Passivity-based control design for a continuum robotic manipulator with disturbances

Abstract

In this paper we design a robust passivity-based controller for a continuum robot manipulator using the port-Hamiltonian framework. The control design is tailored to the Bionic Handling Assistant, a continuum mechanic robot developed by the Festo AG. As in many real-world applications, the control design for the BHA system requires to address non-linearities and robustness issues. In this work, we aim to provide a constructive robust control design for the BHA system, which can be readily adapted to similar continuum robotic manipulators. We develop a controller with an integral action to enhance the robustness of the control system and to compensate for disturbances.