ABSTRACT

Abstract. This paper presents a new control strategy for the position and force control of flexible manipulators. The governing equation o f motion of a two-link flexible manipulator which features piezoceramic actuators bonded on each flexible link is derived via Hamilton’s principle. The control torques o f the motors to command desired position and force are determined by a sliding mode controller(SMC) on the basis o f the rigid-mode dynamics. In the controller formulation, the sliding mode controller with perturbation estimation(SMCPE) is adopted to determine appropriate control gains. The SMCPE is then incorporated with the fuzzy technique to mitigate inherent chattering problem while maintaining the robust stability of the system. A set o f fuzzy parameters and control rules are obtained from estimated perturbation. During the commanded motion, undesirable oscillation is actively suppressed by applying feedback control voltages to the piezoceramic actuators. These feedback voltages are also determined by the SMCPE. Consequently, accurate position and force control o f a two-link flexible manipulator are achieved.