Control of a rotating cantilever beam using a torque actuator and a distributed piezoelectric polymer actuator

A torque actuator and a distributed piezoelectric polymer (PVDF) actuator are utilized for control of a rotating cantilever flexible beam. The torque control contains proportional and derivative (PD) feedback for rigid motion control and a PVDF actuator control for vibration damping. Unlike previous approaches in the literature in which the angular velocity feedback was utilized, in this study we propose to use the linear velocity feedback (L-type) in our controller design for feasible implementation and avoiding modal truncation. The stability of the system with the L-type control has been analyzed, using the concept of a virtual joint model. The advantage of the proposed scheme lies in easy implementation, avoidance of modal truncation, efficient suppression of the dominant mode of vibration, and allowing high-speed motions. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.