Modeling and control of a two-link flexible space manipulator using the wave-based method

The vibration control of flexible space manipulator is challengeable due to the complex dynamics model and uncertain parameters. Thus, the non-model-based control method is one of the important research directions of the vibration suppression of the flexible system. The wave-based method proposed by O'Connor can well eliminate residual vibration for single-input flexible system. However, there are very few studies on multi-input multi-output flexible system using wave-based method. In this paper, we research vibration control of a two-link flexible space manipulator based on the principle of waves. Firstly, based on the pseudo-rigid body method, the dynamics model of a two-link planar space manipulator with joint and link flexibility is established. Then, the basic principle of wave-based control method is briefly introduced. The wave transfer function and the wave propagation in the flexible body are discussed. Moreover, the steady-state error of the two-link control system is studied and we proposed an elimination method of the steady-state error of the manipulator joint. Finally, the simulations of a single-link and a two-link flexible space manipulator are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the presented approach. The simulation results verify the validity of the proposed method.