Fixed-time adaptive fuzzy control with prescribed tracking performances for flexible-joint manipulators

In this paper, we study the tracking control problem of flexible-joint manipulators with uncertain unstructured dynamics, and develop a prescribed fixed-time solution scheme by combining direct adaptive fuzzy control design with a class of smooth functions. With our scheme, only one adaptive law needs to be calculated online, and also there are no complicated terms, e.g., the partial derivatives of some multivariable functions, involved in virtual controllers and the actual control input, which show that the raised scheme is computationally attractive. Moreover, the boundedness of all closed-loop signals, and the fixed-time convergence of tracking error to a prescribed interval can be established through a rigorous proof, and the obtained results are further confirmed by simulation tests.