Robust synchronisation of networked Lagrangian systems and its applications to multi-robot teleoperation

This study studies robust synchronisation for networked Lagrangian systems under dynamic uncertainties and communication delays. Using weighted storage functions, the authors propose a robust control scheme to guarantee that networked Lagrangian systems achieve ultimately bounded solutions over strongly connected communication graphs. Since the developed control system can ensure synchronous action in the absence of a common trajectory, the robust control algorithm is applied for bilateral teleoperations with multiple remote robots. The ultimate boundedness of the solutions can enable the teleoperation system to account for the presence of uncertain dynamics when a human operator intermittently intervenes on local robots. Numerical examples of a group of two-link non-linear robotic systems are presented to validate the efficacy of the developed control algorithms.