| Abstract: | This article describes a new control scheme designed for a three degree of freedom (3‐DOF) flexible robot. The control scheme consists of two multi variable control loops. The inner loop is the motor's position control system, while the outer loop controls the robot tip's position, thus canceling vibrations which are originated by the structural flexibility of the manipulator during movement. As it will be shown, the outer control loop is robust to payload variations. The outer loop performance is based on a perfect cancelation of the inner loop dynamics. The effects of not achieving such perfect cancelation are also studied, and rules for designing a robust controller in this case are developed. Simulations assuming different payloads have been carried out with successful results for trajectory tracking. Trajectory tracking with a variable payload is also achieved. |
