Application of parameter adaptive approach to servo control of a hydraulic manipulator

A method for compensating changes in manipulator dynamics to cope with the increased requirements for better servoing performance of manipulator motion is introduced. The dynamic model of the manipulator arm is linearized and presented in a state space form. The parameters of the linearized model are estimated on line and used for tuning of the servo controller. The control of the manipulator is experimentally examined in computed path control, both for a regular and irregular path. The test runs are carried out with a loaded and unloaded manipulator. A simulation study with simple process models is utilized to further examine the adaptive properties of the method. The ability of the estimator to track changing parameters during path servoing are examined and the significance of the velocity in adaptive servo control applications outlined.