Global regulation of a planar robot arm striking a surface

Considers the problem of modeling and controlling the impact of a two-degree-of-freedom planar robot arm against an infinitely rigid and massive surface. For this case study, the basic equations describing the motion of the robot arm are derived for noncontact and contact conditions. A control scheme is proposed on the basis of a reduced-order observer that is able to asymptotically estimate the impact-induced forces and to allow their asymptotic compensation when the robot arm is in contact with the surface. The resulting control system ensures the global asymptotic regulation of the position of the arm with an assigned impact-induced force. The case study is completed by a simulation test.