Multi-objective optimal design and experimental validation of tracking control of a rotating flexible beam

This paper investigates the tracking control problem for a rotating flexible beam. A proportional-integral-derivative control is designed to meet multiple objectives including overshoot, peak time, tracking error of the rigid movement of the rotating base, and the defectional angle of the flexible beam. A multi-objective optimization problem is then formulated for the control design and is solved with the cell mapping method. Numerical simulations and experiments are carried out to demonstrate the effect of the different control gains in the Pareto set, and to study the difference between a linear and a nonlinear model of the flexible beam.