Fuzzy impedance-based control with fast terminal sliding mode force control loop for a series elastic actuator system

This paper proposes a robust control scheme to accomplish the interaction control problem between a series elastic actuator (SEA) and a flexible environment. The adaptability of the controller to unknown variations and robustness of the controller during interaction of the system with environment are the main aims. The control scheme is based on a fuzzy impedance control approach and consists of an inner fast terminal sliding mode force control loop. An experimental setup is designed to prove the efficiency of the developed controller. The experimental results confirm that the proposed fuzzy logic controller guarantees the sensitivity of the controlled system to unpredictable variations. Moreover, by applying the fast terminal sliding mode algorithm for the inner force control loop, the system has faster convergence to the reference path compared with similar control methods found in the literature.