Variable Structure Control of Manipulators with Joints having Flexibility and Backlash

This article studies the variable strucutre control of robot manipulators with joints having flexibility and backlash. A second order reference model and a smooth control law eliminate the reaching phase problems and the chattering usually present in the sliding mode. The results show a remarkable improvement of the stability over conventional variable structure controllers, while the algorithm maintains a low computational load that makes it suited for microcomputer implementation.N/