Adaptive control of a class of mechanical systems using linearization and Lyapunov methods: a comparative study on the overhead crane example

The authors present different approaches for stabilizing mechanical systems with parametric uncertainties. They focus on incompletely controlled manipulators having less actuators than degrees of freedom, and use two stabilization techniques, the linearization technique and the Lyapunov approach. Adaptive versions of these methods are introduced to deal with the problem of parametric uncertainties. The results are applied to the control of an overhead crane. On this example the robustness of the nonadaptive control laws is compared and simulation results of the two adaptive schemes are analyzed.<>