Force control of a structurally flexible robotic manipulator

Force control of a planar two-link structurally flexible robotic manipulator is considered in this study. The dynamic model is obtained by using the extended Hamilton's principle and the Galerkin criterion. A method is pressented toobtain the linearized equations of motion in Cartesian space for use in designing the control system. The approachto solving the control problem is to use feedforward and feedback control torques. The feedforward torques maneuver the flexible manipulatro along a nominal trajectory and the feedback torques minimize any deviations from the nominal trajectory. The linear quadratic Gaussian/loop transfer recovery (LQG/LTR) design methodology is explotied to design a robust feedback control system that can handle modeling errors and sensor noise, and operates on Cartesian space trajectory errors. The Lqg/LTR compenstaor together with a feedforward ollp is used to control the flexible manipulator. Simulated results are presented for a numerical example.