Design of Non-linear Controller for a Flexible Rotatory Beam using State-Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE) Control

Control of flexible structures is an open problem. Such structures can be very different, for example, robot arm or satellite solar panel. The common point between these structures is their very light weight and large length. Light structure control requires less energy but a much more complex control system to deal with vibrations. In this paper a flexible rotatory beam is modeled by Euler-Bernoulli hypothesis and its angular position is controlled. This kind of model is, most of the time, highly non-linear. As a result, controller designed by linear control technique can have its performance and robustness degraded. To deal with this problem, the State-Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE) method is used to design and test a position control algorithm for the rigid-flexible non-linear model. The matlab/simulink simulator model is based on the characteristics of a real equipment. The control strategy uses a simple brushed DC electric motor. This work serves to validate the numerical simulator model and to verify the functionality of the control algorithm designed. In future work, this controller will be tested with the real rotatory beam to validate the model and the control algorithm.