High-Order Sliding Modes for a Robot Driven by Pneumatic Artificial Rubber Muscles

It is known that classical sliding mode control generates chatter which is undesirable. One way to reduce this chatter is the use of high-order sliding mode (HOSM) control. The HOSM control techniques are applied to the first 2 d.o.f. of a robot actuated by pneumatic artificial rubber muscles (PARMs). The PARMs are arranged in opposite pairs (antagonistic configuration), The objective is to show that without the use of the equivalent control, it is still possible to control the robot by the use of HOSM and at the same time reduce the chatter. Experimental results are presented and comparison between two second-order sliding controls established. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and The Robotics Society of Japan, 2008.