Tip position control of a two-link flexible robot manipulator based on nonlinear deflection feedback

The control of flexible link manipulators has gained an increasing importance in robotics, in recent years. To control the tip of a flexible manipulator, the joint angles should converge to the desired positions fast and elastic deflections must be effectively suppressed. In this study, a two-link flexible manipulator is controlled by three methods and the results are compared. These methods are, PD control, PD control augmented by a nonlinear correction term feedback, where the correction term is a function of the deflection of each link, and an adaptive fuzzy controller with the nonlinear correction term feedback. Simulations have been carried out to compare the performances of all three methods.