An adaptive controller for enhancing operator performance during teleoperation

An adaptive controller is developed for adjusting robot arm parameters while manipulating payloads of unknown mass and inertia. The controller is tested experimentally in a master/slave configuration where the adaptive slave arm is commanded via human-operator inputs from a master. Kinematically similar six-joints locked for simplification. After a brief initial adaptive period for the unloaded arm, the slave arm retrieves different-size payloads and maneuvers them about the workspace. Comparisons are then drawn with similar tasks when the adaptation is turned off. Several simplifications of the controller dynamics are addressed and experimentally verified