Hybrid adaptive control of two-link flexible manipulators grasping a payload

The hybrid adaptive control algorithms used for flexible manipulators are presented. The advantages of the hybrid adaptive control against the pure continuous-time adaptive control or discrete-time adaptive control are also discussed. From a practical standpoint, the infrequent adjustment of the control parameters makes for more robust adaptive control while from a theoretical point of view, the algorithms are attractive since they provide a unified framework for the design of hybrid adaptive systems. The hybrid adaptive controllers also do not require the complex mathematical model of the arm dynamics or any knowledge of the arm dynamic parameters or the load parameters such as mass and stiffness. Simulation results are given to illustrate the proposed hybrid adaptive control strategies.