Adaptive robust tracking control for mobile manipulators in the task-space under uncertainties

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to address the trajectory tracking control in task space of a non-holonomic wheeled mobile manipulator with parameter uncertainties and disturbances. The proposed algorithm is robust adaptive control strategy where parametric uncertainties are compensated by adaptive update techniques and the disturbances are suppressed. The system stability and the convergence of tracking errors to zero are rigorously proved using a Lyapunov theory. Design/methodology/approach - The proposed algorithm is derived based on the advantage of the robot regressor dynamics that express the highly non-linear robot dynamics in a linear form in terms of the known and unknown robot parameters. The update law for the unknown dynamic parameters is obtained using Lyapunov theory. Findings - Simulation experiments show the effectiveness of the proposed robust adaptive based controller in comparison with a classical passivity based controller. Originality/value - The proposed adaptive approach is interesting for the control of the mobile manipulators in the task space coordinate even in the presence of dynamic uncertainties and external disturbances.