Abstract
In this paper a method of estimation of a flexible structure's spot where an unlooked-for obstacle collides based on observation data. To estimate the collision force (collision input) acting on the flexible structure, a finite-dimensional model and the dynamics of the collision input are introduced. The modal representation of the collision input will be obtained using a Kalman filter for the augmented system consisting of the finite-dimensional model of the flexible structure and the dynamics of the collision input. The estimation of the collision spot is achieved to find a position to minimize a mean-square error criterion constructed by the estimate of the collision input.
