Output feedback dynamic surface control of flexible-joint robots

A new output feedback controller design approach for flexible-joint (FJ) robots via the observer dynamic surface design technique is presented. The proposed approach only requires the feedback of position states. We first design an observer to estimate the link and actuator velocity information. Then, the link position tracking controller using the observer dynamic surface design procedure is developed. Therefore, the proposed controller can be simpler than the observer backstepping controller. From the Lyapunov stability analysis, it is shown that all signals in a closed-loop system are uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, the simulation results of a three-link FJ robot are presented to validate the good position tracking performance of the proposed control system.