Comparative study on control concepts of a robot manipulator with multiple-link/joint flexibilities

If one is dealing with active vibration suppression on a highly nonlinear flexible system, various techniques are needed. On the one hand a suitable dynamic model of the system is required. And on the other hand intelligent model based control concepts are necessary for active vibration damping. We deal with a basic model, where the flexibilities are approximated with linear springs and dampers, a so called lumped element model (LEM). For the control design we propose a control structure with two degrees of freedom (2DoF) for solving the tracking problem, based on the LEM. Such an approach allows designing the feedforward part independently of the feedback part. Hereby the feedforward control is based on the flatness approach, while for the feedback control several strategies are studied using acceleration- and gyrosensor-measurements. The contribution is completed with a validation by measurements from a very fast trajectory on an articulated robot with two flexible links and three elastic joints. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)