Digital control of a flexible mechanism

This paper presents an experimental approach to the digital control of the vibratory response of a high-speed flexible linkage. It has been known that a lightly damped flexible linkage experiences an oscillatory response at certain speeds. This behavior causes inaccuracies in position and fatigue failure. For simplicity, a four-bar linkage containing one elastic follower is considered here. The objective of this research is to damp the vibratory response of the flexible linkage by means of a digital control system. A conventional PID controller is used.