Group delay induced instabilities and Hopf bifurcations, of a controlled double pendulum

Abstract Digital filters, frequently used in active control of mechanical systems, enable one to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and the control performance, but introduce group delays into the control loops simultaneously. In order to gain an insight into the effects of a digital filter on a controlled mechanical system, this paper presents the stability switches and the corresponding Hopf bifurcations of a double pendulum system with the linear quadratic control having a digital filter via theoretical analysis, numerical simulations and experiments. In this study, the digital filters are used to remove the undesired noise of high frequency, which is embedded in the control signal, and are modeled as the components of pure time delay during the theoretical analysis and numerical simulations. The study shows that a digital filter with moderate specifications can not only improve the vibration reduction effectively, but also save the energy consumption of the servo-motor remarkably. However, over demanding specifications will make the group delay of the filter exceed a critical value and cause either a divergent motion or a self-excited vibration through a Hopf bifurcation, the occurrence of which depends on both the stability and the size of the basin of attraction of the bifurcating periodic motion. The experimental results well coincide with the theoretical and numerical ones, and strongly support the simplification of the digital filters as the components of pure time delay. Finally, some suggestions are made to avoid the group delay induced instability.