Contact stability analysis of a one degree-of-freedom robot (Q1384041)

The authors study contact stability conditions for a simple robotic task with one degree of freedom. The robot collides with a spring-like environment with stiffness \(k\). The motion is described by the system: \(m\ddot x+\lambda_2 \dot x+ \lambda_1 x=\lambda_1d\) if \(x<0\), \(m\ddot x+\lambda_2\dot x+(\lambda_1+k) x=\lambda_1d\) if \(x\geq 0\), with the control law \(u=- \lambda_2 x-\lambda_1 (x-x_d)\), \(x_d\geq 0\), \(\lambda_1>0\), \(\lambda_2>0\), where \(x(t)\) is the position of the moving mass. The authors establish the following results: a) With a particular Lyapunov function, the closed-loop systems' fixed point is globally asymptotically stable for \(k<\infty\). b) When the stiffness grows unboundedly, the conditions for stability yield unbounded values of the gains; c) When \(k=\infty\), the authors propose an analysis independent of \(k\). On this basis, it is possible to conclude about global asymptotic convergence of the system towards the equilibrium point.