Master-slave force-reflecting resolved motion control of hydraulic mobile machines

Issues concerning the design and implementation of master-slave force-reflecting resolved motion control of hydraulic mobile machines are addressed in this thesis. Network concepts and linear system theory are used to design and analyze general force-reflecting teleoperator systems to achieve high performance while maintaining stability. A new control structure is proposed to achieve "transparency" for teleoperator systems under rate control. A novel approach to stability analysis of the stiffness feedback strategy proposed in previous work is provided which, under certain condition, guarantees global asymptotic stability of the teleoperator system. The system could be either under rate or position control and could be subject to time-delays, nonlinearities or active environments. The closed-form inverse kinematics solutions of an excavator and a feller-buncher, which are four and five degree-of-freedom manipulators respectively, are provided to achieve resolvedmotion of the manipulator's end-effector. Using the UBC magnetically levitated joystick, the master-slave force-reflecting resolved motion control has been successfully implemented on a CAT-215 excavator and a CAT-325 feller-buncher. Machine experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of this control strategy in improving productivity and safety of general hydraulic mobile machines.Applied Science, Faculty ofElectrical and Computer Engineering, Department ofGraduat