Comparison of classical and newly designed motion profiles for motion-based control of flexible composite manipulator

The motion profiles defined to move the robot manipulators directly affect the endpoint position accuracy, position repeatability, and vibration control of the manipulators in engineering applications, especially in flexible manipulators. This study deals theoretically and experimentally with the dynamic performance of two different motion profiles in reducing the vibration amplitudes of a single-link flexible composite manipulator. Manipulator is produced from epoxy-glass composite material with a layer orientation of [0/90/0/0/90/0] lay-up. For theoretical studies, the SimMechanics-based flexible dynamic model is created using flexible beam block in MATLAB/Simulink, and the finite element model is established with a layered structural solid element in ANSYS. Two different motion profiles are defined to drive the manipulator for different stopping positions and motion times. Simulations are achieved by using motion profiles. The performance of the motion profiles is evaluated by considering the reduction ratio of residual displacement and acceleration vibrations generated at the endpoint of the manipulator. RMS values of residual vibrations are calculated to determine the rate of residual vibration suppression. Reduction ratios are determined by considering the maximum vibration amplitudes as the reference RMS value. The effectiveness of the motion profiles is presented in comparison with the reduction rates. Simulation results obtained using both displacement and acceleration vibration responses are verified with experiments for all motion cases. Also, the modeling and analysis of the composite manipulator are verified by simulations and experiments with the SimMechanics-based modeling method, and the reliability of the proposed method is increased.