An experimental procedure for autonomous joint sensor estimation using adaptive control

The autonomous parameter estimation of a manipulator is considered with respect to both dynamic and joint sensor properties. Using methods based on adaptive control, a new formulation is introduced such that bench calibration of the robot joint sensors and actuators is no longer necessary. This method is unique because estimation is done with respect to invariant forces due to gravity loading. The method also guarantees convergence to the true values from arbitrary initial estimates; consequently, the algorithm can also be used for manipulator self test. Experimental results are presented which were performed on two links of a six degree of freedom hand-controller. Results show that angles can be recovered to an accuracy of /spl plusmn/1/spl deg/ in the absence of initial estimates.