Position control of flexible shafts using first order dynamic sliding mode controller

Abstract

With the increasing demand for high-speed, high accuracy, and low energy consumption, light-weight mechanisms have become increasingly desirable. Position control of flexible shafts in light-weight mechanisms is a challenging research topic due to the nonlinear characteristics and model uncertainties caused by structural flexibility. This thesis provides a method of designing first order dynamic sliding mode controller for position control of flexible shafts along with the experimental evaluation. The experimental apparatus with flexible shafts was modeled using properties of lightly damped second order systems. The first order dynamic sliding mode controllers were designed using optimization method for designing the sliding surfaces. The tuning guidelines for sliding mode controllers were explored. The test results showed that the first order dynamic sliding mode controller possessed the properties of chattering-free and smooth control action, and had better performance as measured by robust control metrics.