Feedback control of one-link flexible manipulator with gear train

This article reports experimental results in control of a one-link flexible manipulator. A d.c. drive with gear train rotates the link with a tip-mass in the horizontal plane. A “stiff” hardware servo-system tracks the commanded drive velocity. We describe the experimental setup and develop a dynamic model for the one-mode flexible vibration control. We design and experimentally test controllers for active damping of the vibrations and stabilization of the link-tip position. Results for continuous control implemented with an analog computer and a sampled-data, digital-computer control are reported. A high control performance is achieved despite the gear-train friction influence. In addition, sampled-data digital controllers for tracking control of the link reference motion are designed and tested.