This paper addresses the design of position tracking control of mechanical systems with classical nonholonomic constraints incorporating actuator dynamics. An adaptive controller is designed at the actuator level and the controller guarantees that the configuration state of the system tracks the desired trajectory. A detailed numerical example is presented to illustrate the developed method.

This paper presents a high-bandwidth capacitance estimation and driving circuit especially tailored for its use with MEMS electrostatic actuators. The circuit can be integrated as a part of a system comprising an electrostatic actuator to provide self-testing and failure prediction capabilities and also as a simple and low-cost actuator dynamics characterization system capable of measuring both...

In this paper we consider the problem of developing sensor/actuator abstractions for embedded control design. These abstractions take the form of inequalities relating sensor/actuator characteristics with the continuous dynamics’ output. When satisfied, they allow to decouple control design from the choice of sensor/actuators, thus simplifying control design while ensuring implementability.

The problems of control of robot manipulators with actuation degradation and detection of actuation faults are addressed in this paper. An adaptive fault tolerant control method is proposed for robot manipulators to maintain the required performance in the presence of actuation degradation, and the same adaptive algorithm is utilized to detect actuation failures. The proposed method can compens...

The Modular Distributed Manipulator System (MDMS) is an array of actuators that is capable of manipulating objects in the plane [1]. Each actuator in the array consists of two closely spaced, orthogonally mounted motorized roller wheels whose combined action approximates a programmable vector force. This paper first derives the equations of motion for transported objects by explicitly consideri...

Based on fuzzy control and sliding mode observer technique, a fault accommodation strategy is proposed for near space hypersonic vehicle (NSHV) with actuator fault in this study. Firstly, the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model is implemented to represent the NSHV nonlinear dynamics, and a bank of sliding mode observers are designed for the established T-S model, which are used to generate the resi...

This paper deals with the design of a fault tolerant control (FTC) of a quadrotor aircraft system, considering the actuator faults. The attitude dynamic model of quadrotor, taking into account the various parameters which can affect the dynamics of this system in space is presented. Subsequently, based on robust adaptive-backstepping method and taking into account the actuator faults, a new FTC...

This thesis develops and experimentally evaluates a model-based detector for detecting actuator failures in HVAC systems which dynamically estimates the model parameters while performing detection. Specifically, this thesis considers actuator failures which result in the actuator valve sticks in an unknown (but constant) position. A first order heat-equation model is assumed to model interactio...

Exploiting natural dynamics for bipedal locomotion, or passive walking, is gaining interest because of its energy efficiency. However, the natural trajectories of a passive walker are fixed during the design, thus limiting its mobility. A possible solution to this problem is creating a “semi-passive walker” equipped with actuators with adaptable compliance, which allows the natural dynamics to ...