Cancelling vibrations in flexible articulated structures using non-causal inverse dynamics

Inverse dynamics is the process of computing actuator efforts to produce desired responses. An algorithm is presented which uses a non-causal inverse dynamics approach to cancel vibrations in a flexible manipulator or a flexible articulated structure. Solutions are obtained for individual modes and then combined them to obtain general solutions. This approach can be used for real time control since few computations are required for combining the solutions. The algorithm is demonstrated via computer simulations of a 60 m deployable boom on the Space Shuttle. The boom was used in the Shuttle radar topography mission on a Space Shuttle flight. An analytical study to demonstrate the advantages of using inverse dynamics in this type of articulated structure is presented