Vibration control in elastic manipulators

Robots and manipulators suffer from variations in stiffness during their operating cycles. This can result in unacceptable vibrations which can reduce their effectiveness or reduce the work quality. In the past the design choices were concerned with altering the shape and size of the structure. A more versatile method is to use mechatronic rather than purely mechanical solutions. Robots in particular have fundamental vibrational modes which have frequencies between 3 and 50 Hz. Futami and others (1983) have shown that satisfactory control can be achieved with suitable sensors and control strategies. This article shows that it may be possible to achieve similar reductions with simpler control algorithms without additional sensors.<>