Prescribed Time Interception of Moving Objects’ Trajectories Using Robot Manipulators

Trajectory interception is a critical synchronization element in the transportation and manufacturing sectors using robotic platforms. This is usually performed by matching the position and velocity of a target object with the position and velocity of the robot interceptor. However, the synchronization task is exasperated by (i) the proper gain tuning of the controller, (ii) the dynamic response of the robotic platform, (iii) the velocity constraints in the actuators, and (iv) the trajectory profile exhibited by the moving object. This means that the interception time is not controlled, which is critical for energy optimization, resources, and production. This paper proposes a prescribed time trajectory interception algorithm for robot manipulators. The approach uses the finite-time convergence properties of sliding mode control combined with a terminal attractor based on a time base generator. The combined approach guarantees trajectory interception in a prescribed time with robust properties. Simulation studies are conducted using the first three degrees of freedom (DOFs) of a RV-M1 robot under single- and multi-object interception tasks. The results verify the effectiveness of the proposed methodology under different hyperparameter configurations.