Strain gauge based control of single-link flexible very lightweight robots robust to payload changes

This article presents a new control scheme for single-link flexible very lightweight robots. This is strain gauge based and consists of two nested loops: an internal loop that controls the motor dynamics; and an external loop that allows the tip to be positioned in space. Throughout the paper we demonstrate that the proposed scheme is very robust to payload variations due to the use of the strain gauges. We also show that our scheme is robust to errors in parameter estimation and to motor parameter changes. Finally we illustrate theoretical conclusions with a set of simulations in which we compare the results of our scheme with classical controller results. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.