Mixed Sensitivity H2/H∞ Control of a Flexible-Link Robotic Arm

Abstract

Abstract — Dynamics of multi-link manipulators with flexible links include complex high-order equations which make their control problem very challenging. This paper presents a new method for simultaneous motion and vibration control of a two-link flexible manipulator using H2/H ∞ control. A multi-element finite element model of the manipulator is casted into the generalized plant model, and H2 and H ∞ controllers are synthesised employing the LMI-based optimization algorithm of MATLAB. Finally, a mixed sensitivity H2/H ∞ control is proposed based on an H2 norm constrained H ∞ control design. It is shown that the method of control design can be used successfully for the control of the joint parameters as well as suppression of vibration at the tip (end-effector) of the manipulator. Index Term-- Flexible manipulators; motion and vibration control; mixed H2/H ∞ control; finite element modelling I.