Experimental study on active vibration control of a single-link flexible manipulator using tools of fuzzy logic and neural networks

This paper is concerned with the design and implementation of active vibration control based on fuzzy logic and neural networks (NNs). The controller is used to dampen the end-point vibration in a single-link flexible manipulator mounted on a two degrees-of-freedom platform. The inputs to the fuzzy logic controller (FLC) are the angular position of the hub and the end point deflection of the flexible beam. A NN predicting the deflection was obtained using a set of three strain gauge pairs mounted on the beam and an linear-variable differential transformer placed at the tip. This paper discusses how to build the rule base for the flexible beam based on the relation between the angular displacement of the hub and the end-point deflection, as well as the approach that was used to develop the NN model. Several experimental results showing the effectiveness of the FLC in reducing the end-point vibration of the flexible beam are presented.