Simultaneous Control for Position and Vibration of a Planetary Rover with Flexible Structures

This paper proposes a synthesis procedure for a robust control target to be utilized in the simultaneous control of position and vibration of a planetary rover with flexible structures. The target is designed as a type of feedforward control input and its profile is derived only by solving a regulator problem with an initial velocity. In the regulator problem, the non-stationary robust control method is employed to make the target profile be robust against parameter variation. Further, the design procedure for the target is independent of the positioning distance and time schedule. The robustness of the target against parameter variation is examined through numerical calculations and the results are compared with those obtained from conventional methods. As a result, the usefulness of the proposed command shaping procedure is demonstrated and the high robustness of the target is confirmed. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and The Robotics Society of Japan, 2010