Real-time experimental control of a flexible robotic manipulator using a composite approach

This work presents an experimental study of a robust control scheme for flexible link robotic manipulators, which is based on considering the flexible mechanical structure as a system with slow (rigid) and fast (flexible) modes that can be controlled separately. Two experimental approaches are considered. In a first test an LQR optimal design strategy is used. Then a second design based on a sliding-mode scheme is adopted. Experimental results show that this composite approach achieves good closed loop tracking properties for both design philosophies, which compare favorably with conventional rigid robot control schemes.