Robust backstepping control of robotic manipulators actuated via brushless DC motors

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel integrator backstepping-based sliding mode controller for robot manipulators equipped with brushless DC motors. Our control design explicitly incorporates the intricate dynamics of actuators, enabling robust performance even in the presence of uncertainties in models of both dynamic and electrical subsystems. Rigorous stability analysis using Lyapunov techniques ensures boundedness of all signals under the closed-loop operation and guarantees global asymptotic stability of the joint position tracking error. Furthermore, an experimental study is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, utilizing an in-house developed two degree of freedom planar robot manipulator actuated by brushless DC motors.