Stiffening control of a class of nonlinear affine systems

A control procedure is proposed for dealing with the active stiffening motion of a class of flexible structures characterized by nonlinear affine dynamics. Based on recent developments in the area of differential geometry, the procedure allows for determining the critical area for placing a sensor on a given flexible structure beyond which a centralized controller located on the rigid part becomes ineffective. This is used subsequently for locating instrumentation devices and hardware components on the elastic parts of the system. Numerical simulations are carried out to assess the validity of the theoretical framework. Several meaningful results are obtained, and propositions for further findings are outlined.