Sharif Digital Repository

A stable robust adaptive impedance control strategy is introduced here as a model-based low-level control scheme for active ankle prostheses. The effects of amputee-prosthesis and prosthesis-environment interactions are included in the controller design. An interesting feature of the proposed controller is that only shank and ankle angles and angular velocities, and ground reaction forces are required to implement the control law. In other words, no feedback from amputee-prosthesis interaction forces and moment, global or local positions, and accelerations of amputated place is required. Using a Lyapunov analysis, exponential convergence characteristics of the proposed controller are proven.... 

Four nonlinear Model Reference Adaptive Impedance Controllers are introduced, tested, and compared for the control of the robot impedance with uncertainties in model parameters. The intended application area is human-robot interactions (HRI), particularly rehabilitation robots and haptic interfaces. All of the controllers make the closed-loop dynamics of the robot similar to the reference impedance model besides providing asymptotic tracking of the impedance model for the robot end-effector in Cartesian coordinates. The tracking and global stability are proved using Lyapunov stability theorem. Based on the simulations and experiments on a two-DOFs robot, the effectiveness of the proposed... 

In this paper, a nonlinear model reference adaptive impedance controller is proposed and tested. The controller provides asymptotic tracking of a reference impedance model for the robot end-effector in Cartesian coordinates applicable to rehabilitation robotics or any other human-robot interactions such as haptic systems. The controller uses the parameters of a desired stable reference model which is the target impedance for the robots end-effector. It also considers uncertainties in the model parameters of the robot. The asymptotic tracking is proven using Lyapunov stability theorem. Moreover, the adaptation law is proposed in joint space for reducing the complexity of its calculations;... 

The general problem of impedance control is addressed for a robotic manipulator with a moving flexible base. Impedance control imposes a relation between force and displacement at the contact point with the environment. The concept of impedance control of flexible base moving manipulators (FBMMs) is rather new and is being considered. The dynamic of the manipulator is decomposed into slow and fast dynamics using the singular perturbation method. A new sliding mode impedance control (SMIC) method using an element on the end-effector is proposed for high-precision impedance control of FBMMs. The SMIC method as a robust impedance control law is derived for the slow dynamics. The asymptotic... 

New gains tuning and impedance control method were addressed for flexible base moving manipulators. Slow and fast dynamics of robot are decoupled using singular perturbation method. Then, using sliding mode control method, an impedance control law was derived for the slow dynamics. Combined control law was proposed comprising the impedance control law and a feedback control law for the fast dynamics. As fist time, we proposed a new online particle swarm optimization algorithm for gain tuning of impedance control at the contact moments of end effector and unknown environments. This proposed Sliding Mode Impedance Controller and online PSO were simulated for a Flexible Base Moving Manipulator.... 

In this article, a nonlinear adaptive impedance control strategy is proposed to adjust the impedance of a one-degree of freedom Falcon robot to a pre-defined nonlinear impedance which is an approximate mathematical representation of the sino-nasal tissue. Further developments can be used for a training simulator system for the otolaryngology surgery training purposes. The stability of the proposed control strategy and convergence of tracking error are proved by using Lyapunov Stability Theorem. Two different scenarios are considered for simulation studies including a declining contact force and also an oscillatory contact force between the user hand and the haptic interface device.... 

In this paper, the general problem of impedance control for a robotic manipulator with a moving flexible base is addressed. Impedance control imposes a relation between force and displacement at the contact point with the environment. The concept of impedance control of flexible base mobile manipulator is rather new and is being considered for first time using singular perturbation and new sliding mode control methods by authors. Initially slow and fast dynamics of robot are decoupled using singular perturbation method. Slow dynamics represents the dynamics of the manipulator with rigid base. Fast dynamics is the equivalent effect of the flexibility in the base. Then, using sliding mode... 

In this paper, the general problem of impedance control for a robotic manipulator with a moving flexible base is addressed. Impedance control imposes a relation between force and displacement at the contact point with the environment. The concept of impedance control of flexible base mobile manipulator is rather new and is being considered for first time using singular perturbation and new sliding mode control methods by authors. Initially slow and fast dynamics of robot are decoupled using singular perturbation method. Slow dynamics represents the dynamics of the manipulator with rigid base. Fast dynamics is the equivalent effect of the flexibility in the base. Then, using sliding mode... 

Performance of a haptic device is evaluated based on the concept of transparency. Stability of a haptic device prevalently has been evaluated based on the passivity criterion. Due to conservativeness of passivity, it appears as an obstacle to improve transparency. In this paper, passivity is suggested to be replaced by the complementary stability criterion which accounts for the robust stability of the interaction in the presence of uncertain user hand dynamics. In this respect, an algorithm is proposed which guarantees transparency of the haptic device in a stable manner. Assuming that the dynamics of the device is known, a certain compensatory structure is assigned. This special structure... 

Several exoskeletons with various configurations and degrees-of-freedoms (DOFs) have been introduced in the literature, but not many have addressed the optimal selection of the mechanism's DOFs. In the proposed system a semi-passive toe joint is introduced to achieve several advantages. The performance of the proposed novel passive toe joint is evaluated experimentally. In addition, the semi-passive abduction/adduction DOFs in the hip joint and eversion/inversion DOFs in ankle joint is proposed to facilitate turning while providing more comfort during normal walking. The effect of passive DoFs existence on the user comfortability is studied with the aid of three kinematic indices. In the... 

A new nonlinear model reference adaptive impedance controller is presented for the control of robot manipulators with uncertainties in model parameters such as friction coefficients. This method provides asymptotic tracking of a reference impedance model for the robot end-effector in operational space which is more sensible for the patient compared to the joint space impedance used in previous works. The model uncertainties such as friction coefficients are compensated using an adaptation law. The asymptotic tracking of the reference impedance model is shown using a Lyapunov function. The tracking performance and friction compensation are also demonstrated through simulation on a... 

Rehabilitation is the best approach for patients who suffer physical disability of their upper-limbs. Maintaining the intensity of exercise during treatment is the main factor that makes the robots suitable for rehabilitation since robots do not get tired and do the exercises with constant intensity under supervision of the doctor. Two main categories of rehabilitation robots are End-Effector based robots and wearable robots. According to the fact that most problems occur in need of rehabilitation for hand wrist area, in this paper a wearable rehabilitation robot has been developed for the wrist. Nowadays, wearable robots attract more attention than the other group. Wearable robots are...