An Experimental System for Investigation of Flexible Links Experiencing General Motions

This paper describes the first phase of an analytical and experimental program investigating flexible manipulators capable of motions in two planes. The experimental phase examines the impact of combined motions in two planes and current hardware capabilities on system modeling requirements and performance. The analytical work described in this paper extends application of balanced realization analysis to include the effect of measurement technique on model order estimates for flexible manipulators. The initial results for a manipulator capable of planar motions indicate that measurement of strains in the flexible link place more stringent requirements on system modeling. This result is compared to previous experimentally observed results.