A Scilab/Scicos-based modeling and simulation toolbox for flexible manipulator

In this paper, we introduce an open source toolbox named Flexibot for modeling and simulation of flexible manipulators. Flexibot is based on open-sourced scientific computation and simulation software Scilab/Scicos and Modelica. The whole toolbox consists of symbolic derivation, parameter computation, and block generation as well as simulation module. Users are not only able to use our presented block and adjust the parameters, but also build a flexible manipulator system based their own formulation. The toolbox also provides useful tools for the most widely used Lagrange and assumed modes modeling method of flexible manipulator. It provides a solution to model and simulate the flexible manipulator dynamics in the form of implicit differential equations. The user can build a nonlinear, complex block diagram containing flexible manipulator model to simulate the control algorithm. We also present block diagrams with feedback control of a single-link and a two-link flexible manipulator model generated by Flexibot, showing its capabilities and effectiveness.