Output Feedback Decentralized Control of Multi-Agent Manipulation Systems

In this paper, decentralized control algorithms for cooperative multi-agent manipulation systems are developed. To control the positions of the agents and the exerted forces on the object in the presence of uncertainties in the dynamics of the agents, two different methods are considered. In the first approach, robust control of the system is proposed. Using the Lyapunov stability method, the convergence of the position errors to zero is demonstrated. Also a bound on the errors of the exerted forces is achieved which can be made small enough by choosing the appropriate estimated values for the physical parameters of the agents. In the second approach, adaptive control algorithm is proposed and the convergence of both the tracking errors and the errors of the exerted forces to zero is guaranteed. To avoid the difficulties of using the velocity sensors within the cooperative system, an output feedback scheme using linear observers is also proposed