| Model based controllers for articulated-mechanical-systems are gaining popularity among control system designers by virtue of their significant performance gains. However a critical precursor to deployment is availability of plant-model-equations together with a systematic means for generating them, typically by applying the postulates of physics. The complexity and tractability of first generating and then analyzing models often serves to limit the type and complexity of the example systems. However, using simpler examples alone may sometimes fail to capture important physical phenomena (e.g. gyroscopic, coriolis). Larger systems nevertheless remain intractable which restricts the exploration of non-linear controller design techniques. Hence, we examine the use of some contemporary symbolic- and numeric-computation tools to assist with the automated symbolic equation generation and subsequent analysis.;The principal underlying goal of this thesis is to establish linkage between traditional approach and block diagram modeling, controller development. The inverted Furuta Pendulum example allows us to showcase the emergence of model-complexity even in relatively-simple two-jointed mechanical system. Advanced concepts, e.g. manipulator singularity and constraint system modeling, are studied with a 6 Degree of Freedom manipulator. We will focus on various aspects of model-creation, model-linearization as well as study development and performance of both model-independent and model-based controller designs. |
