A class of output feedback globally stabilizing controllers for flexible joints robots

In this paper we characterize a class of passivity-based regulators for robot ma-nipulators which, without assuming velocity measurement, aims at modifying the total energy of the closed loop and adding the required dissipation. The class is parametrized in terms of the desired closed loop total energy function, speciied by the designer. We show that several apparently unrelated stabilizing output feedback regulators recently reported in the literature, are in fact particular cases of this class. Our results aim at providing a uniied framework to compare diierent stabilizing schemes via analysis of their energy dissipation properties.