Control of path constrained systems using feasible equilibrium paths; a robotics application

A method to control the transition of path constrained nonlinear systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) between equilibrium states is presented. The main idea is to control the system such that its state space trajectory is close to an equilibrium path to which the initial and final states belong and which satisfies the constraints. Examples of a two link robotic manipulator control subject to collision avoidance constraints are included.