# Stable Model-based Control with Gaussian Process Regression for Robot Manipulators

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.06655 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.06655/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 16 Nov 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Real-Time Adaptive Safety-Critical Control with Gaussian Processes in High-Order Uncertain Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.18946/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Computed-torque control requires a very precise dynamical model of the robot for compensating the manipulator dynamics. This allows reduction of the controller's feedback gains resulting in disturbance attenuation and other advantages. Finding precise models for manipulators is often difficult with parametric approaches, e.g. in the presence of complex friction or flexible links. Therefore, we propose a novel computed-torque control law which consists of a PD feedback and a dynamic feed forward compensation part with Gaussian Processes. For this purpose, the nonparametric Gaussian Process regression infers the difference between an estimated and the true dynamics. In contrast to other approaches, we can guarantee that the tracking error is stochastically bounded. Furthermore, if the number of training points tends to infinity, the tracking error is asymptotically stable in the large. In simulation and with an experiment, we demonstrate the applicability of the proposed control law and that it outperforms classical computed-torque approaches in terms of tracking precision.