This U.S.-Mexico award will support Professor Mark Spong of the University of Illinois-Champaign in a research collaboration with Professors Jaime Alvarez and Rafael Castro of the Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del I.P.N. (CINVESTAV) in Mexico City. The proposed research will combine techniques of nonlinear and adaptive control theory, including the control of nonlinear systems with time delay, with detailed studies of the dynamics of robots and teleoperators for the control of high performance manipulators. The primary benefit of this collaboration will arise from the combination of the expertise in robot dynamics and the experimental facilities at Illinois with the expertise in nonlinear control theory, adaptive control theory, and the theory of nonlinear time delay systems at CINVESTAV. The present research could have important applications to work in hazardous environments, such as repair and maintenance in nuclear plants, off-shore oil riggs, and undersea mining and exploration.
