Vibration Reduction of Open-chain Flexible Manipulators by Optimizing Independent Motions of Branch Links

In order to suppress vibration in flexible manipulators, a new type of manipulator mechanism with controllable local degrees of freedom is proposed. This mechanism consists of a main chain and some branch links. The main chain is of a flexible open-chain configuration with an end-effector installed at its tip, and the rigid branch links are able to perform active movements. It is proved by kinematics and dynamic analysis that, the branch links bear no direct kinematic relation to the main chain, but their independent motions can strongly affect the dynamic behavior and performance of the flexible manipulator. Then comes a new idea of suppressing vibration, in which independent motions of the branch links are used to suppress the undesired vibration of the flexible main chain through dynamic coupling. On this basis, an optimal method for reducing vibration of flexible manipulators is proposed. Finally, the effectiveness of this method is verified by numerical simulations.

FUZZY ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF FLEXIBLE-LINK ROBOT MANIPULATOR

A fuzzy adaptive control method is proposed for a flexible robot manipulator. Due to the structure characteristics of the flexible manipulator, the vibration modes must be controlled to realize the high-precision tip position. The Lagrangian principle is utilized to model the dynamic function of the single-degree flexible manipulator incorporating the assumed modes method. Simulation results of the fuzzy adaptive control method in the location control and the trajectory tracking with different tip disturbances are presented and compared with the results of the classic PD control. It shows that the controller can obtain the stable and robust performance.

COUPLING EFFECT OF FLEXIBLE JOINT AND FLEXIBLE LINK ON DYNAMIC SINGULARITY OF FLEXIBLE MANIPULATOR

The coupling effect of the flexible joint and the flexible link on the dynamic singularity of the flexible manipulator is addressed. Firstly, the dynamic equations of a flexible manipulator with a flexible joint and a flexible link are derived. Secondly, the relationship and property between the flexible joint and the flexible link are analyzed. It shows that the flexible joint＇s amplitude will increase abruptly, thereby the dynamic singularity occurs if the frequency of a flexible joint is near or equal to some natural frequency of a flexible link. Finally, some numerical simulations which will verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis, are carded out. The results are fundamental for the design of a flexible manipulator and for the avoidance of the dynamic singularity.

Extremum response surface method of reliability analysis on two-link flexible robot manipulator

In order to present a new method for analyzing the reliability of a two-link flexible robot manipulator,Lagrange dynamics differential equations of the two-link flexible robot manipulator were established by using the integrated modal method and the multi-body system dynamics method.By using the Monte Carlo method,the random sample values of the dynamic parameters were obtained and Lagrange dynamics differential equations were solved for each random sample value which revealed their displacement,speed and acceleration.On this basis,dynamic stresses and deformations were obtained.By taking the maximum values of the stresses and the deformations as output responses and the random sample values of dynamic parameters as input quantities,extremum response surface functions were established.A number of random samples were then obtained by using the Monte Carlo method and then the reliability was analyzed by using the extremum response surface method.The results show that the extremum response surface method is an efficient and fast reliability analysis method with high-accuracy for the two-link flexible robot manipulator.

Dynamic modeling and analysis of 3-■RS parallel manipulator with flexible links

The dynamic modeling and solution of the 3-RRS spatial parallel manipulators with flexible links were investigated. Firstly, a new model of spatial flexible beam element was proposed, and the dynamic equations of elements and branches of the parallel manipulator were derived. Secondly, according to the kinematic coupling relationship between the moving platform and flexible links, the kinematic constraints of the flexible parallel manipulator were proposed. Thirdly, using the kinematic constraint equations and dynamic model of the moving platform, the overall system dynamic equations of the parallel manipulator were obtained by assembling the dynamic equations of branches. FtLrthermore, a few commonly used effective solutions of second-order differential equation system with variable coefficients were discussed. Newmark numerical method was used to solve the dynamic equations of the flexible parallel manipulator. Finally, the dynamic responses of the moving platform and driving torques of the 3-RRS parallel mechanism with flexible links were analyzed through numerical simulation. The results provide important information for analysis of dynamic performance, dynamics optimization design, dynamic simulation and control of the 3-RRS flexible parallel manipulator.

Adaptive nonlinear model predictive control design of a flexible-link manipulator with uncertain parameters

This paper presents a novel adaptive nonlinear model predictive control design for trajectory tracking of flexible-link manipulators consisting of feedback linearization, linear model predictive control, and unscented Kalman filtering. Reducing the nonlinear system to a linear system by feedback linearization simplifies the optimization problem of the model predictive controller significantly, which, however, is no longer linear in the presence of parameter uncertainties and can potentially lead to an undesired dynamical behaviour. An unscented Kalman filter is used to approximate the dynamics of the prediction model by an online parameter estimation, which leads to an adaptation of the optimization problem in each time step and thus to a better prediction and an improved input action. Finally, a detailed fuzzy-arithmetic analysis is performed in order to quantify the effect of the uncertainties on the control structure and to derive robustness assessments. The control structure is applied to a serial manipulator with two flexible links containing uncertain model parameters and acting in three-dimensional space.

Recursive Lagrangian dynamic modeling and simulation of multi-link spatial flexible manipulator arms

The dynamics for multi-link spatial flexible manipulator arms consisting of n links and n rotary joints is investigated. Kinematics of both rotary-joint motion and link deformation is described by 4 - 4 homogenous transformation matrices, and the Lagrangian equations are used to derive the governing equations of motion of the system. In the modeling the recursive strategy for kinematics is adopted to improve the computational efficiency. Both the bending and torsional flexibility of the link are taken into account. Based on the present method a general-purpose software package for dynamic simulation is developed. Dynamic simulation of a spatial flexible manipulator arm is given as an example to validate the algorithm.

Dynamic analysis of multi-link spatial flexible manipulator arms with dynamic stiffening effects

The dynamics for multi-link spatial flexible manipulator arms is investigated. The system considered here is an N-flexible-link manipulator driven by N DC-motors through N revolute flexiblejoints. The flexibility of each flexible joint is modeled as a linearly elastic torsional spring, and the mass of the joint is also considered. For the flexibility of the link, all of the stretching deformation, bending deformation and the torsional deformation are included. The complete governing equations of motion of the system are derived via the Lagrange equations. The nonlinear description of the deformation field of the flexible link is adopted in the dynamic modeling, and thus the dynamic stiffening effects are captured. Based on this model, a general-purpose software package for dynamic simulation of multi-link spatial flexible manipulator arms is developed. Several illustrative examples are given to validate the algorithm presented in this paper and to indicate that not only dynamic stiffening effects but also the flexibility of the structure has significant influence on the dynamic performance of the manipulator.

Active Disturbance Rejection Control for a Multiple-Flexible-Link Manipulator

The control problem of multiple-flexible-link manipulators( MFLMs) is studied in this paper.The dynamic model of MFLM is derived and separated into two-time scale by utilizing the singular perturbation technique. The active disturbance rejection control( ADRC) is adopted to the slow subsystem to track a desired trajectory. The proposed ADRC structure preshapes the desired trajectory by utilizing the tracking differentiator,estimates the disturbance and internal states with an extended state observer,and guarantees a robust performance by combining a feedback controller with a feedforward term. Two types of feedback controllers are designed,proportional derivative( PD) controller and nonlinear PD( NPD) controller. For the fast subsystem,a fast stabilizing control is designed according to the standard linear quadratic regulator approach. Simulations are performed to evaluate the proposed control scheme.Results show that,compared with the traditional PD controller,the ADRC structure based control scheme has smaller overshot and shorter settling time,suppresses vibration quickly,and is robust to the maneuver speed. In general,the control scheme utilizing ADRC structure and NPD feedback controller shows better performance.

Fuzzy Supervisory Control and GPC Applied to a Flexible Single-Link Manipulator

This paper presents the development of a classical and intelligent control approaches applied to a flexible single-link manipulator robot and compared in terms of input tracking and vibration suppression. Lagrange＇s equations and finite elements method are combined to compute dynamic model of a flexible link manipulator with one rigid joint. Next, dynamics are itemized to explain flexible link behavior. Then a fuzzy supervisory controller is developed and introduced in the high level of the closed-loop of the flexible manipulator. A generalized predictive controller is then developed and introduced in the flexible system closed-loop to minimize end-point residual vibrations. Simulation results obtained are compared to a GPC （generalized predictive controller） in terms of end-point vibration suppression, input tracking and disturbance rejection. A conclusion encloses the paper.

On the Basis of the Singular Perturbation Approach to Control a Two-link Constrained Flexible Manipulator

On the basis of singular perturbation theory, a composite control approach is proposed for constrained flexible manipulators in this paper. The dynamics equation of a constrained two link flexible manipulator is divided into slow subsystem and fast subsystem. Based on the adaptive theory, the slow controller is designed. For the fast subsystem, a robust optimal controller is presented. Under the slow time scale and the fast time scale, a composite control strategy is constructed. Some results of numerical simulations are presented to show the effectiveness of this design procedure.

On the Simulation and Control of a One—Link Flexible Manipulator

The problem of modeling one-link flexible manipulators is considered.The dynamic model is derived from an inhomogeneouo fourth-order partial differential equation under the zero boundary conditions. The correspondence between the values of the poles of the transfer function and the values of the natural frequencies shows that the modeling is reasonable. To manipulate the cumbersome formulae the REDUCE language has been extensively used.

Adaptive Fuzzy Control of Constrained Flexible-Link Manipulators

In this paper, a novel adaptive fuzzy control scheme is presented. The controller is constructed by using a table lookup scheme and self tuning techniques, which includes the identification block, the fuzzification, the updating rule base, the defuzzification, and the crisp controller (sub controller), etc. The adaptive fuzzy controller is designed in detail by means of a triangular membership function and the center of gravity method. The control scheme addressed here is implemented to control the motion of the end effector of a two link constrained flexible manipulator. Computer simulation results show that the novel adaptive fuzzy control scheme works quite well.

Flexible Bio-tensegrity Manipulator with Multi-degree of Freedom and Variable Structure

Conventional manipulators with rigid structures and sti ness actuators have poor flexibility,limited obstacle avoidance capability,and constrained workspace.Some developed flexible or soft manipulators in recent years have the characteristics of infinite degrees of freedom,high flexibility,environmental adaptability,and extended manipulation capability.However,these existing manipulators still cannot achieve the shrinking motion and independent control of specified segments like the animals,which hinders their applications.In this paper,a flexible bio-tensegrity manipulator,inspired by the longitudinal and transversal muscles of octopus tentacles,was proposed to mimic the shrinking behavior and achieve the variable motion patterns of each segment.Such proposed manipulator uses the elastic spring as the backbone,which is driven by four cables and has one variable structure mechanism in each segment to achieve the independent control of each segment.The variable structure mechanism innovatively contains seven lock-release states to independently control the bending and shrinking motion of each segment.After the kinematic modeling and analysis,one prototype of such bionic flexible manipulator was built and the open-loop control method was proposed.Some proof-of-concept experiments,including the shrinking motion,bending motion,and variable structure motion,were carried out by controlling the length of four cables and changing the lock-release states of the variable structure mechanism,which validate the feasibility and validity of our proposed prototype.Meanwhile,the experimental results show the flexible manipulator can accomplish the bending and shrinking motion with the relative error less than 6.8%through the simple independent control of each segment using the variable structure mechanism.This proposed manipulator has the features of controllable degree-of-freedom in each segment,which extend their environmental adaptability,and manipulation capability.

Effects of Joint Controller on Analytical Modal Analysis of Rotational Flexible Manipulator

Modal analysis is a fundamental and important task for modeling and control of the flexible manipulator. However, almost all of the traditional modal analysis methods view the flexible manipulator as a pure mechanical structure and neglect feedback action of joint controller. In order to study the effects of joint controller on the modal analysis of rotational flexible manipulator, a closed-loop analytical modal analysis method is proposed. Firstly, two exact boundary constraints, namely servo feedback constraint and bending moment constraint, are derived to solve the vibration partial differential equation. It is found that the stiffness and damping gains of joint controller are both included in the boundary conditions, which lead to an unconventional secular term. Secondly, analytical algorithm based on Ritz approach is developed by using Laplace transform and complex modal approach to obtain the natural frequencies and mode shapes. And then, the numerical simulations are performed and the computational results show that joint controller has pronounced influence on the modal parameters： joint controller stiffness reduces the natural frequency, while joint controller damping makes the shape phase non-zero. Furthermore, the validity of the presented conclusion is confirmed through experimental studies. These findings are expected to improve the performance of dynamics simulation systems and model-based controllers.

Fuzzy Torque Control of the Bionic Flexible Manipulator Actuated by Pneumatic Muscle Actuators

A bionic flexible manipulator driven by pneumatic muscle actuator(PMA)can better reflect the flexibility of the mechanism.Current research on PMA mainly focuses on the modeling and control strategy of the pneumatic manipulator system.Compared with traditional electro-hydraulic actuators,the structure of PMA is simple but possesses strong nonlinearity and flexibility,which leads to the difficulty in improving the control accuracy.In this paper,the configuration design of a bionic flexible manipulator is performed by human physiological map,the kinematic model of the mechanism is established,and the dynamics is analyzed by Lagrange method.A fuzzy torque control algorithm is designed based on the computed torque method,where the fuzzy control theory is applied.The hardware experimental system is established.Through the co-simulation contrast test on MATLAB and ADAMS,it is found that the fuzzy torque control algorithm has better tracking performance and higher tracking accuracy than the computed torque method,and is applied to the entity control test.The experimental results show that the fuzzy torque algorithm can better control the trajectory tracking movement of the bionic flexible manipulator.This research proposes a fuzzy torque control algorithm which can compensate the error more effectively,and possesses the preferred trajectory tracking performance.

On Frequency Sensitivity and Mode Orthogonality of Flexible Robotic Manipulators

This paper presents sensitivity analysis of vibration frequencies of flexible manipulators with respect to variations of systems parameters such as rotational inertia of hub, and mass, moment, and side of tip load. Both Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko dynamical models of flexible manipulators are discussed. By using variational method, sensitivity indices are obtained with explicit expressions for measuring the sensitivity of frequencies. Based on variational formulations, a novel method for deriving the orthogonal relations among vibration modal shape functions of flexible manipulators is introduced. With this method, the orthogonal relations can be derived easily without invoking the tedious process of differentiation and integration by part, as commonly used in their derivation. © 2014 Chinese Association of Automation.

Adaptive Fuzzy Backstepping Tracking Control for Flexible Robotic Manipulator

In this paper,an adaptive fuzzy state feedback control method is proposed for the single-link robotic manipulator system.The considered system contains unknown nonlinearfunction and actuator saturation.Fuzzy logic systems(FLSs)and a smooth function are used to approximate the unknownnonlinearities and the actuator saturation,respectively.By com-bining the command-filter technique with the backsteppingdesign algorithm,a novel adaptive fuuzy tracking backsteppingcontrol method is developed.It is proved that the adaptive fuuzycontrol scheme can guarantee that all the variables in the closed-loop system are bounded,and the system output can track thegiven reference signal as close as possible.Simulation results areprovided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Rotation Angle Control Strategy for Telescopic Flexible Manipulator Based on a Combination of Fuzzy Adjustment and RBF Neural Network

The length of fexible manipulators with a telescopic arm alters during movement.The dynamic parameters of telescopic fexible manipulators exhibit signifcant time-varying characteristics owing to variations in length.With an increase in the manipulators’length,the nonlinear terms caused by fexibility in the manipulators’dynamic equations cannot be ignored.The time-varying characteristics and nonlinear terms of telescopic fexible manipulators cause fuctuations in rotation angles,which afect the operation accuracy of end-efectors.In this study,a control strategy based on a combination of fuzzy adjustment and an RBF neural network is utilized to improve the control accuracy of fexible telescopic manipulators.First,the dynamic equation of the manipulators is established using the assumed mode method and Lagrange’s principle,and the infuence of nonlinear terms is analyzed.Subsequently,a combined control strategy is proposed to suppress the fuctuation of the rotation angle in telescopic fexible manipulators.The variation ranges of the feedforward PD controller parameters are determined by the pole placement strategy and length of the manipulators.Fuzzy rules are utilized to adjust the controller parameters in real-time.The RBF neural network is utilized to identify and compensate the uncertain part of the dynamic model of the fexible manipulators.The uncertain part comprises time-varying parameters and nonlinear terms.Finally,numerical simulations and prototype experiments prove the efectiveness of the combined control strategy.The results prove that the proposed control strategy has a smaller standard deviation of errors.Therefore,the combined control strategy is more suitable for telescopic fexible manipulators,which can efectively improve the control accuracy of rotation angles.

Active Control of Elastodynamic Response of Flexible Redundant Robot Manipulators

This paper presents an analytical investigation into activevibration control of flexible redundant robot manipulators featuringpiezoelectric actuators and strain gage sensors. The state-sp- aceexpression of the discrete time-varying dynamic system is developedfirstly. The LQR optimal control law is presented based upon thediscrete Minimum Principle. Moreover, an approximate method isproposed for estimating the state information of the system. Finally,a planar 3R flexible redundant manipulator is utilized as anillustration example. The simulation results show that the dy- namicperformance of the manipulator has been improved significantly.