Internal stabilization in dynamic trajectory control of flexible manipulators

We deal with the problem of internal stabilization in dynamic trajectory control of flexible manipulators. We compare two configurations of flexible manipulators. One is the conventional flexible manipulator, and the other is the macro-micro system that has a small rigid manipulator at the tip of the flexible manipulator. In order to preserve the stability, the precise end point tracking is impossible for the conventional flexible manipulator. On the other hand, utilizing the redundancy, the precise end point tracking with internal stabilization is available by using the macro-micro system. First, we construct a dynamic trajectory controller for the flexible manipulator considering the internal stabilization, and analyze the problems in controllers of conventional flexible manipulators. Second, we propose a controller for the macro-micro system, and show that the problems can be solved by using the macro-micro system. Lastly, simulation and experimental results are shown.