Multivariable predictive control for vibrating structures: An application

This paper proposes the use of Model Predictive Control (MPC) to control a fast mechanical system. In particular an MPC strategy is applied to a laboratory flexible arm to perform a fast positioning of the end-effector with limited oscillations during the maneuver. The on-line implementation of a fast MPC is obtained with an ad hoc platform based on C++ and MATLAB while the MPC tuning is based on a non-linear model identified and validated with experimental data. The effectiveness of the proposed method is highlighted with some suitable experiments performed on the plant. In particular the comparison with a Linear Quadratic Regulator stresses the advantage of the MPC capability to explicitly handle input and state constraints.This feature guarantees smaller displacements that imply a structure stress reduction.