Variable Structure Control of a Distributed-Parameter Flexible Beam

In this article, regulation of a distributed-parameter flexible beam is considered using variable structure control techniques. The proposed controller can stabilize the system exponentially and the converging speed can be set by the designer as desired. Different from existing variable structure controllers for flexible robots in the litera-ture, the controller presented here is designed directly for the partial differential equations governing the motion of the distributed-parameter system. Thus, exponen-tial stability holds for the original distributed-parameter system. Numerical simula-tions are also provided to verify the effectiveness of the approach presented. 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1