Dynamic analysis and decoupling control of octo-pneumatic actuator vibration isolation platform

Control of a six-DOF vibration isolation platform is generally difficult which is due to the strong coupling among its input and output channels. The dynamic behavior and decoupling approach of a six-DOF vibration isolation platform with eight pneumatic actuators are investigated. Owing to the symmetric configuration design of the platform, the coupling among different channels is greatly weakened. When the payload's principal axes of inertia parallel to the platform's axes of symmetry and the payload's center of mass is at the extension line of the platform's central axis, the motion can be decomposed into two independent single-input single-output channels and two independent two-input two-output subsystems. The second-order subsystems are decoupled further with the simultaneous matrix diagonalization. Thus a decoupling control strategy is developed. Effectiveness of the decoupling approach is verified through experiments of the platform, and the experimental results show that vibrations of the platform are attenuated obviously owing to the active control.