This paper deals with the fractional order control for the complex systems, hand exoskeleton and sensors, that monitor and control the human behavior. The control laws based on physical significance variables, for fractional order models, with delays or without delays, are proposed and discussed. Lyapunov techniques and the methods that derive from Yakubovici-Kalman-Popov lemma are used and the frequency criterions that ensure asymptotic stability of the closed loop system are inferred. An observer control is proposed for the complex models, exoskeleton and sensors. The asymptotic stability of the system, exoskeleton hand-observer, is studied for sector control laws. Numerical simulations for an intelligent haptic robot-glove are presented. Several examples regarding these models, with delays or without delays, by using sector control laws or an observer control, are analyzed. The experimental platform is presented.

The paper treats the control problem of a class of robots constituted by a chain of continuum segments. The technological model basis is a central, long and thin, highly flexible and elastic backbone. The segment control system is a decoupled one. The main parameters of the arm control are determined by the curvature and curvature gradient. The dynamic model is inferred. The primary benefit of the proposed method is that the dynamic equations are represented by a set of ODE’s in time instead of PDE’s in time and space, and the new curvature gradient lumped parameter model is used. A sliding mode control system is used in order to achieve the desired shape of the arm. The stability of the closed-loop control system is proven. Numerical simulations and an experimental platform are also provided to verify the effectiveness of the presented approach.

This paper treats the control problem of a class of hyper-redundant robots. The dynamic model of the arm is described by hyperbolic partial differential equations with uncertain components. By using a spatial weighted error control, the infinite dimensional system control becomes a finite-dimensional control problem. The stability analysis and the resulting controllers are obtained using the concept of boundary geometric control and a spatial weighted error control technique. A robust algorithm that is based on weighted error sliding mode control is discussed. The boundary tendon control determines the system evolution toward a prescribed switching surface, and in order to avoid the oscillations around the switching surface, a damping control determines a direct evolution, along the switching surface, toward the origin. Numerical simulations and experimental results are also provided to verify the effectiveness of the presented approach.

The control problem of a class of hyper-redundant arms with continuum elements, with boundary measuring and control is discussed. First, the dynamic model of the continuum arm is presented. The measuring systems are based on the film sensors that are placed at the terminal sub-regions of the arm. The observers are proposed in order to reconstruct the full state of the arm. A back-stepping method is used to design a boundary control algorithm. Numerical simulations of the arm motion toward an imposed position are presented. An experimental platform shows the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

The paper focuses on the design of an intelligent interface that compensates for the incapacity of a person with Parkinson’s disease to drive a wheelchair. The fractional order model that defines a person with Parkinson’s disease is investigated. An identification technique based on the analysis of the frequency behavior of the movement of a wheelchair driven by a with Parkinson’s disease person on the test trajectory is proposed and a delay time crossover model with fractional order exponent $\beta =1.5$ is inferred. The fractional dynamic model of the “disabled man-wheelchair” system is discussed and a control system is proposed to compensate for the inability of the wheelchair driver. The conditions that ensure the stability of the closed loop control system are inferred. An experimental technique for analyzing movement performance is developed and a quality index is proposed to evaluate these experiments. The values of this index on the tests performed on Parkinson’s patients are analyzed and discussed.