Research pick: I bet that this works good on the shopfloor, running an electro-bot with a fuzzy logic core, yes, a fuzzy logic core - "Decentralised adaptive fuzzy sliding mode control for robotic arms using a voltage control approach in workspace"

A new approach to controlling robotic arms that could make industrial and collaborative robots more precise, adaptable, and efficient is discussed in the International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications. The work uses a decentralized adaptive fuzzy sliding mode control (AFSMC) that controls the robotic arm with voltage-based commands rather than traditional torque-based methods. This, the researchers, explain, simplifies the control system while allowing the equipment to maintain normal function even with uncertainties and external disturbances.

Conventional torque-based controllers rely on highly accurate models of the robot’s dynamics. This makes them computationally intensive and impractical for some real-time applications. By controlling the motor voltages directly, the AFSMC method sidesteps this issue by allowing it to handle fuzzy, or imprecise and approximate information within a sliding mode control framework. Sliding mode controllers are prone to rapid oscillations so the researchers have added a hyperbolic tangent function to their model to producing smoother and more reliable motion.

The AFSMC operates in the workspace, which also allows for more precise and flexible motion. Its decentralized design means that each joint of the robotic arm can be controlled independently while still working in coordination with the others. The team’s simulations with a three-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm show that the approach achieves high tracking accuracy and strong resistance to disturbances. The reduced computational demands compared with standard methods such as proportional-integral-derivative or proportional-derivative controllers make the approach more efficient and effective overall.

Robotic arms are increasingly tasked with high-speed, high-precision operations, from assembling electronics to handling delicate laboratory samples. By reducing the need for exact dynamic models and velocity feedback, the AFSMC could cut costs and make advanced control techniques available in embedded robotic systems. By combining fuzzy logic and sliding mode control, the researchers offer a flexible and theoretically grounded framework capable of managing the complex, non-linear behaviour typical of robotic manipulators operating under uncertain conditions.

Wang, L. (2025) ‘Decentralised adaptive fuzzy sliding mode control for robotic arms using a voltage control approach in workspace’, Int. J. Systems, Control and Communications, Vol. 16, No. 6, pp.1–20.