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Main Authors: Benazet, Mark, Ricca, Francesco, Bralla, Dario, Zeilinger, Melanie N., Carron, Andrea
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.16624
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author Benazet, Mark
Ricca, Francesco
Bralla, Dario
Zeilinger, Melanie N.
Carron, Andrea
author_facet Benazet, Mark
Ricca, Francesco
Bralla, Dario
Zeilinger, Melanie N.
Carron, Andrea
contents Learning-based model predictive control has emerged as a powerful approach for handling complex dynamics in mechatronic systems, enabling data-driven performance improvements while respecting safety constraints. However, when computational resources are severely limited, as in battery-powered tools with embedded processors, existing approaches struggle to meet real-time requirements. In this paper, we address the problem of real-time torque control for impact wrenches, where high-frequency control updates are necessary to accurately track the fast transients occurring during periodic impact events, while maintaining high-performance safety-critical control that mitigates harmful vibrations and component wear. The key novelty of the approach is that we combine data-driven model augmentation through Gaussian process regression with neural network approximation of the resulting control policy. This insight allows us to deploy predictive control on resource-constrained embedded platforms while maintaining both constraint satisfaction and microsecond-level inference times. The proposed framework is evaluated through numerical simulations and hardware experiments on a custom impact wrench testbed. The results show that our approach successfully achieves real-time control suitable for high-frequency operation while maintaining constraint satisfaction and improving tracking accuracy compared to baseline PID control.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_16624
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Learning-based Approximate Model Predictive Control for an Impact Wrench Tool
Benazet, Mark
Ricca, Francesco
Bralla, Dario
Zeilinger, Melanie N.
Carron, Andrea
Systems and Control
Learning-based model predictive control has emerged as a powerful approach for handling complex dynamics in mechatronic systems, enabling data-driven performance improvements while respecting safety constraints. However, when computational resources are severely limited, as in battery-powered tools with embedded processors, existing approaches struggle to meet real-time requirements. In this paper, we address the problem of real-time torque control for impact wrenches, where high-frequency control updates are necessary to accurately track the fast transients occurring during periodic impact events, while maintaining high-performance safety-critical control that mitigates harmful vibrations and component wear. The key novelty of the approach is that we combine data-driven model augmentation through Gaussian process regression with neural network approximation of the resulting control policy. This insight allows us to deploy predictive control on resource-constrained embedded platforms while maintaining both constraint satisfaction and microsecond-level inference times. The proposed framework is evaluated through numerical simulations and hardware experiments on a custom impact wrench testbed. The results show that our approach successfully achieves real-time control suitable for high-frequency operation while maintaining constraint satisfaction and improving tracking accuracy compared to baseline PID control.
title Learning-based Approximate Model Predictive Control for an Impact Wrench Tool
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.16624