Reconfigurable control structure for robots in assembly

The increased use of changeable characteristics in modern manufacturing and robotic systems and applications call for improved system control design that offers some degree of reconfigurability. The need for control reconfiguration of robotic systems arises due to some inherent characteristics of the robotic system, variations of robot parameters due to environmental changes, major task changes typical in production changeover or manufacturing system reconfiguration, or geometry changes due to the reconfiguration of modular manipulators. In this paper, a reconfigurable controller, the Supervisory Control Switching System (SCSS), is proposed to meet the new on-line demands for changeability in robotic systems. The SCSS is capable of selecting the most suitable controller for a particular task or situation, from separate controllers designed a priori. The applicability and effectiveness of the developed switching control scheme have been illustrated through computer simulations of an AdeptOne SCARA manipulators carrying out assembly tasks.