A novel dynamic control design scheme for flexible-link manipulators

The problem of designing a robust dynamical controller for solving the tracking control problem for a flexible-link manipulator is studied. The design methodology is based on construction of a two-time scale dynamical motion of the closed-loop system. It is shown that for a sufficiently small perturbation parameter associated with the dynamical controller consisting of high order derivatives of the output signal, a two time-scale separation of the fast and slow modes are induced in the closed-loop system. Stability conditions imposed on the fast and slow subsystems can then ensure that the full-order closed-loop system achieves the desired properties, thereby obtaining output performance that is insensitive to parameter variations and external disturbances. Numerical simulations for both a two-link rigid manipulator and a flexible link manipulator are shown to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed design strategy