Optimal placement and active vibration control for piezoelectric smart flexible manipulators using modal H ₂ norm

The optimal placement and active vibration control for piezoelectric smart single flexible manipulator are investigated in this study. Based on the assumed mode method and Hamilton’s principle, the dynamic equation of the piezoelectric smart single flexible manipulator is established. Then, the singular perturbation method is adopted and the coupled dynamic equation is decomposed into slow (rigid) and fast (flexible) subsystems. After that, the couple optimal placement criterion of piezoelectric actuators is proposed on the base of modal H ₂ norm of the fast subsystem and the change rate of natural frequencies. Using an improved particle swarm optimization algorithm, the optimal placement of piezoelectric actuators is realized. Subsequently, in order to verify the validity and feasibility of the presented optimal placement criterion, the composite controller is designed for the active vibration control of the piezoelectric smart single flexible manipulator. Finally, numerical simulations and experiments are presented. The results demonstrate that the piezoelectric smart single flexible manipulator system has a better single modal controllability and observability and has a good result on the vibration suppression using the optimization results of actuators. The proposed optimal placement criterion and method are feasible and effective.