Closed-Loop Displacement Control of a One-Link Flexible Arm With a Tip Mass

Abstract

A theoretical and experimental study is presented for the displacement control of a one-link flexible arm with an end-point payload. The tip displacement of the arm is sensed by the gap-sensor fixed in space and controlled by a D. C. motor located at the other end of the arm. where the motor is driven by a feedback signal composed of the tip displacement and velocity. As an example. the problem of shifting the end-point of the arm from its initial position to the desired position by the amount of ω_t is considered. Theoretical results are obtained by applying the method of the Laplace transform to the governing equation. and the solution is obtained by the method of numerical Laplace inversion. Experimental results are obtained and compared with the theoretical ones, from which it is shown that both results are in good agreement for a wide range of parameters.