On the model-based control of a large range robot

Large range robots are of increasing importance for various difficult applications at building sites or in hazardous areas. In collaboration with industrial partners the KfK has developed such extended multi joint robot (EMIR) which is driven by hydraulic actuators. The position control of EMIR is a tough problem due to the extreme nonlinearities of the kinematics and hydraulic actuators as well as the remarkable elasticities of the mechanics and hydraulics. In the first part of this paper a realistic physically transparent model of the robot will be presented. In the second part different suitable control concepts based on the model will be discussed.