Experimental identification of friction and its compensation in precise, position controlled mechanisms

Methodologies developed for experimentally determining accurate models for the nonlinear friction inherent in most mechanisms are presented. Alternative closed-loop controller strategies for decoupling the effect of friction in order to improve positioning accuracy are also given. The identification methodology is novel in the manner in which it extracts the nonlinear friction properties from the closed-loop errors via an iterative signal processing technique. The discussion is based on both theoretical modeling and on a practical position control problem that was substantially resolved in developing the methodologies. The application was a robotic gripper with a highly preloaded rack-and-pinion mechanism. Both measurement and control design methodologies to help systematically circumvent the problems of nonlinear friction in precise, position-controlled mechanisms are given