Control of mobile linked flexible system

Mobile control and vibration control are proposed for a large, mobile, linked, flexible space structure composed of joints, flexible links, and floating pads. The control is achieved by allocating four compressed air jet nozzles on each floating pad, and a DC motor at the joint of the linkage between adjacent links. To derive the dynamics of such a linked system, the system is modeled as a lumped-parameter system. The method is applied to a flexible system that is kept afloat by air bearings at the joints so that there is no reaction force from the ground to the flexible system. Some experimental results are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method