Advanced gain scheduled H[infty infinity] controller for robotic manipulators

A conservatism-reduced design of a gain scheduled output feedback H∞ controller for an n-joint rigid robotic manipulator, which integrates the varying-parameter rate without their feedback, is proposed. The robotic system is reduced to a 1inear parameter varying (LPV) form, which depends on the varying-parameter. By using a parameter-dependent Lyapunov function, the design of a controller, which satisfies the closed-loop H∞ performance, is reduced to a solution of the parameterized linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) of parameter matrices. With a use of the concept of “multi-convexity”, the solution of the infinite LMIs in the varying-parameter and its rate space is reduced to a solution of the finite LMIs for the vertex set. The proposed controller eliminates the feedback of the varying-parameter rate and fixes its upper boundary so that the conservatism of the controller design is reduced. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed design.