Linear quadratic optimal controller for cable-driven parallel robots

Abstract

In recent years, various cable-driven parallel robots have been investigated for their advantages, such as low structural weight, high acceleration, and large work-space, over serial and conventional parallel systems. However, the use of cables lowers the stiffness of these robots, which in turn may decrease motion accuracy. A linear quadratic (LQ) optimal controller can provide all the states of a system for the feedback, such as position and velocity. Thus, the application of such an optimal controller in cable-driven parallel robots can result in more efficient and accurate motion compared to the performance of classical controllers such as the proportional- integral-derivative controller. This paper presents an approach to apply the LQ optimal controller on cable-driven parallel robots. To employ the optimal control theory, the static and dynamic modeling of a 3-DOF planar cable-driven parallel robot (Feriba-3) is developed. The synthesis of the LQ optimal control is described, and the significant experimental results are presented and discussed.