Resolved Motion Control of Mobile Hydraulic Cranes

The control structure used in this thesis is distributed joint control. A central controller
coordinates the motion of the individual joints based on the operators input
and the measured state of the manipulator. The central controller sends a reference
joint velocity to the individual joint controllers mounted at each joint. The individual
joint controllers can be programmed with the flow characteristic of the valve, the geometry
of the joint, and a velocity control algorithm. This control structure supports
the current trend in industry of mobile hydraulic proportional valves with embedded
micro-controllers. The joint control algorithm can be programmed in the actual valve.
Communication between the individual joint controllers and the coordinating controller
can occur over a bus system, such as CAN bus.