Robust stabilization of the plate-ball manipulation system

We consider the plate-ball system as a typical example of manipulation by rolling contacts. While there exist techniques for planning motions of this nonholonomic mechanism in nominal conditions, our objective in this paper is the robust execution of maneuvers in the presence of model perturbations. To this end, we adopt an iterative steering paradigm based on the use of a nilpotent approximation of the system. Simulation results are reported to confirm the robustness achieved with the proposed feedback controller.