Adaptive control of robot manipulators using bound estimation

This paper presents a model-free adaptive control scheme for the trajectory tracking of robot manipulators. The presented adaptive law, unlike most existing ones, estimates parameters defined by combinations of unknown bounded constants of system parameter matrices rather than each unknown parameter of the system. It results in an adaptive controller that is structurally simple and computationally efficient. The stability analysis by using Lyapunov method is presented. Results of computer simulation show effectiveness of the proposed controller for slow and fast desired motions; different initial positions of joints from the desired trajectory; measurement noise; and a sudden payload change.