Evaluation of Robot Manipulator Link Velocity and Acceleration Observer

摘要

Robot manipulators link velocity and acceleration can be estimated using nonlinear observers. This is done by model-based fusion of inertial measurement units (IMUs) with the robot motor encoders. This method has been proven to be light, generally applicable (broad bandwidth) and easily implementable. However, due to technical difficulties, the full potential of this observer has never been evaluated. In this paper we attempt to report the complete aspects of the observer performance. For this, seven IMUs are installed on a robot manipulator and consequently, the observer is examined. Although the sensor technology as well as mechatronics challenges may degrade the overall performance, there exist methods to maintain the estimation accuracy to acceptable levels. We also review and evaluate some of these methods.