Abstract: The vibration problem of space robot and large flexible spacecrafts’ structures will be caused due to attitude or oribit maneuvering, and external disturbance. The low frequency large amplitude vibration will last for a long time, which will affect the stability and control accuracy of the spacecraft system. To suppress the low frequency large amplitude vibration and residual vibration quickly, the combined method of controlled force jet thrusters actuating and piezoelectric driving for vibration control is proposed. Dynamics modeling of the combining controlled flexible manipulator system is accomplished, and the control algorithms are provided. The combining controlled flexible manipulator experimental setup is designed and erected, and the pneumatic control circuit and piezoelectric control circuit are built up. Several control methods are presented to develop the experimental comparison researches for attenuating the large amplitude low frequency modal vibration of the flexible manipulator, including piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) as actuator, controlled force air-jet thrusters as actuators and the combining of PZT and controlled force jet thrusters’ actuators. The experimental results demonstrate that the adopted combining methods can not only suppress the large amplitude low frequency vibration of the flexible manipulator system quickly, but also significantly eliminate both the low and high frequency small amplitude residual vibration simultaneously.

Key words: Combined control, Flexible manipulator, Jet thruster actuating, Piezoelectric driving, Vibration control