On the algebraic parameter identification of vibrating mechanical systems

•A parameter identification method is proposed for vibrating mechanical systems.•Mass, stiffness and damping estimation is performed on-line and algebraically.•The identification method is verified for tracking control tasks in MIMO systems.•The identification method and control scheme only require position measurements.

This paper proposes an on-line algebraic parameter identification method in time domain for multiple degrees-of-freedom linear mass–spring–damper mechanical systems using position measurements. The constant parameters of mass, stiffness and damping are algebraically estimated from transient real-time measurements. Analytical and numerical results prove the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed identification approach for reference trajectory tracking control tasks on multiple-input–multiple-output vibrating mechanical systems with unknown constant parameters.