Flexible control for robot manipulators

Abstract

We designed, implemented, and tested a real-time flexible controller for manipulating different types of robots and control algorithms. The robot-independent, IBM PC-based multiprocessor system contains a DSP56001 master controller, six independent HCTL-1100 joint processors for accurate robotic joint control, and an interface computer board for processor communication. The joint processors operate in four user-defined modes and can be connected directly to an incremental optical encoder, which accommodates specialized applications and eliminates extra hardware.