Study on path tracking control of robot manipulators with unknown payload

The path tracking control problem of robot manipulators carrying unknown payloads is studied on the basis of the payload-dependent robot model and its structural properties. The nonlinear payload-dependent dynamic model of a robot manipulator is derived, and several structure properties of this model are investigated. On the basis of these properties, a path tracking control strategy is presented. It is shown that the presented strategy not only compensates for the effects of couplings, nonlinearities, and payload uncertainty but also guarantees tracking convergence.<>