Motorized robotic devices are increasingly being used for high precision medical procedures. A research group within the Robotics and Mechatronics (RAM) department of the University of Twente is developing a robotic needle insertion platform for intratumoral therapy. The end-effector is a coaxial needle with a total of three degrees of freedom. Two translational motion stages are actuated by stepper motors, whereas rotation is driven by a standard DC motor.
This work presents a control development for the roto-translational motion stages of the end-effector. It is separated into three main parts: (i) Research of the potential control methods and their evaluation based on the project requirements, (ii) Development of the theoretical model of the chosen control method, and (iii) Practical implementation into the physical setup.
This project investigates several control techniques, including conventional linear control methods such as proportional-integral-derivative (PID) and Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR), predictive control methods, such as Model Predictive Control (MPC), and nonlinear techniques including backstepping and Sliding Mode Control (SMC). These proposed methods are then evaluated to determine how well they suit the given application.
