A Neural Net Predictive Control for Telerobots with Time Delay

This paper extends the Smith Predictor feedback control structure to unknown robotic systems in a rigorous fashion. A new recurrent neural net predictive control (RNNPC) strategy is proposed to deal with input and feedback time delays in telerobotic systems. The proposed control structure consists of a local linearized subsystem and a remote predictive controller. In the local linearized subsystem, a recurrent neural network (RNN) with on-line weight tuning algorithm is employed to approximate the dynamics of the time-delay-free nonlinear plant. The remote controller is a modified Smith predictor for the local linearized subsystem which provides prediction and maintains the desirable tracking performance. Stability analysis is given in the sense of Lyapunov. The result is an adaptive compensation scheme for unknown telerobotic systems with time delays, uncertainties, and external disturbances. A simulation of a two-link robotic manipulator is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.