One-DOF Tensegrity Mechanism: Experimental Control Implementation

This article focuses on experimental tests of three closed-loop control strategies: sliding mode control (SMC), model predictive control (MPC), and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control with linearization applied to a tensegrity medical device, with the purpose of comparing them. The mechanism is designed to be part of a medical device for transcutaneous puncture applications where it is necessary to achieve a desired system orientation, adjust its stiffness, and ensure robustness against external disturbances such as natural human body movements. The performance of the three control strategies is compared for the tasks of trajectory tracking, stiffness adjustment, and robustness against external disturbances.