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.

Vibration Control of A Flexible Marine Riser System Subject to Input Dead Zone and Extraneous Disturbances

An observer-based adaptive backstepping boundary control is proposed for vibration control of flexible offshore riser systems with unknown nonlinear input dead zone and uncertain environmental disturbances.The control algorithm can update the control law online through real-time data to make the controller adapt to the environment and improve the control precision.Specifically,based on the adaptive backstepping framework,virtual control laws and Lyapunov functions are designed for each subsystem.Three direction interference observers are designed to track the timevarying boundary disturbance.On this basis,the inverse of the dead zone and linear state transformation are used to compensate for the original system and eliminate the adverse effects of the dead zone.In addition,the stability of the closed-loop system is proven by Lyapunov stability theory.All the system states are bounded,and the vibration offset of the riser converges to a small area of the initial position.Finally,four examples of flexible marine risers are simulated in MATLAB to verify the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

Novel flexible hybrid electric system and adaptive online-optimal energy management controller for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

In order to achieve the improvement of the driving comfort and energy efficiency,an new e-CVT flexible full hybrid electric system(E2FHS) is proposed,which uses an integrated main drive motor and generator to take the place of the original automatic or manual transmission to realize the functions of continuously variable transmission(e-CVT).The design and prototype realization of the E2FHS system for a plug-in hybrid vehicle(PHEV) is performed.In order to analyze and optimize the parameters and the power flux between different parts of the E2FHS,simulation software is developed.Especially,in order to optimize the performance of the energy economy improvement of the E2FHS,the effect of the different energy management controllers is investigated,and an adaptive online-optimal energy management controller for the E2FHS is built and validated by the prototype PHEV.

Optimal fuzzy PID controller with adjustable factors based on flexible polyhedron search algorithm

A new kind of optimal fuzzy PID controller is proposed, which contains two parts. One is an on line fuzzy inference system, and the other is a conventional PID controller. In the fuzzy inference system, three adjustable factors x p, x i , and x d are introduced. Their functions are to further modify and optimize the result of the fuzzy inference so as to make the controller have the optimal control effect on a given object. The optimal values of these adjustable factors are determined based on the ITAE criterion and the Nelder and Mead′s flexible polyhedron search algorithm. This optimal fuzzy PID controller has been used to control the executive motor of the intelligent artificial leg designed by the authors. The result of computer simulation indicates that this controller is very effective and can be widely used to control different kinds of objects and processes.

Energy-based robust controller design for flexible spacecraft

This paper presents a class of non-model-based position controllers for a kind of flexible spacecraft. With the controllers, one can achieve not only the closed-loop stability of the original distributed parameter system, but also the asymptotic stability of the truncated system, which is obtained through representing the deflection of the appendage by an arbitrary finite number of flexible modes. The system dynamics are not explicitly involved in the controller design and stability proof. Instead, only a very basic system energy relationship of the flexible spacecraft is utilized. The controllers possess several remarkable advantages over the traditional model-based ones. Numerical simulations are carried out on a kind of spacecraft with one flexible appendage and satisfactory results are obtained.

Design of Robust Controller for Flexible Joint Robot with Nonlinear Friction Characteristics

A robust controller method for flexible joint robot considering the effect caused by nonlinear friction was presented.The nonlinear friction was denoted as inverse additive output uncertainty relative to the nominal model in our work,based on which the describing function was analyzed in frequency domain,and the weighting function of nonlinear friction was further calculated as well. By combining the friction uncertainty,the mixed sensitivity H∞optimization was proposed as the benchmark for controller design, which also leaded to good performance of robustness. Furthermore,unstructured perturbation to the system was analyzed so that the stability was guaranteed. Simulation results show that the proposed controller can provide excellent tracking and regulation performance.

Position Control of a Flexible Manipulator Using a New Nonlinear Self-Tuning PID Controller

In this paper, a new nonlinear self-tuning PID controller(NSPIDC) is proposed to control the joint position and link deflection of a flexible-link manipulator(FLM) while it is subjected to carry different payloads. Since, payload is a critical parameter of the FLM whose variation greatly influences the controller performance. The proposed controller guarantees stability under change in payload by attenuating the non-modeled higher order dynamics using a new nonlinear autoregressive moving average with exogenous-input(NARMAX) model of the FLM. The parameters of the FLM are identified on-line using recursive least square(RLS) algorithm and using minimum variance control(MVC) laws the control parameters are updated in real-time. This proposed NSPID controller has been implemented in real-time on an experimental set-up. The joint tracking and link deflection performances of the proposed adaptive controller are compared with that of a popular direct adaptive controller(DAC). From the obtained results, it is confirmed that the proposed controller exhibits improved performance over the DAC both in terms of accurate position tracking and quick damping of link deflections when subjected to variable payloads.

Neural adaptive attitude tracking controller for flexible spacecraft

In this paper,a neural network adaptive controller is proposed for attitude tracking of flexible spacecraft in presence of unknown inertial matrix and external disturbance.In this approach,neural network technique is employed to approximate the unknown system dynamics with finite combinations of some basis functions,and a robust controller is also designed to attenuate the effect of approximation error,more specially,the knowledge of angular velocity is not required.In the closed-loop system,Lyapunov stability analysis shows that the attitude trajectories asymptotically follow the reference output trajectories.Finally,simulation results are presented for the attitude tracking of a flexible spacecraft to show the excellent performance of the proposed controller and illustrate its robustness in face of external disturbances and unknown dynamics.

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.

Flight control for a flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle based on quasi-continuous high-order sliding mode

The focus of this paper is on control design and simulation for the longitudinal model of a flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle（FAHV）.The model of interest includes flexibility effects and intricate couplings between the engine dynamics and flight dynamics.To overcome the analytical intractability of this model,a nominal control-oriented model is constructed for the purpose of feedback control design in the first place.Secondly,the multi-input multi-output（MIMO） quasi-continuous high-order sliding mode（HOSM） controller is proposed to track step changes in velocity and altitude,which is based on full state feedback.The simulation results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

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.

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.

Delayed feedback control experiments on some flexible structures

In recent decades,studies on delayed system dynamics have attracted increasing attention and advances have been achieved in stability,nonlinearity,delay identification, delay elimination and application.However,most of the existing work is on the theoretical basis and little is on the experiment.This paper presents our experimental studies on delayed feedback control conducted in recent years with the focus on the discussion of a DSP-based delayed experiment system.Some phenomena in our delay experiments are discussed and a few topics of interest for further research are brought forward.

Dynamic surface control-backstepping based impedance control for 5-DOF flexible joint robots

A new impedance controller based on the dynamic surface control-backstepping technique to actualize the anticipant dynamic relationship between the motion of end-effector and the external torques was presented. Comparing with the traditional backstepping method that has ＂explosion of terms＂ problem, the new proposed control system is a combination of the dynamic surface control technique and the backstepping. The dynamic surface control （DSC） technique can resolve the ＂explosion of terms＂ problem that is caused by differential coefficient calculation in the model, and the problem can bring a complexity that will cause the backstepping method hardly to be applied to the practical application, especially to the multi-joint robot. Finally, the validity of the method was proved in the laboratory environment that was set up on the 5-DOF （degree of freedom） flexible joint robot. Tracking errors of DSC-backstepping impedance control that were 2.0 and 1.5 mm are better than those of backstepping impedance control which were 3.5 and 2.5 mm in directions X, Y in free space, respectively. And the anticipant Cartesian impedance behavior and compliant behavior were nchieved successfully as depicted theoretically.

Attitude tracking control of flexible spacecraft with large amplitude slosh

This paper is focused on attitude tracking control of a spacecraft that is equipped with flexible appendage and partially filled liquid propellant tank. The large amplitude liquid slosh is included by using a moving pulsating ball model that is further improved to estimate the settling location of liquid in microgravity or a zero-g environment. The flexible appendage is modelled as a three-dimensional Bernoulli–Euler beam, and the assumed modal method is employed.A hybrid controller that combines sliding mode control with an adaptive algorithm is designed for spacecraft to perform attitude tracking. The proposed controller has proved to be asymptotically stable. A nonlinear model for the overall coupled system including spacecraft attitude dynamics,liquid slosh, structural vibration and control action is established. Numerical simulation results are presented to show the dynamic behaviors of the coupled system and to verify the effectiveness of the control approach when the spacecraft undergoes the disturbance produced by large amplitude slosh and appendage vibration. Lastly, the designed adaptive algorithm is found to be effective to improve the precision of attitude tracking.

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.

Reference tracking control for flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle with actuator delay and uncertainty

This paper considers the problem of reference tracking control for the flexible air-breathing hypersonic flight vehicle with actuator delay and uncertainty.By constructing the Lyapunov functional including the lower and upper bounds of the time-varying delay,the non-fragile controller is designed such that the resulting closed-loop system is asymptotically stable and satisfies a prescribed performance cost index.The simulation results are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed control method,which is validated by excellent output reference altitude and velocity tracking performance.

Decentralized Sliding Mode Control for a Spacecraft Flexible Appendage Based on Finite Element Method

This paper is devoted to study the application of the decentralized sliding mode control method, which is used to reduce the vibration of large spacecraft flexible appendage. In the process of control design, the sliding surface of sliding mode control is determined by minimizing the optimal cost function, and the controller is the saturation controller. The controlled structure is subject to arbitrary, unmeasurable and uncertainty disturbance forces and initial displacement. The decentralized control method and the centralized control method are used to control vibration of the structure respectively. When the system is subjected to the initial displacement or external disturbance, the computer simulation shows that both of these control methods perform effectively, but the number of Riccati equation of the decentralized method is far smaller than that of centralized control method, especially in a large system.

Novel approach for active vibration control of a flexible missile

This paper investigates the feasibility of using an active dynamic vibration absorber(ADVA) for active vibration control of a flexible missile system through simulation.Based on the principles of a dynamic vibration absorber(DVA),a ring-type ADVA is first designed to attenuate the elastic vibration of the flexible missile,and the design of the active controller adopts the proportional-integral-derivative(PID)control algorithm.The motion equations of a flexible missile with an ADVA,which is subjected to follower thrust at its aft end,are derived using the Lagrangian approach.Taking the minimum of the root mean square(RMS) of the lateral displacement response of the center of mass as the objective function,a genetic algorithm(GA) is used to optimize the parameter of the DVA and PID controller.The numerical calculations show that the ADVA and DVA are effective in suppressing the vibration and provide approximately 41.2% and 17.6% improvement,respectively,compa red with the case of no DVA,The ADVA has better performance than the DVA,When the missile is subjected to follower thrust,the effect of vibration reduction is more effective than the case without follower thrust.It is feasible to reduce vibration and improve the stability of flexible missiles by means of the ADVA.

A Flexible Hingeless Control Surface Inspired by Aquatic Animals

A flexible hingeless control surface model was proposed for motion control of Underwater Vehicles (UVs),which is inspiredby the flexible bending control surfaces of underwater creatures,such as fish and squid.Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) simulation demonstrates that,in comparison with the hinged or rigid control surface,the proposed flexible bendingcontrol surface can suppress the flow separation so as to improve the turning performance.A prototype of the flexible controlsurface was fabricated,in which Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wires were selected as the actuators.The elastic energy storageand exchange mechanism was incorporated into the actuation of the control surface to improve the efficiency.Thermal analysisof SMA wires was performed to find proper actuating condition.Open-loop bending experiments were carried out.The resultsshow that the proposed control surface can achieve the maximum bending angle of 104°.Moreover,the power and energyconsumption under different pulse conditions were compared.