Robust Cooperative Manipulation Without Force/Torque Measurements: Control Design and Experiments

Christos Verginis, Matteo Mastellaro, Dimos Dimarogonas

Abstract:

This paper presents two novel control methodologies for the cooperative manipulation of an object by N robotic agents.
First, we design an adaptive control protocol which employs quaternion feedback for the object orientation to avoid potential representation singularities. Second, we propose a control protocol that guarantees predefined transient and steady-state
performance for the object trajectory. Both methodologies are decentralized, since the agents calculate their own signals without
communicating with each other, as well as robust to external disturbances and model uncertainties. Moreover, we consider that
the grasping points are rigid and avoid the need for force/torque measurements. Load distribution is also included via a grasp
matrix pseudoinverse to account for potential differences in the agents’ power capabilities. Finally, simulation and experimental
results with two robotic arms verify the theoretical findings.