A sliding mode based controller for a flexible arm with a load

Abstract

This study is about the chattering-free sliding mode based control of a single link flexible arm with a mass at the end-point. The model for this system is obtained using Lagrange's method and the control is developed aiming the angular position of the hub unit to follow a desired trajectory, while the strain is forced to be zero. Experimental results obtained on a DSP32 based single link arm system with and without control on the strain, demonstrate the improved performance caused by the strain control in terms of the transient and steady state and robustness.