Trajectory tracking control of robots with flexible links

A new method is developed for the end-effector trajectory tracking control of robots with flexible links. In order to cope with the non-minimum phase property of the system, the closed-loop poles are placed at desired locations using full state feedback. The dynamic equations are linearized about the rigid motion. A composite control law is designed to track the desired trajectory while at the same time the internal dynamics is stabilized. The proposed method is valid for all types of manipulators with any degree of freedom. A two link manipulator is simulated to illustrate the performance of the method. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science. Ltd. All rights reserved