Adaptive tracking control for both constrained and coordinated manipulator systems

By introducing the concept of virtual control input, we reformulate the control problem of a coordinated manipulator as a problem of a constrained manipulator. Then, a unified approach is proposed to design the motion/force tracking controller for both systems. Based on several common properties, two popularized non-adaptive approaches and adaptive approaches for pure motion control in the robotics literature are carefully generalized to deal with the motion/force control problem for both systems. The asymptotic motion/force tracking for both systems is shown. It is worthwhile to note that the zero force tracking error can be achieved even when the PE condition is not satisfied in this adaptive control scheme.