Digital Filter Control of Remotely Operated Flexible Robotic Structures

This paper presents an infinite impulse response (IIR) filtering technique for reducing structural vibration in remotely operated robotic systems. The technique uses a discrete filter between the operator's joy stick and the robot controller to alter the inputs of the system so that residual vibration and swing are reduced. A linearized plant model of the system is analyzed in the discrete time domain, and the filter is designed using pole-zero placement in the z-plane. This technique has been successfully applied to a two link flexible arm and a gantry crane with a suspended payload.