Reaction null-space based control of flexible structure mounted manipulator systems

Abstract

The control of a dexterous manipulator mounted on a flexible structure is discussed. Using a concept called reaction null space, the manipulator dynamics is totally decoupled from the base dynamics. As a consequence of the decoupling, feedback control gains can be determined in a straightforward manner. We examine the simultaneous performance of the following two tasks: (1) base vibration suppression and (2) end-point path tracking without base disturbance.