Fractional synergetic tracking control for robot manipulator

Abstract

This work takes advantage of synergetic control theory and fractional calculus to develop and propose fractional synergetic control (FSC) strategy for Four Degrees of Freedom (4-DOF) robot manipulator. The proposed fractional synergetic control is designed to track a joint space as well as workspace desired trajectories. Fractional calculus gives more flexibility in the design since it has a wider stability region. Added to that, as stated in the literature, compared to a similar approach such as sliding mode control, the synergetic control approach converges faster to the equilibrium point, without chattering with a fast response. This paper proposes a new control strategy that takes advantage of fractional calculus and synergetic control theory. This proposed control strategy is tested experimentally on a 4-DOF manipulator to study the performance of the proposed control scheme. The stability of the closed-loop system is proved using the Lyapunov approach. The experimental results have shown that the proposed FSC design has achieved a good tracking performance.

Keywords:

• Synergetic control
• robust control
• robot manipulator
• fractional controller

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Asma Saif

Asma Saif received a bachelor and master degrees in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Sharjah in 2016 and 2021 respectively. Her reseacrh area is in robotics and control system.

Raouf Fareh

Raouf Fareh received Ph.D. and Master degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Quebec (Ecole de Technologie Superieure) Canada in 2008 and 2013, respectively. He then joined Ottawa University in 2013 as a postdoctoral researcher. He joined the University of Sharjah, UAE, in 2014. Currently, Dr. Fareh is an Associate Professor at the University of Sharjah in 2014, where he is teaching courses related to robotics and control systems. His research interests include control and path planning for various types of robotic systems such as Manipulator, Mobile Robot, Mobile Manipulator, Parallel robot, Exoskeleton Robot, Drones, etc. In control theory, his research interests include mathematical modelling, Linear and Nonlinear control such as Active Disturbances Rejection Control, distributed control, Fractional Control, Sliding model control, Synergetic control, etc. In addition, He is working on path planning for robotic systems using vision and image processing. He is a member of the Autonomous Robotics and Active Vision Research Group at the University of Sharjah. He collaborates with Power Electronics and Industrial Control Research Group (GRÉPCI) in ETS, Canada, as well as BioRobotics Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA.

Saif Sinan

Saif Sinan received a bachelor and a master degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Sharjah in 2013 and 2019 respectively. He started his PhD at Ecole de technologie superieure in 2020. His research is in nonlinear controllers, power systems, robotic systems and nonlinear control and collaboration of multi robotic systems.

Maamar Bettayeb

Maamar Bettayeb received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in 1976, 1978 and 1981, respectively. He worked as a Research Scientist at the Bellaire Research Center at Shell Oil Development Company, Houston, Texas, USA. From 1982 to 1988, He directed the Instrumentation and Control Laboratory of High Commission for Research in Algeria. In 1988, He joined the Electrical Engineering Department at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He has been Professor at the University of Sharjah UAE since August 2000. He is the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Sharjah, starting September 2014. He is also the Chair of the IT Governance Committee of University of Sharjah. He has published over 350 journal and conference papers in the fields of control and signal processing. He has also supervised over 50 M.Sc. and Ph.D. students. He contributed to the design and development of several curricula for Universities in the Gulf countries, Asia and Africa. His recent research interest is in process control, fractional dynamics and control, soft computing, renewable energies and engineering education.