A class of adaptive regulators for robot manipulators

In this paper we propose a framework to adaptive regulator design of robot manipulators. A class of global regulators for robot is characterized for which we provide guidelines to derive adaptive versions. The class of regulators is described by control laws comprising the gradient of an artificial potential energy depending in a linear manner on the robot and payload unknown parameters plus a linear velocity feedback. We provide explicit sufficient conditions on the artificial potential energy which allow to obtain an adaptive regulator which yields a stable closed-loop system and global positioning. Using this framework we revise two previously proposed adaptive regulators and we suggest two new ones. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.