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ECEN 5438 - Robot Control

3 credit hours

Catalog Description: Provides a comprehensive treatment of the mathematical modeling of robot mechanisms and the analysis methods used to design control laws for these mechanisms.

Prerequisites: PHYS 1110, Physics 1, and ECEN 4138, Control Systems Analysis

Textbooks:

Goals: To understand the mathematical description of robot dynamics, to develop control designs to obtain the desired closed-loop behavior, and to evaluate the resulting designs in computer simulations.

Topics:

  1. Homogeneous transformations and relative coordinate frames.
  2. Representations of orientation.
  3. Forward (direct) kinematics of robot manipulators.
  4. Inverse kinematics of robot manipulators.
  5. Robot velocities and static forces.
  6. Manipulator dynamics.
  7. Reference trajectory generation.
  8. Control theory applied to robot manipulators.
  9. Linear and nonlinear position control of robot manipulators.
  10. Force and compliance control.
  11. Teleoperation control.
Computer Usage:
  1. Homework for the course includes developing a simulation of robot dynamics under computer control. Student control designs are simulated, and the results are compared to analytical predictions.
  2. Controls CAD tools, such as MATLAB and SIMULINK, are made available for student usage. Students are instructed in utilizing these tools effectively for robot analysis, and are encouraged to utilize them in developing the robot control designs.
  3. The use of symbolic manipulation tools in controls design and analysis is introduced using the computer software Mathematica. Although not required, students are encouraged to use for symbolic derivation of robot manipulator dynamics.
Laboratory Projects:
  1. None.
ABET Category Content:
  • Engineering Science: 1 credit or 33%
  • Engineering Design: 2 credits or 67%