Classical and modern methods for time-constrained energy optimal motion — Application to a badminton robot

Two control approaches are presented to improve the energy efficiency of a robot which has to perform point-to-point motions during a fixed time interval. The first approach is based on a time-optimal servo control algorithm whose parameters are optimized in order to achieve energy efficient behavior. The second approach is a energy-optimal model predictive control approach. The developed approaches are applied to a robot playing badminton. The robot is still able to intercept most of the opponent shuttles on time, while a significant reduction of the energy consumption is demonstrated in both cases.