Sensitivity analysis of manipulator control for DEMO remote maintenance: A heavy-duty joint case study

•Sensitivity analysis helps understanding correlation of design requirements and system parameters.•Motion frequency has the most effect on tracking error and gear efficiency of a heavy-duty robotic joint.•Payload variation has certain effect on tracking errors and gear efficiency.•Temperature has negligible effect on the tracking errors and gear efficiency.•Lower frequency of motion destabilizes heavy-duty joint close loop control system. Sensitivity analysis has been conducted in the control system of a heavy-duty joint, where the trajectory tracking errors and gear system efficiency are deemed as the outputs of interest and the variety of the trajectory shapes, the payload and the environment temperature are deemed as the inputs of interest. The simulation results indicate that the position signal frequency has the most effect on both the tracking errors and gear efficiencies as well as control stability, and the system is less sensitive to the variety of the payload and temperature. The study also indicates that the sensitivity analysis can be used to narrow down the requirement concerns on the system design and used to verify the feasibility and reliability of system with respect to requirement.