Abstract
As a case study for initial cost problem, we realize new manipulation and perception for a heavy material handling agricultural robot with high-cost components reductions, which requires more robust controllers. A key point is a new combination of structure systems and control systems, not only one of the two. More precisely, first, we review and propose a new manipulator with a passive joint and a new camera configuration with only one camera. Second, we design robust controllers in gain-scheduling, μ-synthesis by using special characteristics of the robot in the presence of uncertainty, nonlinearity and constraint. Finally, we evaluate the validity by actual field experiments, which is the most important part of this paper. The manipulator and the camera configuration can not work well without the designed controllers. That is, the robust controllers reduce the initial cost.
