Waste tank Cleanup is a current application area for robotics in the United States. As a result of tank access restrictions, (e.g., limited number and size of manholes), designs for several current waste Cleanup manipulator systems have long links with small cross-sections and variable lengths. In addition, as a result of anticipated payload capacity, these manipulator designs are hydraulically...

Robust nonlinear control of flexible-joint robots requires that the link position, velocity, acceleration, and jerk be available. In this paper, we derive the dynamic model of a nonlinear flexible-joint robot based on the governing Euler-Lagrange equations and propose extended and unscented Kalman filters to estimate the link acceleration and jerk from position and velocity measurements. Both o...

This paper presents an investigation into the dynamic modelling and characterisation of a two-link flexible robot manipulator incorporating a payload. A planar two-link flexible manipulator incorporating structural damping, hub inertia and payload that moves in the horizontal plane is considered. A dynamic model of the system is developed using a combined Euler-Lagrange and assumed mode methods...

A linear-quadratic optimal control problem is considered for the infinite-dimensional model of a one-link flexible arm. Two boundary inputs are assumed to be available, namely joint torque at link base and transverse force tip link. The formulated solved using semigroup theory duality arguments. Simulation results provided support theoretical findings, comparing proposed LQ law with more conven...

Flexible-link robotic manipulators are mechanical devices whose control can be rather challenging, among other reasons because of their intrinsic under-actuated nature. This chapter presents various experimental studies of diverse robust control schemes for this kind of robotic arms. The proposed designs are based on several control strategies with well defined theoretical foundations whose eff...