Fixed-time Observer-based Controller for the Human-Robot Collaboration
with Interaction Force Estimation
Abstract
An exoskeleton robot is a sample of a wearable robot. One of the most
critical challenges in developing wearable robots is the application of
the interactive force between human and robot. Force sensors need to be
placed on the robot. Consideration in using these sensors needs to be
given to factors such as cost, noise, and weight. One way that can be
used to help with the operation of the exoskeleton is to support the
sensors with observers. This study will estimate the interactive force
applied to a human arm model and the exoskeleton robot. The Sliding Mode
Control (SMC) method will be employed to design a chattering-free robust
fixed-time controller and observer, for estimating the states of the
human arm and exoskeleton robot. Utilising this information from state
observers, the interactive force is estimated. The state observer and
the controller work together in real-time (online estimation). The
Lyapunov theory is used to show the fixed-time stability analysis of the
controller and the observer. Numerical simulation with three scenarios
demonstrates the performance of the proposed design.