Cyclic control of linear systems: theory and experimental implementation on a flexible arm

A new type of servosystem is introduced and named cyclic control. The control algorithm presented allows the execution of cycles defined by positions to be attained at given time instants. The cycle starts and ends at the same position and has to be repeated over and over in time. Differently from repetitive control and learning control, where exact trajectory tracking is considered, the control problem herein formulated cares only for positions. This allows the development of a finite dimensional control scheme which does not need system re-initialization at each trial, since the new trial starts from the point reached at the end of the previous one. Control scheme design is explicitly addressed and an implementation on a flexible arm presented