On adaptive inverse dynamics for free-floating space manipulators

This paper is devoted to the investigation of adaptive inverse dynamics for free-floating space manipulators (FFSMs) suffering from parameter uncertainties/variations. To overcome the nonlinear parametric problem of the dynamics of FFSMs, we introduce a new regressor matrix called the generalized dynamic regressor. Based on this regressor, and with Lyapunov stability analysis tools, we obtain a new parameter adaptation law and show that the closed-loop system is stable, and that the joint tracking errors converge asymptotically to zero. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed adaptive algorithm. Furthermore, we conduct a comparative study between adaptive inverse dynamics, prediction error based adaptation, and passivity based adaptation.

► We propose an adaptive inverse dynamics controller for free-floating space robots. ► A new dynamic regressor is proposed to conquer the nonlinearly parametric problem. ► A novel parameter adaptation law is derived using Lyapunov stability tools. ► We conduct comparative studies between the proposed approach and the existing ones.