Low-cost backdrivable motor control based on feed-forward/feed-back friction compensation

Abstract

A low-cost but accurate and backdrivable motor control system running on a DC motor and a harmonic drive gear is proposed. It compensates internal friction of the gear and the counter-electromotive torque by combining a model-based feed-forward method and a disturbance observer using a cheap torque sensor. A complementary use of those techniques lowers requirements to their performances i.e. precision, bandwidth, etc, while it is equipped with a flexible property against the external torque. A 2-DOF servo controller is also built upon the system in order to simultaneously achieve smooth responses and robust convergences to the reference.