A Control Design for Paddle Juggling based on Discrete System with Racket Tracking Errors

This paper considers the stabilization of the paddle juggling, i.e. the hitting task of a ball with a table tennis racket. The rebound phenomenon between the ball and the racket is firstly shown in 2-dimensional space. The continuous trajectory design for the racket is secondly introduced to realize the iterative hitting the ball. With the assumption where the trajectory tracking is achieved, the discrete phenomenon at the rebound is thirdly modelled with the parameters of the continuous trajectories as the new input. The LQ servo controller is then designed which stabilizes the hitting task with reducing the disturbances due to the tracking errors. Numerical simulations are shown to verify the effectiveness of the proposed controller that consists of the regulations of the hitting position and apex.