Precise position control of robot arms using a homogeneous ER fluid

Abstract

A semiclosed-loop control which utilizes the signal of an encoder mounted on a servomotor is adopted in the control of industrial robots. In this method, the position of the end-effector is not controlled very accurately. Therefore, we aim to apply a closed-loop control which uses the positional signal measured directly at the end-effector. Because of the flexibility of the driving system, however, it is very difficult to control the arm based on this method. In this study, a robot arm is developed which has a variable damper using an electrorheological fluid (ER fluid). It is shown that the ER damper is very effective for precise position control based on a closed-loop control method.