A Novel Adaptive Finite-Time Position Tracking Control Strategy for Teleoperation System with Varying Communication Delays

Based on the traditional control approach, the position-tracking performance of the teleoperation system with communication delay is generally asymptotically stable. In practical applications, the closed-loop system is expected to achieve stable and finite-time convergence performance. A novel finite-time bilateral control scheme for a telerobotics system with communication delay is presented in this paper. On the basis of the traditional proportional damping injection control, this paper proposes and designs a new finite-time control method by introducing the non-integer power to the position error, velocity, and the combined error with position error and velocity. In comparison to existing proportional damping injection and finite-time control structures, the proposed method not only achieves the finite-time convergence performance of position tracking, but it also has the advantages of a simple structure and fewer gain coefficients. The controller also incorporates the radial basis function (RBF) neural network and adaptive approach to compensate unknown dynamics and external forces, thus also avoiding the measurement of force signals. The Lyapunov–Krasovskii function is then defined, and it is demonstrated that the position tracking of closed-loop teleoperation system has bounded stability and finite-time control performance. The simulation experiment is also performed, and the results further illustrated the bounded stability of the system. Moreover, compared to the position tracking errors of other non-finite-time control methods, it is demonstrated that the proposed finite-time control scheme has a faster convergence rate and higher convergence precision.