Comparison of control results of a flexible one-link robot equipped with a velocity or torque controlled actuator

A comparison is presented of regulation and tracking control of a flexible one-link robot equipped with either a torque-controlled or a velocity-controlled actuator. The use of a velocity-controlled actuator introduces observability and controllability problems in the state space model. Two control schemes are presented to avoid these defects. Experimental results on a flexible one-link robot show the superior behavior for a velocity-controlled actuator over a torque-controlled actuator with respect to regulation and tracking performance. The control scheme can easily be implemented into an industrial control unit.<
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