Abstract#R##N##R##N#Planning the motion of end-effectors of robot manipulators can be carried out more directly in the Cartesian space compared to the joint space. Yet, Cartesian paths may include singular configurations where conventional control schemes suffer from excessive joint velocities and loss of tracking accuracy. The difficulties arise because the Jacobian matrix that is used to establish a linear relation between the velocities in the task and joint spaces loses rank at singularities. The problem can be resolved by using a local second-order approximation of robot kinematics for the joint velocities, which is called Resolved Motion Quadratic Rate Control. In this article, we present a control strategy based on this approach and a recently developed variable structure control scheme. The controller receives Cartesian inputs whenever the manipulator is outside the singular domain. Otherwise, it uses resolved motion quadratic rate control to compute the required joint inputs. Numerical simulation is performed to show that the proposed control scheme provides accurate tracking of the desired motion without inducing excessive control activity when operating robot manipulators through singular configurations. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
['Tai-Heng Chang', 'Yildirim Hurmuzlu']
Operating robot manipulators through kinematic singularities using a continuously sliding mode control