Model-free controllers of a single-link smart material robot

In this paper, controller design is investigated for a single-link smart material robot, which combines both the advantages of flexible robots and piezoelectric materials. To avoid any drawbacks resulting from model uncertainties and/or model truncations, a class of model-free controllers (MFCs) are proposed for the smart material robot system to achieve both tip regulation and residual vibration suppression. In contrast to traditional model-based methods, the controllers presented here are derived from the basic energy-work relationship, which is independent of the system dynamics. Furthermore, the controllers are easily implementable because all the signals can be chosen readily measurable. Simulations are carried out to show the effectiveness of the presented approach.