EAGER: A Holistic Approach to Adaptive Robust Control of Systems with Uncertain Nonsmooth Nonlinearities with Application to Cable-Conduit Actuated Surgical Robotic Devices

这一早期概念探索性研究补助金奖的研究目标是：(I)开发对典型非光滑非线性的有效补偿，以在不存在现有基于完美逆的设计的灵敏度问题的情况下，在实现中最大化可实现的控制性能；(Ii)通过对实验条件的显式监测和基于物理模型的参数估计相结合，开发不确定非光滑非线性的定量参数估计算法；(Iii)采用全面的机电一体化方法来控制具有非光滑非线性的系统，以开发用于控制的合适的模型结构和有效的自适应鲁棒控制器，在实践中能够在不过于复杂或降低系统部件预期寿命的情况下获得高性能；将所提出的整体式机电一体化控制框架应用于外科机器人系统的电缆管道驱动机构的控制，用于高速纳米技术操作的压电致动器驱动的纳米定位平台的超精密控制，以及对其他现代机械系统的控制，如高速电磁马达驱动和电液/气动驱动的控制，以提高生产率和质量。此外，与现实中只关注整个控制问题的一个子集不同，所提出的研究采用了一种整体的机电一体化方法来建模和控制具有非光滑非线性的系统。通过研究产生的一套工具将使工程师能够系统地量化各种实施缺陷的影响，以在实践中最大限度地实现可实现的控制性能，而不存在现有设计的敏感性问题。如果成功，这项研究的结果将被整合到课程中，对未来的控制教育产生持久的影响。研究结果还将为新一代控制器的设计提供坚实的基础，帮助工业制造具有内置机器部件健康监控功能的高性能和智能化的现代机器。

The research objectives of this EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award are to (i) develop effective compensations for typical nonsmooth nonlinearities to maximize the achievable control performance in implementation without the sensitivity problems of existing perfect inversion based designs; (ii) develop quantitative parameter estimation algorithms for uncertain nonsmooth nonlinearities through a combination of explicit monitoring of experimental conditions and the use of physical model based parameter estimations; (iii) take a holistic mechatronic approach to the control of systems having nonsmooth nonlinearities to develop suitable model structures for controls and effective adaptive robust controllers that can achieve high performance in practice without being overly complex or having degraded life-expectancy of system components; and (iv) apply the proposed holistic mechatronic control framework to the control of cable-conduit actuated mechanisms for surgical robotic systems, the ultra-precision control of piezoelectric actuator driven nano-positioning stages for high-speed nano-technology operations, and the control of other modern mechanical systems such as high-speed electro-magnetic motor driven and electro-hydraulic/pneumatic actuated ones for an improved productivity and quality.The proposed research departs from the prevailing design philosophy of perfect inversion based nonsmooth nonlinearity compensation and provides a novel perspective to the effective compensation of nonsmooth nonlinearities. In addition, as opposed to focusing on only a subset of an entire control problem to be dealt with in reality, the proposed research takes a holistic mechatronic approach to the modeling and control of systems with nonsmooth nonlinearities. The set of tools generated through the research will enable engineers to systematically quantify the effects of various implementation imperfections to maximize the achievable control performance in practice without the sensitivity problem of existing designs. If successful, the results of this research will be integrated into the curriculum to have a lasting impact on future control education. The results will also provide a solid foundation to the design of a new generation of controllers which help industry build modern machines of great performance and intelligence with built-in machine component health monitoring capability.