Dynamic modeling and vibration characteristics analysis of flexible-link and flexible-joint space manipulator

With the development of space technology, lighter and larger space manipulators will be born, of which flexible characteristics are more obvious. The manipulator vibration caused by the flexibility not only reduces the efficiency of the manipulator but also affects the accuracy of the operation. The flexibility of space manipulator mainly comes from structural flexibility of links and transmission flexibility of harmonic gear reducer in joints. The vibrations generated by these two kinds of flexibility are coupled and transformed mutually, making the dynamics characteristics of space manipulator system complicated. Therefore it is difficult to assess respective effects of these flexibilities on vibrations of the manipulator tip. And the characteristics of integrated vibration of manipulator tip with different link and joint stiffnesses are not very clear. In this paper, the dynamic equations of multi-link multi-DOF flexible manipulator are established. Then, vibration responses of the tip under different elastic modulus, damping and joint stiffness were studied, and vibration characteristics of the tip with both link and joint were also analyzed. Moreover, the effects of motion planning on the vibration of the tip were analyzed. Finally, the vibration characteristics of the manipulator with flexible joints and links are verified by a two-degree-of-freedom manipulator experimental system. Dynamics analysis results presented some useful rules for the path planning and control to suppress the vibration of the flexible space manipulator.