Tracking control of robot manipulators actuated by brushless DC motors: Elimination of joint velocity measurements with a robust observer

This work introduces an innovative robust partial state feedback controller designed for robotic manipulators actuated by brushless DC motors. The proposed controller/observer structure relies solely on actuator current and robot joint position measurements, while effectively compensating for dynamic uncertainties in both the electrical (actuator dynamics) and mechanical (robot's dynamical terms) subsystems. Specifically, a model–based robust observer, eliminating the need of joint velocity measurements, is combined with a backstepping‐type controller design. As opposed to the previous model based observers that depend on the actual model parameters, the proposed observer structure utilizes the best guest estimates of the system parameters supported with a robust compensation term. This approach eliminates the need for precise knowledge of system parameters of the observer design which is a significant improvement over most of the previous results. This approach ensures the semi‐global, uniformly ultimately bounded joint tracking error signal. The overall stability of the closed‐loop system is affirmed through Lyapunov‐based arguments. Experimental studies conducted on an in‐house‐built two‐link robotic manipulator, actuated by brushless DC motors, are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method.