Development and Experimental Characterization of a Low and Middle Level Control Strategy for a Robotic Hand Exoskeleton
Dipartimento
INGEGNERIA DELL'INFORMAZIONE
Corso di studi
BIONICS ENGINEERING
Relatori
relatore Prof. Vitiello, Nicola correlatore Dott.ssa Crea, Simona controrelatore Prof. Cipriani, Christian
Parole chiave
black-box
cable-driven
control
exoskeleton
hand
identification
pole-placement
robotics
wearable
Data inizio appello
11/10/2019
Consultabilità
Non consultabile
Data di rilascio
11/10/2089
Riassunto
In this work, a state-of-the-art exoskeleton has been used as an initial framework to implement low-level control strategies and a proof of concept for a middle-level control strategy, to evaluate the applicability and safety of the control architecture for further implementation in clinical scenarios. The low-level control has been synthesized starting from a system identification phase, where first an ideal transfer function has been derived by mathematical modelling. Through a black box input-output based estimation, the real values of the plant’s coefficients have been defined, taking into account the non-linearities of the system. The controller synthesis has been addressed, using a pole-placement strategy to better cope with the dynamical requirements and with the configuration of poles and zeros detected. The obtained controller has been tested against a gold standard fine-tuned PID controller. The characterization of the performances has been addressed and a middle-level control strategy able to implement three different types of exercises based on the low-level torque control has been designed. Finally, the results obtained and a brief discussion has been provided, demonstrating the safety and feasibility of the control strategy during exercises and establishing a good setup for further investigation with clinical patients in future pilot studies.