Finite element approach to dynamic modelling of a flexible robot manipulator: performance evaluation and computational requirements

Abstract

This paper presents a performance evaluation and the computational requirements of using the finite element (FE) method for modelling flexible robot manipulators. A constrained planar single-link flexible manipulator is considered. Finite-dimensional simulation of the manipulator is developed using the FE method and is implemented on two computing domains. The simulation performance, on the basis of accuracy in characterizing the behaviour of the manipulator and computational efficiency, are assessed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.