Mathematical modelling and dynamic response of a multi-straight-line path tracing flexible robot manipulator with rotating-prismatic joint

In this study, mathematical modelling and dynamic response of a flexible robot manipulator with rotating-prismatic joint are investigated. The tip end of the flexible robot manipulator traces a multi-straight-line path under the action of an external driving torque and an axial force. Considered robot manipulator consists of a rotating prismatic joint and a sliding flexible arm with a tip mass. Flexible arm is assumed to be an Euler–Bernoulli beam carrying an end-mass. Equations of motion of the flexible manipulator are obtained by using Lagrange’s equation of motion. Effect of rotary inertia, axial shortening and gravitation is considered in the analysis. Equations of motion are solved by using fourth order Runge–Kutta method. Numerical simulations obtained by using a developed computer program are presented and physical trend of the results are discussed.     

Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of a Flexible Shaft-Flexible Link System With End Mass

In this study, the equation of motion of a single link flexible robotic arm with end mass, which is driven by a flexible shaft, is obtained by using Hamilton's principle. The physical system is considered as a continuous system. As a first step, the kinetic energy and the potential energy terms and the term for work done by the nonconservative forces are established. Applying Hamilton's principle the variations are calculated and the time integral is constructed. After a series of mathematical manipulations the coupled equations of motion of the physical system and the related boundary conditions are obtained. Numerical solutions of equations of motion are obtained and discussed for verification of the model used.     

Modal analysis and control of a rotating Euler-Bernoulli beam part II: Residual vibration control

The crucial control system characteristics and analysis for distributed parameter system is illustrated and a new control scheme is presented by application to feedback control of a Euler-Bernoulli beam. The present paper is a continuation of [1] and a input preshaping technique based on frequency domain analysis is applied for the flexible link. For the application areas of a flexible link, the overshoot may not be welcome in spray painting, arc welding, and assembly of mechanical parts. This shaped input technique together with the designed controller can yield the shortest actual system input that makes the corresponding closed-loop system of the flexible link time-optimal operation, high accuracy, and energy efficiency.     

Mathematical modeling and trajectory planning of mobile manipulators with flexible links and joints

This paper is concerned with mathematical modeling and optimal motion designing of flexible mobile manipulators. The system is composed of a multiple flexible links and flexible revolute joints manipulator mounted on a mobile platform. First, analyzing on kinematics and dynamics of the model is carried out then; open-loop optimal control approach is presented for optimal motion designing of the system. The problem is known to be complex since combined motion of the base and manipulator, non-holonomic constraint of the base and highly non-linear and complicated dynamic equations as a result of the flexible nature of both links and joints are taken into account. In the proposed method, the generalized coordinates and additional kinematic constraints are selected in such a way that the base motion coordination along the predefined path is guaranteed while the optimal motion trajectory of the end-effector is generated. This method by using Pontryagin’s minimum principle and deriving the optimality conditions converts the optimal control problem into a two point boundary value problem. A comparative assessment of the dynamic model is validated through computer simulations, and then additional simulations are done for trajectory planning of a two-link flexible mobile manipulator to demonstrate effectiveness and capability of the proposed approach.     

Modal analysis and control of a rotating Euler-Bernoulli beam part I: Control system analysis and controller design

Control of the vibration modes become critical when one wants to push the state of the art with faster, lighter, and more accurate flexible link. There are three steps which are necessary for the control of the flexible link. First, a good design based model of the plant must exist. Second, a good controller which is also realizable must be designed. Third, input to the controller must be constructed using knowledge of the system dynamic response. In this paper, involving a complete control strategy, pertaining to design based model, control, and dealing with the shaping of system input is presented. In Part I, a single-input single-output transcendental transfer function, pole-zero pattern, controllability, observability, and system type for distributed parameter system is illustrated by application to feedback control of an Euler-Bernoulli beam. The eigenfunctions, orthogonality condition, and mode summation method have been investigated in order to get the system analytical solution. A new control scheme, which depends on the pole-zero plot of the infinite-dimensional system and uses a realizable actuator and sensor without involving truncation of the higher-frequency modes, shows that good stability, robustness, and efficient tracking property can be achieved by moving all the poles of the corresponding closed-loop system further into the left half-plane.     

Dynamic analysis and system identification of an LCD glass-handling robot driven by a PMSM

In this paper, Hamilton’s principle is employed to derive Lagrange’s equations of an liquid crystal display (LCD) glass-handling robot driven by a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). The robot has three arms driven by two timing belts. The dynamic formulations can be expressed by one and four independent variables, which are named as the rigid and flexible models, respectively. In order to verify the dynamic formulation is correct, we reduce the flexible model to the rigid one under some assumptions. In this paper, we adopt the real-coded genetic algorithm (RGA) to identify all the parameters of the robot and PMSM simultaneously. It is found that the RGA can identify system parameters which are difficult to be measured in practical problems, for examples, the inductance, stator resistance, motor torque constant, damping coefficient of the motor and timing belts. In numerical simulations, vibrations due to flexibility of the timing belts are investigated for the angular displacements, speeds, accelerations of arms, and the horizontal and vertical displacements of the robot. The angular displacements of the robot arm and the translational positions of the robot end are obtained in the numerical simulations and experimental results. From their comparisons, it is demonstrated that identification results of the dynamic model with four independent variables present the better matching with experimental results of the system.     

Stabilization and optimal decay rate for a non-homogeneous rotating body-beam with dynamic boundary controls

In this paper, we consider the boundary stabilization of a flexible beam attached to the center of a rigid disk. The disk rotates with a non-uniform angular velocity while the beam has non-homogeneous spatial coefficients. To stabilize the system, we propose a feedback law which consists of a control torque applied on the disk and either a dynamic boundary control moment or a dynamic boundary control force or both of them applied at the free end of the beam. By the frequency multiplier method, we show that no matter how non-homogeneous the beam is, and no matter how the angular velocity is varying but not exceeding a certain bound, the nonlinear closed loop system is always exponential stable. Furthermore, by the spectral analysis method, it is shown that the closed loop system with uniform angular velocity has a sequence of generalized eigenfunctions, which form a Riesz basis for the state space, and hence the spectrum-determined growth condition as well as the optimal decay rate are obtained.     

Euler-Bernoulli梁的非同位控制

对一端固定,一端加剪切力反馈的Euler-Bernoulli梁,运用Legendre谱方法对一个非同位控制系统进行研究,得到了最优反馈增益系数和系统衰减率.结果表明这样的非同位控制系统可以有效的增大系统衰减率,使系统具有更好的稳定性.同时指出所研究的系统是极小相位的.     

Active vibration control of unbalanced flexible rotor–shaft systems parametrically excited due to base motion

Rotor vibrations caused by large time-varying base motion are of considerable importance as there are a good number of rotors, e.g., the ship and aircraft turbine rotors, which are often subject to excitations, as the rotor base, i.e. the vehicle, undergoes large time varying linear and angular displacements as a result of different maneuvers. Due to such motions of the base, the equations of vibratory motion of a flexible rotor–shaft relative to the base (which forms a non-inertial reference frame) contains terms due to Coriolis effect as well as inertial excitations (generally asynchronous to rotor spin) generated by different system parameters. Such equations of motion are linear but time-varying in nature, invoking the possibility of parametric instability under certain frequency–amplitude combinations of the base motion. An investigation of active vibration control of an unbalanced rotor–shaft system on moving bases is attempted in this work with electromagnetic control force provided by an actuator consisting of four electromagnetic exciters, placed on the stator in a suitable plane around the rotor–shaft. The actuator does not levitate the rotor or facilitate any bearing action, which is provided by the conventional suspension system. The equations of motion of the rotor–shaft continuum are first written with respect to the non-inertial reference frame (the moving base in this case) including the effect of rotor internal damping. A conventional model for the electromagnetic exciter is used. Numerical simulations performed on the flexible rotor–shaft modelled using beam finite elements shows that the control action is successful in avoiding the parametric instability, postponing the instability due to internal material damping and reducing the rotor response relative to the rigid base significantly, with sufficiently low demand of control current in comparison with the bias current in the actuator coils.     

Modeling and nonlinear control of a flexible-link manipulator

The problem of modeling and controlling the tip position of a one-link flexible manipulator is considered. The proposed model has been used to investigate the effect of the open-loop control torque profile, and the payload. The control strategy is based on the nonlinear State Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE) design method in the context of application to robotics and manufacturing systems. In this paper, an experimental test-bed was developed to demonstrate the concept of end-point position feedback on a single-link elastic manipulator, and the control strategy for a single-link flexible manipulator. The controller is designed based on the nonlinear SDRE developed by the authors and applied to a flexible manipulator. The experimental results are compared with conventional PD controller strategy. The results reveal that the nonlinear SDRE controller is near optimal and robustly; and its performance is improved comparing to the PD control scheme.     

Dynamics and control of underactuated mechanical systems: analysis and simple experimental verification

Underactuated mechanical systems are systems with fewer control inputs than the degrees of freedom, m < n, the relevant technical examples being e.g. cranes, aircrafts and flexible manipulators. The determination of an input control strategy that forces an underactuated system to complete a set of m specified motion tasks (servo-constraints) is a demanding problem. The solution is conditioned to differential flatness of the problem, denoted that all 2n state variables and m control inputs can algebraically be expressed, at least theoretically, in terms of the desired m outputs and their time derivatives up to a certain order. A more practical formulation, motivated hereafter, is to pose the problem as a set of differential-algebraic equations, and then obtain the solution numerically. The theoretical considerations are illustrated by a simple two-degree-of-freedom underactuated system composed of two rotating discs connected by a flexible rod (torsional spring), in which the pre-specified motion of the first disc is actuated by the torque applied to the second disc, n = 2 and m = 1. The determined control strategy is then verified experimentally on a laboratory stand representing the two-disc system. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Dynamic modelling of a rigid-flexible manipulator for constrained motion task control

A mathematical model governing the dynamics of a constrained rigid-flexible manipulator moving in a horizontal plane is derived using Hamilton's principle. A new variable is introduced before the procedure of modal expansion in order to convert the non-homogeneous boundary condition into a homogeneous one. The static tip deflection of the flexible link is allowed in order to maintain the contact force between the end effector and the constrained path and this tip deflection is considered in both the inverse kinematics and the order reduction procedures. The state vector of the proposed controller consists of joint angle of the rigid link, its derivative and integral, the first deflection mode and its derivative, and the integral of contact force. A multivariable controller is proposed for the simultaneous motion and force control of the manipulator. The controller consists of a feedforward term which contributes the torque for the expected joint angles and the contact force, and a feedback term with the time varying optimal gains obtained from the Matrix Riccati equation. Computer simulation results show that this proposed controller is capable of performing the straight line tracking task satisfactorily under four different conditions.     

Attitude stabilization of a rigid body in conditions of decreasing dissipation

The paper presents the problem of triaxial stabilization of the angular position of a rigid body. The possibility of implementing a control system in which dissipative torque tends to zero over time and the restoring torque is the only remaining control torque is considered. The case of vanishing damping considered in this study is known as the most complicated one in the problem of stability analysis of mechanical systems with a nonstationary parameter at the vector of dissipative forces. The lemma of the estimate from below for the norm of the restoring torque in the neighborhood of the stabilized motion of a rigid body and two theorems on asymptotic stability of the stabilized motion of a body are proven. It is shown that the sufficient conditions of asymptotic stability found in the theorems are close to the necessary ones. The results of numerical simulation illustrating the conclusions obtained in this study are presented.     

Modelling and Control of a Hydraulic Actuated Large Scale Manipulator

This contribution deals with the modelling and control of an elastic manipulator. The arm is actuated by a hydraulic ram due to the significant weight. The overall goal is to achieve good tracking of the tip, as well as to reject disturbances, which act on the flexible arm. The controller design is based on two approaches. A flatness‐based feedforward control takes care of the tracking behaviour, and a passivity‐based feedback law stabilizes the trajectories and suppresses the elastic vibrations. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Global mode method for dynamic modeling of a flexible-link flexible-joint manipulator with tip mass

In this paper, the global mode method (GMM) is proposed to obtain a reduced-order analytical dynamic model for a signal flexible-link flexible-joint (SFF) manipulator. Firstly, the nonlinear partial differential equations (PDE) that govern the motion of the flexible link and flexible joint, respectively, are derived by applying the Hamilton principle. By combining the linearized governing equations of motion for a flexible link and the equation of motion for the flexible joint, the characteristic equation is obtained for the whole system. The natural frequencies and global mode shapes of the linearized model of the SFF manipulator are determined, and orthogonality relations of the global mode shapes are established. Then, the global mode shapes and their orthogonality relations are used to truncate the nonlinear PDEs of the SFF manipulator to a nonlinear ordinary differential equation with a few degrees-of-freedom (DOF). For comparison, two other dynamic models of the SFF are derived by employing the assumed mode method (AMM) and finite element method (FEM). To verify the method proposed, the results from the GMM are compared with those obtained from the FEM. The effects of the link length and payload mass on the convergence of AMM model for the first two frequencies are investigated. Based on the dynamic models, obtained by GMM and AMM, dynamical responses for the system with different numbers of modes are worked out numerically, which are compared with those obtained from FEM. These comparisons show a good agreement between the results of the GMM and that of the FEM model, which indeed proved the accuracy and applicability of the GMM model.     

一类柔性梁系统的谱分析和半群生成

讨论了一类双臂三关节柔性梁系统的分析问题．首先,建立了一个与柔性梁的偏微分方程组及初值边值条件相应的希尔伯特空间中的一阶发展系统．接着讨论系统算子的谱性质和半群性质．最后借助系统算子的谱性质和半群性质提出并证明了柔性梁系统的指数稳定性．     

Control of a twin clutch transmission for smooth gearshifts

The flow of torque in a twin clutch transmission is investigated and the different phases of torque transfer between the two clutches are studied. In order to prevent torque backlash and intense wear in dry clutch plates, a proper clamp force regulation is used. A full vehicle simulation that includes vehicle and powertrain components is set up. A Fuzzy logic control system is found suitable for clamp force and engine throttle controls. For upshift and downshift cases, the design of controllers for the gearshift process is carried out by defining proper membership functions and Fuzzy rules using Matlab/Simulink^TM software. The effectiveness of the control system is investigated by simulating two upshift and downshift cases. Results indicate that the control system is successful in regulating the clutch clamp forces and the engine throttle in such a way that a smooth torque flow in the transmission is achieved in all cases.     

一类带有有限维控制器的弹性系统的反馈控制

本文讨论一类弹性系统的反馈控制问题,它在工程上,特别是在大宇航飞行器设计中的应用是非常活跃的.我们的主要结果是:利用谱分析方法和无条件基理论证明了这类系统是严格耗散的分布参数系统,给出了该系统的降维模型可控可观的充分条件,从而设计一个有限维控制器对系统进行反馈控制,使得闭环系统具有更好的稳定性能,将文献[2,3]中的结果推广到非常一般的情形.     

Flexible-link robots with combined trajectory tracking and vibration control

This work deals with asymptotic trajectory tracking and active damping injection on a flexible-link robot by application of Multiple Positive Position Feedback. The flexible-link robot is modeled and validated by using finite element methods and experimental modal analysis, and then a reduced order model of the flexible-link robot dynamics, up to the first dominant vibration modes, is employed for experimental evaluation on a test rig. Then, a combined control scheme is synthesized in two parts: first, a Sliding-Mode Control based on a cascaded Proportional-Integral-Derivative for regulation and trajectory tracking tasks, via a direct current motor torque as the control input for the overall system dynamics, and, second, a Multiple Positive Position Feedback for active vibration control and attenuation of residual vibrations on the tip position, via the input voltage applied to a piezoelectric patch actuator attached directly on the flexible beam. The results are evaluated on an experimental platform, where the dynamic performance of the overall active vibration control scheme leads to fast and effective tracking results, with damping ratios increased up to 300%.     

Development and experimental validation of a control-oriented Diesel engine model for fuel consumption and brake torque predictions

This article describes the development and experimental validation of a control-oriented, real-time capable, Diesel engine instantaneous fuel consumption and brake torque model under warmed-up conditions with only two inputs: torque request and the engine speed and no other measurements. Such a model, with the capability of reliably and computationally efficiently estimating the aforementioned variables at both steady-state and transient engine-operating conditions, can be utilized in the context of real-time control and optimization of hybrid power train systems. Although Diesel engine dynamics are highly non-linear and very complex, by considering the Diesel engine and its control system, that is, engine control unit together as an entity, it becomes possible to predict the engine instantaneous fuel consumption and torque based on only those two inputs. A synergy between different modelling methodologies including physically based grey-box and data-driven black-box approaches were integrated in the Diesel engine model. The fuelling and torque predictions have been validated by means of experimental data from a medium-duty Diesel engine at both steady-state and transient operations, including engine start-ups and shutdowns.