PID Control of a Double Link (2-link) Flexible Robotic Manipulator (2-DOF) in the 3 DE Space

In this paper, the design & development of a PID controller for the control of a two-link flexible robotic manipulator in the 3 Dimensional Euclidean space is being presented along with the simulation results. In the research work considered, a 2-link flexible manipulator with 2-DOF is being considered and the base motor is attached to the single flexible link & the other link is attached to the end of the link 1 to which the shoulder motor is connected and the entire set-up is a single structure one and 2 motors are being used for actuation purposes & is being controlled / regulated using pre-set values with less errors, i.e., the dual links are rotating w.r.t. the base, further the link-2 is rotating w.r.t. the shoulder axes & the joint axes of the two are parallel and perpendicular w.r.t. the robot work surface. Hence, the entire system can be called as a planar mechanism, i.e., the 2 links are moving parallel to the plane of the work surface (x - y plane). There are 2 joints, viz., base joint & the shoulder joint along with the end-effector being the tip of the 2-link manipulator. The small errors that occurs in the control signal u is due to the changes during the set-point. Simulink model is being developed in the Simulink-Matlab environment & after running the model, the simulation results observed, the obtained results shows the efficacy of the methodology developed.