Experiments on Rigid Body Based Controllers with Input Preshaping for a Two-Link Flexible Manipulator

Input precompensators in conjunction with linear and nonlinear rigid body based controllers for flexible-link manipulators are considered in this paper. The objective is to preshape the reference input signals. This is accomplished by convolving the reference signal with a sequence of impulses so that a vibration free output is achieved. The time of the application of the impulses is dependent upon the modal frequencies and the amplitudes are functions of the damping of the modal frequencies. Experimental and simulation results on a two-link flexible manipulator show the effectiveness of the advocated controllers.