Modeling and feedback control of a flexible arm

Abstract

Abstract When a flexible arm is rotated by a motor about an axis through the arm's fixed end, transverse vibration may occur. The motor torque should be controlled in such a way that the motor rotates by a specified angle, while simultaneously stabilizing vibration of the flexible arm so that it is arrested as soon as possible at the end of rotation. In this paper, we first derive a partial differential equation and a set of boundary conditions governing the vibration. Then, a feedback control system which incorporates a dynamic compensator is designed using sensor outputs. A set of experiments has been constructed to demonstrate control strategies for a flexible arm, where a strain gage was used as a vibration sensor and a microcomputer was equipped as a controller. Several satisfactory experimental results are shown.