Trajectory tracking control of underactuated tendon‐driven truss‐like manipulator based on type‐1 and interval type‐2 fuzzy logic approach

This paper deals with the trajectory tracking control problem of a planar underactuated tendon-driven truss-like manipulator (UTTM) by using fuzzy logic control methods, including type-1 fuzzy and interval type-2 fuzzy approaches. The UTTM is a novel designed underactuated robot that excels in manipulating in harsh environments due to its tendon-driven parallelogram structure. This unique structure, however, poses challenges for UTTM's trajectory tracking controller design, including underactuation, excessive nonlinearity, parameter uncertainty, and so on. To solve these problems, a fuzzy logic-based approach is proposed. First, the dynamic model of UTTM is transformed into a partially linearized form. Then a type-1 fuzzy controller is designed according to a linear quadratic regulator controller for the linearized system. Then by blurring the membership functions of type-1 fuzzy controllers, an interval type-2 fuzzy logic controller is designed, aiming at dealing with uncertainties. The proposed type-1 and interval type-2 fuzzy logic controllers are validated through simulations, and made comparisons with each other, especially when the system is involved with uncertainties. Simulation results show that the interval type-2 fuzzy-based trajectory tracking controller provides better performance than the type-1 counterpart in terms of tracking accuracy and capacity against uncertainties.