Controlled Synchronization of Mechanical Systems

In this paper we study the problem of synchronization and trajectory tracking in mechanical systems. Exploiting output synchronization results developed previously, a control algorithm is developed to guarantee output synchronization in addition to trajectory tracking in mechanical systems. The classical Slotine-Li adaptive trajectory tracking algorithm is modified to synchronize mechanical systems following a common trajectory. The robustness of the proposed scheme to time delays in communication is also discussed. A numerical example is presented to verify the efficacy of the proposed results.