Research and implementation on coordinated control between manipulator and independent positioner

Aiming at the problem of synchronization between the positioner and the manipulator with more than two degrees of freedom (DOFs) when they are operated by two independent controllers, a coordinated control strategy which couples the motion of the manipulator and the positioner based on the time axis is proposed. Firstly, the time axis is obtained when the manipulator works in a continuous motion mode. Then the motion planning for the positioner is completed using the time-based electronic cam (ECAM) technology. Ultimately, their coordinated motion is started by the same hardware trigger signal. The experiment results from the 9-DOF thermal spraying system with such strategy show that the motion time synchronization between the manipulator and the positioner meets the requirement, and the motion of the positioner is smooth. Accordingly, it supplies a new idea for realizing the coordinated control on such similar applications.