Application of position and inertial-rate control to a 2-DOF gyroscopic platform

This paper presents a control application for the inertial stabilization of a gyroscopic platform with two degrees of freedom (2-DOF). The purposes of this application are, first, to control the angular positions of the platform in the absence of inertial disturbances and second, to control velocities measured in an inertial frame, while rejecting the disturbances associated with moving components. With regard to the first objective, a switching-control strategy is proposed in order to reduce the effects of friction as the main source of undesirable non-linear behaviors. Regarding the inertial-rate control, a master–slave control structure is suggested to achieve the desired specifications. Simulation and experimental results are presented, showing the performance attained on a real platform.