PERTURBATION METHODS IN CONTROL OF FLEXIBLE LINK MANIPULATORS.

The resolution of the dynamics of flexible manipulators into rigid and flexible modes is considered. The decoupling is established on the single-link case by singular perturbation techniques. The flexural effects of the manipulator on its rigid-body motion are included by using the higher-order terms in the asymptotic expansion. The model used is the integro-partial-differential equation resulting from the extended Hamiltonian principle. Use of ths model, rather than a finite-dimensional approximation, yields more insight and a more compact way of obtaining the higher-order terms that represent the coupling between the rigid and the flexure modes. Asymptotic perturbation techniques are utilized to generate a composite control law.