Position and Force Control of Flexible Robotic Manipulators using the LQG/LTR Design Methodology

Control of a two link planar manipulator with one flexible link executing constrained and unconstrained maneuvers is considered in this study. The dynamic model includes the impact force generated during the transition from unconstrained to constrained segment of the robotic task. The linear quadratic Gaussian/loop transfer recovery (LQG/LTR) design methodology is exploited to design a robust feedback control system that can handle modelling errors and sensor noise, and operate on Cartesian space trajectory errors. The LQG/LTR compensator together with a feedforward loop is used to control the flexible manipulator. Simulated results are presented for a numerical example.