Deformation Control in Rest-to-Rest Motion of Mechanisms with Flexible Links

This paper develops and validates experimentally a feedback strategy for the reduction of the link deformations in rest-to-rest motion of mechanisms with flexible links, named Delayed Reference Control (DRC). The technique takes advantage of the inertial coupling between rigid-bodymotion and elasticmotion to control the undesired link deformations by shifting in time the position reference through an action reference parameter. The action reference parameter is computed on the fly based on the sensed strains by solving analytically an optimization problem. An outer control loop is closed to compute the references for the position controllers of each actuator, which can be thought of as the inner control loop. The resulting multiloop architecture of the DRC is a relevant advantage over several traditional feedback controllers: DRC can be implemented by just adding an outer control loop to standard position controllers. A validation of the proposed control strategy is provided by applying the DRC to the real-time control of a four-bar linkage

Modelling, Control and Performance Evaluation of a Single-Axis Compliant Nano-Positioning System

This thesis presents the results from a preliminary activity devoted to the implementation of high-performance controller for a single axis compliant nano-positioning system. Preliminarily, this work discusses the mechanical design of the system, its peculiar features, and presents a system transfer function. After a detailed description of the design, the thesis discusses both theoretical and practical aspects of three control techniques used and the experimental results obtaine

Structural load alleviation using distributed delay shaper: Application to flexible aircraft

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Lightweight flexible aircraft suffers from unwanted oscillatory vibrations during aircraft manoeuvres. A recently developed distributed-delay signal (DZV) shaper is therefore proposed to be applied as a feedforward controller to alleviate the manoeuvre loads, as an alternative to traditional structural filters used routinely in this context. Structural filters are essentially linear low-pass filters with bandwidth below the significant flexible modes, applied to control signals generated either by the pilot's direct input or by the flight control system. It has been showed that if instead a properly tuned signal shaper is used, better performance can be achieved: first, the target modes are significantly attenuated while the responsiveness of the aircraft is less compromised and secondly, the oscillatory nature of the vibrations are reduced. The high fidelity simulation results on a full scaled dynamic model of a highly flexible blended wing–body (BWB) aircraft show that in comparison to traditional structural filters, signal shapers significantly reduce the wing root loading (forces and moments) which provides potential structural benefits

Structural control interaction

The basic guidance and control concepts that lead to structural control interaction and structural dynamic loads are identified. Space vehicle ascent flight load sources and the load relieving mechanism are discussed, along with the the characteristics and special problems of both present and future space vehicles including launch vehicles, orbiting vehicles, and the Space Shuttle flyback vehicle. The special dynamics and control analyses and test problems apparent at this time are summarized

Dynamic modelling and control of a flexible manipulator.

This thesis presents investigations into dynamic modelling and control of a flexible manipulator system. The work on dynamic modelling involves finite element and symbolic manipulation techniques. The control strategies investigated include feedforward control using command shaping techniques and combined feedforward and feedback control schemes. A constrained planar single-link flexible manipulator is used as test and verification platform throughout this work. Dynamic model of a single-link flexible manipulator incorporating structural damping, hub inertia and payload is developed using the finite element method. Experiments are performed on a laboratory-scale single-link flexible manipulator with and without payload for verification of the developed dynamic model. Simulated and experimental system responses to a single-switch bang-bang torque input are presented in the time and frequency domains. Resonance frequencies of the system for the first three modes are identified. The performance and accuracy of the simulation algorithm are studied in comparison to the experimental results in both domains. The effects of damping and payload on the dynamic behaviour of the manipulator are addressed. Moreover, the impact of using higher number of elements is studied. The application of a symbolic manipulation approach for modelling and performance analysis of a flexible manipulator system is investigated. System transfer function can be retained in symbolic form using this approach and good approximation of the system transfer function can be obtained. Relationships between system characteristics and parameters such as payload and hub inertia are accordingly explored. Simulation and experimental exercises are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the symbolic approach in modelling and simulation of the flexible manipulator system. Simulation and experimental investigations into the development of feedforward control strategies based on command shaping techniques for vibration control of flexible manipulators are presented. The command shaping techniques using input shaping, low-pass and band-stop filters are considered. The command shaping techniques are designed based on the parameters of the system obtained using the unshaped bang-bang torque input. ii Abstract Performances of the techniques are evaluated in terms of level of vibration reduction, time response specifications, robustness to error in natural frequencies and processing times. The effect of using higher number of impulses and filter orders on the system performance is also investigated. Moreover, the effectiveness of the command shaping techniques in reducing vibrations due to inclusion of payload into the system is examined. A comparative assessment of the performance of the command shaping techniques in vibration reduction of the system is presented. The development of hybrid control schemes for input tracking and vibration suppression of flexible manipulators is presented. The hybrid control schemes based on collocated feedback controllers for rigid body motion control with non-collocated PID control and feedforward control for vibration suppression of the system are examined. The non-collocated PID control is designed utilising the end-point deflection (elastic deformation) feedback whereas feedforward control is designed using the input shaping technique. The developed hybrid schemes are tested within the simulation environment of the flexible manipulator with and without payload. The performances of the control schemes are evaluated in terms of input tracking capability and vibration suppression of the flexible manipulator. Initially, a collocated PD utilising the hub-angle and hub-velocity feedback signals is used as a feedback controller. Subsequently, to achieve uniform performance in the presence of a payload, a collocated adaptive control is designed based on pole-assignment self-tuning control scheme. Lastly, a comparative assessment of the performance of the hybrid control schemes is presented