Patrik Axelsson

Modeling and Experiment Design for Identification of Wear in a Robot Joint Under Load and Temperature Uncertainties Based on Friction Data

The effects of wear to friction are studied based on constant-speed friction data collected from dedicated experiments during accelerated wear tests. It is shown how the effects of temperature and load uncertainties produce larger changes to friction than those caused by wear, motivating the consideration of these effects. Based on empirical observations, an extended friction model is proposed to describe the effects of speed, load, temperature, and wear. Assuming the availability of such a model and constant-speed friction data, a maximum likelihood wear estimator is proposed. The performance of the wear estimator under load and temperature uncertainties is found by means of simulations and verified under three case studies based on real data. Practical issues related to experiment length are considered based on an optimal selection of speed points to collect friction data, improving the achievable performance bound for any unbiased wear estimator. As it is shown, reliable wear estimates can be achieved even under load and temperature uncertainties, making condition-based maintenance of industrial robots possible.

Method to Estimate the Position and Orientation of a Triaxial Accelerometer Mounted to an Industrial Manipulator

A novel method to find the orientation and position of a triaxial accelerometer mounted on a six degrees-of-freedom industrial robot is proposed and evaluated on experimental data. The method consists of two consecutive steps, where the first is to estimate the orientation of the accelerometer from static experiments. In the second step the accelerometer position relative to the robot base is identified using accelerometer readings when the accelerometer moves in a circular path and where the accelerometer orientation is kept constant in a path fixed coordinate system. Once the accelerometer position and orientation are identified it is possible to use the accelerometer in robot model parameter identification and in advanced control solutions. Compared to previous methods, the accelerometer position estimation is completely new, whereas the orientation is found using an analytical solution to the optimisation problem. Previous methods use a parameterisation where the optimisation uses an iterative solver.

Discrete-Time Solutions to the Continuous-Time Differential Lyapunov Equation With Applications to Kalman Filtering

Prediction and filtering of continuous-time stochastic processes often require a solver of a continuous-time differential Lyapunov equation (CDLE), for example the time update in the Kalman filter. Even though this can be recast into an ordinary differential equation (ODE), where standard solvers can be applied, the dominating approach in Kalman filter applications is to discretize the system and then apply the discrete-time difference Lyapunov equation (DDLE). To avoid problems with stability and poor accuracy, oversampling is often used. This contribution analyzes over-sampling strategies, and proposes a novel low-complexity analytical solution that does not involve oversampling. The results are illustrated on Kalman filtering problems in both linear and nonlinear systems.

Evaluation of Six Different Sensor Fusion Methods for an Industrial Robot using Experimental Data

Experimental evaluations for path estimation are performed on an ABB IRB4600 robot. Different observers using Bayesian techniques with different estimation models are proposed. The estimated paths ...

Modeling and Identification of Wear in a Robot Joint under Temperature Uncertainties

Abstract This paper considers the problem of wear estimation in a standard industrial robot joint. The effects of wear on the static friction of a robot joint are analyzed from experiments. An extended static friction model is proposed that explains changes related to joint speed, load, temperature and wear. Based on this model and static friction observations, a model-based wear estimator is proposed. The performance of the estimator under temperature uncertainties is found both by means of simulations and experiments on an industrial robot. Special attention is given to the analyses of the best speed region for wear estimation. As it is shown, the method can distinguish the effects of wear even under large temperature variations, opening up for the use of robust joint diagnosis for industrial robots.

ℋ∞-Controller Design Methods Applied to One Joint of a Flexible Industrial Manipulator

Control of a flexible joint of an industrial manipulator using ℋ∞ design methods is presented. The considered design methods are i) mixed-ℋ∞ design, and ii) ℋ∞ loop shaping design. Two different controller configurations are examined: one uses only the actuator position, while the other uses the actuator position and the acceleration of the end-effector. The four resulting controllers are compared to a standard pid controller where only the actuator position is measured. The choices of the weighting functions are discussed in details. For the loop shaping design method, the acceleration measurement is required to improve the performance compared to the pid controller. For the mixed-**ℋ∞ method it is enough to have only the actuator position to get an improved performance. Model order reduction of the controllers is briefly discussed, which is important for implementation of the controllers in the robot control system.

Estimation-based ILC using particle filter with application to industrial manipulators

An estimation-based iterative learning control (ILC) algorithm is applied to a realistic industrial manipulator model. By measuring the acceleration of the end-effector, the arm angular position accuracy is improved when the measurements are fused with motor angle observations. The estimation problem is formulated in a Bayesian estimation framework where three solutions are proposed: one using the extended Kalman filter (EKF), one using the unscented Kalman filter (UKF), and one using the particle filter (PF). The estimates are used in an ILC method to improve the accuracy for following a given reference trajectory. Since the ILC algorithm is repetitive no computational restrictions on the methods apply explicitly. In an extensive Monte Carlo simulation study it is shown that the PF method outperforms the other methods and that the ILC control law is substantially improved using the PF estimate.

Tool position estimation of a flexible industrial robot using recursive bayesian methods

A sensor fusion method for state estimation of a flexible industrial robot is presented. By measuring the acceleration at the end-effector, the accuracy of the arm angular position is improved significantly when these measurements are fused with motor angle observation. The problem is formulated in a Bayesian estimation framework and two solutions are proposed; one using the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and one using the particle filter (PF). The technique is verified on experiments on the ABB IRB4600 robot, where the accelerometer method is showing a significant better dynamic performance, even when model errors are present.

H∞ Synthesis Method for Control of Non-linear Flexible Joint Models

One of the main tasks for an industrial robot is to move the end-effector in a predefined path with a specified velocity and acceleration. Different applications have different requirements of the performance. For some applications it is essential that the tracking error is extremely small, whereas other applications require a time optimal tracking. Independent of the application, the controller is a crucial part of the robot system. The most common controller configuration uses only measurements of the motor angular positions and velocities, instead of the position and velocity of the end-effector. The development of new cost optimised robots has introduced unwanted flexibilities in the joints and the links. The consequence is that it is no longer possible to get the desired performance and robustness by only measuring the motor angular positions. This thesis investigates if it is possible to estimate the end-effector position using Bayesian estimation methods for state estimation, here represented by the extended Kalman filter and the particle filter. The arm-side information is provided by an accelerometer mounted at the end-effector. The measurements consist of the motor angular positions and the acceleration of the end-effector. In a simulation study on a realistic flexible industrial robot, the angular position performance is shown to be close to the fundamental Cramer-Rao lower bound. The methods are also verified in experiments on an ABB IRB4600 robot, where the dynamic performance of the position for the end-effector is significantly improved. There is no significant difference in performance between the different methods. Instead, execution time, model complexities and implementation issues have to be considered when choosing the method. The estimation performance depends strongly on the tuning of the filters and the accuracy of the models that are used. Therefore, a method for estimating the process noise covariance matrix is proposed. Moreover, sampling methods are analysed and a low-complexity analytical solution for the continuous-time update in the Kalman filter, that does not involve oversampling, is proposed. The thesis also investigates two types of control problems. First, the norm-optimal iterative learning control (ILC) algorithm for linear systems is extended to an estimation-based norm-optimal ILC algorithm where the controlled variables are not directly available as measurements. The algorithm can also be applied to non-linear systems. The objective function in the optimisation problem is modified to incorporate not only the mean value of the estimated variable, but also information about the uncertainty of the estimate. Second, H∞ controllers are designed and analysed on a linear four-mass flexible joint model. It is shown that the control performance can be increased, without adding new measurements, compared to previous controllers. Measuring the end-effector acceleration increases the control performance even more. A non-linear model has to be used to describe the behaviour of a real flexible joint. An H∞-synthesis method for control of a flexible joint, with non-linear spring characteristic, is therefore proposed.