Analytical Evaluation of Force-Projecting Bilateral Control for Pneumatic Manipulators

Abstract

This paper presents performance and stability analyses of the Force-Projecting Bilateral Control (the Force-Projecting Type) for master-follower operation of pneumatic manipulators. In this control method, the operational force on the master side is directly projected to the driving force on the follower. Unlike other bilateral control methods, the Force-Projecting Type does not have a position controller on the follower side. Therefore, it is considered highly suitable for manipulators with low-rigidity and slow response, such as pneumatic manipulators. In this study, the Force-Projecting Type was applied to a one-degree-of-freedom master-follower model with characteristics of low-rigidity and response delay as a pneumatic manipulator on the follower side, and the time and frequency responses were numerically investigated. Then, the responses were compared with those of the conventional Force-Reflecting Bilateral Control. As a result of the analyses, the Force-Projecting Type showed both higher stability and performance. In addition, the equivalent block diagram of the system suggests that the Force-Projecting Type is more robust to changes in environmental characteristics.