Synchronization control for a class of underactuated mechanical systems via energy shaping

A synchronization control strategy for a class of underactuated mechanical systems is proposed by using the energy shaping technique, aiming to achieve the required performance of the synchronization motion. A synchronization controller is designed based on the interconnection and damping assignment passivity-based control methodology. It will guarantee that the position tracking errors and the synchronization errors of the underactuated mechanical systems are to converge to zero asymptotically. Experiments on a synchronization control system with two single-inverted pendulums as well as simulations of a synchronization control system consisting of four ball-beam devices are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.