Basic relations for control of flexible vehicles

Abstract

Papers written on the of flexible vehicles have primarily concerned themselves with a particular example or a particular class of vehicles. Even in these restricted studies, computer solutions are generally used and little insight is offered into the basic initial approach to designing a control system/flexible combination from scratch. Therefore, in this paper an attempt is made to indicate the basic relationships that enter into the of flexible vehicles, and to show that these relationships are the same for a variety of flexible vehicle types and are not limited to those displaying only bending modes. Further, for several fundamental cases, simple analytic approximations are presented for the system characteristic roots, which can both guide the system design and provide a measure of the system response. The approach is illustrated by comparing the analytic approximations with computer results for several simple vehicles.