Parity relation approach to fault diagnosis in manipulation robots

This paper presents a problem of fault detection and isolation (FDI) in manipulation robots described by nonlinear dynamic models. To solve this problem, the parity relation approach is suggested. In order to obtain parity equations, two methods are developed. The first of them consists of designing the bank of the special form observers (without feedback) and transforming each of them into the parity equations. It is based on original mathematical technique (so-called algebra of functions). The second method is based on obtaining an input-output description of a given system and transforming it into the parity equations. The modeling results reflecting the relationships between the faults and the residuals are presented. Use of the FDI methods allows one to prevent the destruction of equipment and avoid great losses. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.