Robust Control for Rapid Reorientation of Flexible Structures

In this paper we consider the practical application of methods for feedback linearization of multibody systems with elasitic interactions. We investigate the role of singular perturbation analysis for design of nonlinear control for rapid slewing of a rigid body with attached flexible appendage. Similar problems arise in elastic models for appendage deployment and fast, lightweight robotic arms. Although such models cannot be exactly linearized by C^¿ transformation of the system state and feedback the nominal models can be partially linearized with respect to primary system orientation variables. Models are developed and various options for robust control implementation are discussed.