A PID-type global regulator with simple tuning for robot manipulators with bounded inputs

In this paper, a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) type controller for the global position stabilization of robot manipulators with bounded inputs is proposed. It keeps an SP-SI-SD structure by embedding the P, I and D actions, each of them, within a generalized saturation function. Compared to previous algorithms of the kind, the proposed scheme is mainly characterized by its very simple control-gain tuning criterion, the simplest hitherto obtained while guaranteeing the global regulation objective -avoiding input saturation- in the considered analytical framework. Experimental results on a 2-degree-of-freedom direct-drive manipulator corroborate the efficiency of the proposed controller.