Observer-based adaptive force–position control for nonlinear bilateral teleoperation with time delay

In this paper, a novel observer-based force control scheme is proposed to guarantee the position and force tracking in nonlinear teleoperation systems, subject to constant communication time delay. Stability of the teleoperation system is analytically proved using the Lyapunov stability theorem. Enough condition for asymptotic convergence of the force and position are derived. The transparency is also improved by force tracking capability of the system. The teleoperation controller is then applied to a pair of planar 2-DOF robots, connected via a communication channel with constant time delay. The experimental and simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm, in force estimation and dealing with time delay.