Output feedback control of flexible link manipulator using sliding modes

Control of flexible link manipulators poses a challenge due to flexible modes. This paper presents output feedback control for positioning a tip of flexible link manipulator(FLM) using sliding modes. Sliding mode observer(SMO) is designed for estimation of system states. Output estimation error becomes zero in finite time due to sliding modes. The SMC with SMO is designed for positioning a tip of FLM. The method is validated in simulation and experiment both.