Parameter identification and trajectory following of a two-link rigid manipulator

An adaptive controller for rigid manipulators is discussed in this paper. The scheme presented is applied to a two-link rigid manipulator. It takes full advantage of the known parameters of the manipulator while estimating the unknown parameters. In deriving the dynamic equations of motion, all the physical parameters of the manipulator, including the distributed masses of the links, are taken into account. The overall control system maintains the structure of the computed torque system with an adaptive element. The convergence of the control is considered in detail. A method of selecting the best combination of the various gains is presented. Some simulation results of the manipulator with unknown payload masses following a desired trajectory are presented.