The use of acceleration measurements to improve the tracking control of robots

The paper discusses the use of acceleration measurements to improve the performance and robustness of controllers for robotic systems. There are at least two approaches: 1) direct use of the acceleration in a feedback loop to improve the performance and robustness, and 2) indirect use in an observer to improve the estimates of position and speed of the robot. An evaluation of both approaches is presented, using simulations and experiments on a flexible multi degree-of-freedom XY-table. Several proposals for the use of acceleration in the feedback loop, giving slightly modified controllers, are discussed. The design of the controllers is based on a simplified two degree-of-freedom model. The observer is of the predictive type to compensate for the time delay in the implementation, and its design is partially based on the Kalman filter theory. The simulation and experimental results enable us to draw some conclusions with respect to the improvement of performance and robustness