Experimental modal analysis of a single-link flexible robotic manipulator with curved geometry using applied system identification methods

In this paper, the principal time-domain system identification methods are studied and used to carry out the experimental modal analysis of a single-link flexible manipulator with curved geometry in a comparative fashion. The identification process carried out in this study is aimed at deriving first-order state-space dynamical models and second-order configuration-space dynamical models of the single-link flexible manipulator by using an array of fundamental system identification procedures, which includes the ARX (AutoRegressive eXogenous method), SSEST (State-Space ESTimation method), N4SID (Numerical Algorithm for Subspace State-Space System Identification), ERA/OKID (Eigensystem Realization Algorithm combined with the Observer/Kalman Filter Identification method), and TFEST (Transfer Function ESTimation method) methods. The main goal of this paper is, therefore, to perform a comparative study between the most fundamental system identification procedures applied to the numerical and experimental analysis of the structural vibrations of a flexible manipulator having a curved geometric shape. First, this paper poses the theoretical foundations for the development of the numerical study and the experimental testing to be performed for the case study. Subsequently, the flexible manipulator analyzed in this work is modeled with various levels of complexity, which range from a simple lumped parameter model to a linear finite element model developed by integrating the interconnections between the SOLIDWORKS and ANSYS software. By doing so, the computational procedures applied to the time-domain experimental measurements of the dynamic behavior of the flexible manipulator allow for reconstructing first-order and second-order mechanical models of the structural system of interest in the MATLAB simulation environment. The numerical results and the experimental tests reported in this investigation demonstrate the effectiveness of all the time-domain system identification approaches considered in the paper.