Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 March 2009
In this paper, an adaptive learning (A-L) control scheme is proposed for cooperation of two manipulators handling a rigid object with model uncertainties. For robots performing repetitive cooperating tasks, their operations are decomposed into two modes: the single operational mode and the repetitive operational mode on which the A-L controller is based. In the single operational mode, the controller is a learning based adaptive controller in which the robotic parameters are updated by using the information of the previous operation. In the repetitive operational mode, the controller is a model-based iterative learning controller. The advantages of the A-L controller lie in the fact that it can improve the transient performance as robots repeat operations at a high speed of the learning convergence. Simulation results ascertain that the A-L algorithm is effective in controlling two cooperated robots with model uncertainties.