Bistability and delayed acceleration feedback control analytical study of collocated and non-collocated cases

Stability and bifurcation analysis of a non-rigid robotic arm controlled with a time-delayed acceleration feedback loop is addressed in this work. The study aims at revealing the dynamical mechanisms leading to the appearance of limit cycle oscillations existing in the stable region of the trivial solution of the system, which is related to the combined dynamics of the robot control and its structural nonlinearities. An analytical study of the bifurcations occurring at the loss of stability illustrates that, in general, hardening structural nonlinearities at the joint promote a subcritical character of the bifurcations. Consequently, limit cycle oscillations are generated within the stable region of the trivial solution. A nonlinear control force is then developed to enforce the supercriticality of the bifurcations. Results illustrate that this strategy enables to partially eliminate limit cycle oscillations coexisting with the stable trivial solution. The mechanical system is analysed in a collocated and a non-collocated configuration, depending on the position of the sensor.