{"title":"Fishing for Data: Modeling, Optimal Planning, and Iterative Learning Control for Flexible Link Robots","authors":"Michele Pierallini;Ramesh Krishnan Muttathil Gopanunni;Franco Angelini;Antonio Bicchi;Manolo Garabini","doi":"10.1109/TCST.2025.3550030","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"In this work, we address the problem of precise motion planning and control of flexible-link robots for throwing small objects. Thanks to lightweight materials and elastic bodies, flexible robots can perform fast motions with few actuators. However, they need a planning and control strategy capable of exploiting the robot’s elasticity, negotiating with the system’s underactuation, and compensating for the model’s uncertainties. To solve this challenging task, we 1) compare multiple discrete models for continuum robots’ dynamics and, after selecting a lumped-parameter (LPs) model, experimentally identify its parameters; 2) plan the robot motion via a differential-dynamic-programming-based strategy tailored for flexible-link robots; and 3) employ an iterative learning control (ILC) approach to close the reality-gap. Combining these three steps allows us to execute precise throwing tasks with flexible-link robots. The strategy’s effectiveness has been validated via simulations and experiments with varying trajectories and payloads. We applied the aforementioned approach to realize a throwing motion with a fishing rod for environmental monitoring.","PeriodicalId":13103,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology","volume":"33 5","pages":"1667-1683"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology","FirstCategoryId":"94","ListUrlMain":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10938787/","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AUTOMATION & CONTROL SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In this work, we address the problem of precise motion planning and control of flexible-link robots for throwing small objects. Thanks to lightweight materials and elastic bodies, flexible robots can perform fast motions with few actuators. However, they need a planning and control strategy capable of exploiting the robot’s elasticity, negotiating with the system’s underactuation, and compensating for the model’s uncertainties. To solve this challenging task, we 1) compare multiple discrete models for continuum robots’ dynamics and, after selecting a lumped-parameter (LPs) model, experimentally identify its parameters; 2) plan the robot motion via a differential-dynamic-programming-based strategy tailored for flexible-link robots; and 3) employ an iterative learning control (ILC) approach to close the reality-gap. Combining these three steps allows us to execute precise throwing tasks with flexible-link robots. The strategy’s effectiveness has been validated via simulations and experiments with varying trajectories and payloads. We applied the aforementioned approach to realize a throwing motion with a fishing rod for environmental monitoring.
期刊介绍:
The IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology publishes high quality technical papers on technological advances in control engineering. The word technology is from the Greek technologia. The modern meaning is a scientific method to achieve a practical purpose. Control Systems Technology includes all aspects of control engineering needed to implement practical control systems, from analysis and design, through simulation and hardware. A primary purpose of the IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology is to have an archival publication which will bridge the gap between theory and practice. Papers are published in the IEEE Transactions on Control System Technology which disclose significant new knowledge, exploratory developments, or practical applications in all aspects of technology needed to implement control systems, from analysis and design through simulation, and hardware.