Near-optimum control of flexible manipulators

In this paper, the control problem for flexible manipulators is considered. The results are based on the singular perturbation formulation of flexible manipulator equations. A complete model of system dynamics is utilized in the design, but it is separated into slow (rigid) and fast (flexible) subsystems. A composite controller is obtained by combining a controller for the slow component and a second controller devoted to stabilizing the link compliance modes. Since the design method incorporates structural flexibility in the model, the results appear quite promising