Control of Four DOF Manipulator Arm

Ajay Dusane
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Fall 2015

Abstract
In this project, we design controller for a non-linear dynamic system - a 4 DOF planar robotic
manipulator arm. We first derive dynamic equations using recursive Newton-Euler formulation
for the manipulator arm. As the complexity of the problem is high we use MATLAB Symbolic
Toolbox to derive the dynamic formulation. PD control law is used to design a controller for
position regulation problem.

1. Introduction
Robotic arms are being increasingly used for automation purposes. It involves execution of
precise motions along a specified trajectory. This task requires complete control over the
manipulator arm, which means, complete control over joint space configuration at all time.
Generally it involves, position regulation and trajectory following control. Complex systems
follow a desired trajectory while simultaneously maintaining position required positions.
The motivation for the project is derived from the desire to apply the knowledge gained during
the course of Robotics. The project strings all concepts of the course like a thread strings the
beads.
The objective of the project is to derive dynamic model for the 4 DOF manipulator arm and
design a controller using PD control law. The dynamic model is derived using Newton-Euler
formulation given in [1]. Matlabs Symbolic Toolbox is used to derive this formulation owing to
its high complexity. The dynamic model is then controlled for position regulation aspect. For the
control part, Lyapunov function candidate is considered based on PD control law. Using
Lyapunov theorem and LaSalles invariance principle, controllers global asymptotic stability is
proven. The model is then simulated in Matlab, student version.

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2. Dynamic Modeling of Manipulator Arm

Dynamic modeling means deriving equations that explicitly describes relationship between
motion and force. For deriving dynamic formulation, there are couple of methods available.
Newton-Euler and Lagrangian formulation are most widely used. However [6], discuss Kanes
equation to form the force-torque equations. In this project, Newton-Euler method is chosen over
Lagrangian because the Newton method is recursive one, has less complexity. Also research has
found that Lagrangian method can have higher simulation time. However, the resulting dynamic
formulation is same for both the methods and can be written in the form of

!
= M!!
q + C(q, q)
where M is the n x n mass matrix and C is n x 1 vector which contains centrifugal, coriolis and
gravity terms.
Newton-Euler recursive method gives force and torque acting on each joint and and on their
center of masses. The equations are in terms of angular and linear velocity and acceleration
Newton-Euler formulation is given below:

Forward Iteration:
i+1

i+1 =

i+1
i

Ri i + !i+1i+1Z i+1

i+1

! i+1 =

i+1
i

Ri ! i + i+1i Ri i !i+1i+1Z i+1 + !!i+1i+1Z i+1

i+1

v!i+1 =

i+1
i

i+1

v!Ci+1 = i ! i+1 i+1 PCi+1 + i+1 i+1 (i i i PCi+1 ) + i+1 v!i+1

i+1

i+1

R(i ! i i Pi+1 + i i (i i i Pi+1 ) + i v!i )

Fi+1 = mi+1i+1v!Ci+1

N i+1 = Ci+1 i+1i+1! i+1 + i+1 i+1 Ci+1 i+1i+1 i+1

Backward Iteration:
i

fi =

ni = i N i + i+1i R i+1ni+1 + i PCi i Fi + i Pi+1 i+1i Ri+1 fi+1

i
i+1

Ri+1 fi+1 + i Fi

i = i niT i Z i

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3. System Description
The robotic manipulator under consideration is a 4 DOF planar serial link manipulator. It is 4
link revolute manipulator with gravity compensation given in Y- direction. To keep the system
simple, following assumptions are made:
1.

Link masses are assumed to be concentrated at the link ends

2.

Link masses are considered as point masses.

3.

Link plane is X-Z plane. Gravity acts in Y direction.

4.

All links are rigid and no bending occurs due to external disturbances or self-weight.

5.

Base is considered stationery,i.e., have zero velocities.

Table 1: System parameters and their values

System Parameters

Value

Mass of link 1 (m1)-kg

4.6

Mass of link 2 (m2)-kg

2.3

Mass of link 3 (m3)-kg

Mass of link 4 (m4)-kg

0.7

Length of link 1 (l1)-m

0.5

Length of link 2 (l2)-m

0.5

Length of link 3 (l3)-m

0.3

Length of link 4 (l4)-m

0.2

Inertia c1I1 -kg-m2

Inertia c2I2 -kg-m2

Inertia c3I3 -kg-m2

Inertia c4I4 -kg-m2

Even though assumptions are made, the Symbolic framework developed can be modified to
apply for more complex robotic system.

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4. Controller Design
PD control is used to design the control scheme. Using Lyapunov Stability analysis and LaSalles
principle global asymptotic stability is shown. The proof is based on independent joint
control,i.e., considering Single-input/Single-output(SISO) joint control.

u = K p (qdes q) K d q! = K p q! K d q!

q! = qd q
where, is the error between the desired and actual joint variables, and Kp and Kd are positive
definite diagonal matrices of proportional and derivative gains. Complete system model with
gravity compensation in the control law is given by

! q! = K p q! Kdq!
M (q)!!
q + C(q, q)
To show that the system achieves asymptotic stability consider Lyapunov function candidate,

V=

1 T
1
q! M (q)q! + q" T K p q"
2
2

For the manipulator, V represents the total energy if the actuators were replaced by springs with
stiffness constants represented by Kp. V is a positive function except in equilibrium q=qdes with
q=0, at which V=0.
Taking derivative of V with qdes as constant.

1
V! = q! T M (q)!!
q + q! T M! (q)q! + q! T K p q"
2
Substituting for M(q), we get,

1
! + q! T M! (q)q! + q! T K p q"
V! = q! T (u C(q, q))
2 1 T
T

" + q! M! (q) 2C(q, q)

! q!
V! = q! (u g(q) + K p q)
2

"
V! = q! T (u g(q) + K p q)
w h e r e,

!
M! (q) 2C(q, q)

is skew symmetric, hence the term gets eliminated.

V! = q! T K d q! 0

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Hence, it is negative semi-definite. Using LaSalles principle we get,

0 = K p q!
which implies,





This proves global asymptotic stability.

q! = 0

5. Simulation Results
Using Matlab Symbolic Toolbox Newton-Euler formulation is derived. Inverse dynamics and
forward dynamics functions are written in Matlab. Euler integrator is used for integration. Kp
and Kd gains are tuned for optimal performance.
qinitial = [0 0 0 0]
qdes = [1 1.2 1.2 1]
Below are the results of joint angle. All angles are in radians. Graphs are joint angle versus
simulation time.
q1

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q3

q4

As it can be seen that end effector orientation (q4) stabilization is perfectly achieved. However, it
can seen that the we get offset error in the orientation of other joints. The diagonal matrices of
Kp and Kd are tuned to following values
diagKp = [50;50;50;55]
diagKd = [15;20;25;25]

6. Conclusion
The objective of this project was to derive dynamic model for a 4 DOF planar serial link
manipulator arm and design a controller for position stabilization. Using Newton-Euler method
we derived torque and force equations in Matlabs Symbolic Toolbox. Controller was designed
on basis of PD control scheme. The systems global asymptotic stability was proven using
Lyapunov stability analysis and LaSalles invariance principle. Simulation results show the
controller gives desired performance for end-effector orientation, however, we get offset error for
other joints.
The dynamic system can be optimized further by using a better control law. The proportional
and derivative gains can be further optimally tuned. Instead of using Euler integrator, other
integrators like RK-2, RK-4, ODE-45 can be used for better performance.
Future work will involve expanding the derived formulation for higher degrees of freedom. Also
considering an industrial robot with work space defined in 3 dimension rather than a planar one.
Trajectory tracking and motion planning can be incorporated to avoid collisions with the
obstacle in manipulator workspace.
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References
[1] John J. Craig. Introduction to Robotics. Prentice Hall, third edition
[2] Mark W. Spong, Seth Hutchinson, and M. Vidyasagar, Robot Modeling and Control. John Wiley
& Sons Inc, First edition
[3] Jean-Jacques E. Slotine and Weiping Li. Applied Nonlinear Control. Prentice Hall, first edition.
[4] P. R. Ouyang and V. Pano. Position Domain Synchronization Control of Multi-Degrees of Freedom
Robotic Manipulator. ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, Vol 136
021017 1-13, March 2014
[5] Roy Featherstone. Robot Dynamics Algorithm. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, first
edition.
[6] Asif Iqbal and S. M. Athar. Dynamic Modeling and Simulation for Control of a Cylindrical Robotic
Manipulator. IAEA, March 1995

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