically calculate gain functions of time for the control(s), the total flight time, and possibly, for other variables of interest. In phase 3, these gains are used to determine feedback expressions for the controls associated with a more realistic model of a launch vehicle. With the Advanced Launch System in mind, all calculations are performed on a two-stage vehicle with fixed thrust history, but this restriction is by no means important for the approach taken. Performance and robustness of the algorithm is found to be excellent.

Seywald, Hans↗

An exact algebraic solution of the infimum in H-infinity optimization with output feedback

This paper presents a simple and noniterative procedure for the computation of the exact value of the infimum in the standard H-infinity-optimal control with output feedback. The problem formulation is general and does not place any restrictions on the direct feedthrough terms between the control input and the controlled output variables, and between the disturbance input and the measurement output variables. The method is applicable to systems that satisfy (1) the transfer function from the control input to the controlled output is right-invertible and has no invariant zeros on the j(w) axis and, (2) the transfer function from the disturbance to the measurement output is left-invertible and has no invariant zeros on the j(w) axis. A set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the solvability of H-infinity-almost disturbance decoupling problem via measurement feedback with internal stability is also given.

Chen, Ben M.↗