Effects of Fuzzy-Tuning the Boundary Conditions on the Active Control of a Single-Link Flexible Robotic Manipulator

Abstract

A new approach has been proposed in this study to effectively control the rigid and flexible motions of a single-link robotic manipulator. This is done by developing a two-layered control strategy. The upper layer is solely concerned with the process of fuzzy-tuning the boundary conditions of the flexible link. The rationale is to exploit the advantages, attributed to varying the boundary conditions of the compliant beam, in rendering the joint controller more effective in suppressing the unwanted vibrations of the arm. The lower or second layer of the control strategy is considered herein to be either a conventional or a fuzzy-tuned control scheme. Its main task is to determine the appropriate joint control torque needed to perform good set-point tracking while suppressing the undesired vibrations of the robot. The digital simulation results confirm that the process of fuzzy-tuning the boundary conditions of the flexible link has a tendency to significantly enhance the capability of the joint controller in suppressing the unwanted vibrations of the manipulator.