Flexible joints control: A minimum-time feed-forward technique

The paper proposes a linear programming approach to the feed-forwardminimum-time control of flexiblejoints. Taking into account both input and output constraints, the optimal bang–bang control is computed by discretizing a continuous-timejoint model and by solving a sequence of linear programming feasibility problems. The resulting joint motion is a smooth rest-to-rest motion without oscillations. Theoretical analysis is presented and proof of convergence is given. Experimental results illustrate the proposed open-loop technique. Comparisons are made with inversion-based techniques.