New analytical results of energy-based swing-up control for the Pendubot

In this paper, we revisit the energy-based swing-up control solutions for the Pendubot, a two-link underactuated planar robot with a single actuator at the base joint. The control objective is to swing the Pendubot up to its unstable equilibrium point (at which two links are in the upright position). We improve the previous energy-based control solutions by analyzing the motion of the Pendubot further. Our main contributions are threefold. First, we provide a bigger control parameter region for achieving the control objective. Specifically, we present a necessary and sufficient condition for avoiding the singular points in the control law. We obtain a necessary and sufficient condition on the control parameter such that the up–down equilibrium point (at which links 1 and 2 are in the upright and downward positions, respectively) is the only undesired closed-loop equilibrium point. Second, we prove that the up–down equilibrium point is a saddle via an elementary proof by using the Routh–Hurwitz criterion to show that the Jacobian matrix valued at the point has two and two eigenvalues in the open left- and right-half planes, respectively. We show that the Pendubot will eventually enter the basin of attraction of any stabilizing controller for all initial conditions with the exception of a set of Lebesgue measure zero provided that these improved conditions on the control parameters are satisfied. Third, we clarify the relationship between the swing-up controller designed via the partial feedback linearization and that designed by the energy-based approach. We present the simulation results for validation of these results.

► We improve the energy-based swing-up control solutions for the Pendubot.
► We provide a bigger control parameter region for achieving the control objective.
► We prove that the up–down equilibrium point of the Pendubot is a saddle.