Adaptive control of a robot using neural networks

Abstract

Summary This paper describes an adaptive control system for an articulated robot with n joints carrying a variable load. The robot is a complex nonlinear time-varying MIMO plant with dynamic interaction between its inputs and outputs. However, the design of the control system is relatively straightforward and does not require any prior knowledge about the plant. This is because the control system is based on using neural networks which can capture the dynamic characteristics of the plant automatically. Three neural networks are employed in total, the first to learn the dynamics of the robot, the second to model its inverse dynamics and the third, a copy of the second neural network, to control the robot.