On robot dynamic model identification through sub-workspace evolved trajectories for optimal torque estimation

Model-based control are affected by the accuracy of dynamic calibration. For industrial robots, identification techniques predominantly involve rigid body models linearized on a set of minimal lumped parameters that are estimated along excitatory trajectories made by suitable/optimal path. Although the physical meaning of the estimated lumped models is often lost (e.g. negative inertia values), these methodologies get remarkably results when well-conditioned trajectories are applied. Nonetheless, such trajectories have usually to span the workspace at large, resulting in an averagely fitting model. In many technological tasks, instead, the region of dynamics applications is limited, and generation of trajectories in such workspace sub-region results in different specialized models that should increase the predictability of local behavior. Besides this consideration, the paper presents a genetic-based selection of trajectories in constrained sub-region. The methodology places under optimization paths generated by a commercial industrial robot interpolator, and the genes (i.e. the degrees-of-freedom) of the evolutionary algorithms corresponds to a finite set of few via-points and velocities, just like standard motion programming of industrial robots. Remarkably, experiments demonstrate that this algorithm design feature allows a good matching of foreseen current and the actual measured in different task conditions. © 2013 IEEE.