Modelling and Algorithmic Issues in Intelligent Control

Despite ubiquitous success in the implementation of classical automatic control, there are pressing needs on many technological fronts for the design of more advanced, high performance, real-time command generators. For example, the needs for a significant increase in the accuracy, speed and versatility of robotic manipulators and of high performance weapon pointing systems have led to a reexamination of the implementation of classical (e.g., PD) controllers for DC actuators and an exploration and evaluation of the use of new and more sophisticated control schemes (see e.g. [l]–[8]). Aside from specific needs to meet more demanding performance requirements, more versatile command generators are now required to fully realize the benefits of the new design options which have been made possible by recent hardware innovations, ranging from devices such as microprocessors to DC motors. Indeed, recent advances in DC motor technology have made the implementation of direct drive actuators for robot arms attractive and feasible: the first of two new kinds of DC motors, based on rare earth cobalt magnets, has already been used in the Carnegie-Mellon direct-drive arm in 1981 and in the MIT direct drive arm (see [9]) in 1982, while a second kind of DC motor is currently being used in the construction of a four degree of freedom robot arm at the ASU Robotics Laboratory.