Transfer Matrix Method for Multibody Systems

9Transfer Matrix Method for Controlled Multibody Systems

9.1 Introduction

Research on the dynamics of multibody systems began more than 40 years ago and international commercial software based on a great many theories and methods for multibody systems has been developed. The transfer matrix method for multibody systems (MSTMM) does not need global dynamic equations of the system and has a lot of advantages, such as easy modeling, high programming stylization and high computational efficiency. In principle, the MSTMM can be combined with any other mechanics method, including all kinds of multibody system dynamics methods, the finite element method (FEM), the classic mechanics method and the analytical mechanics method, so that the advantages of different methods can be exploited. The MSTMM can be combined with all kinds of software to improve its computational speed. Precise performance prediction and effective controls of the multibody system are very important in control engineering problems, especially in fields such as the firing control of the launch system of high‐performance weapons, spatial structure control and robots. Because the problems are complex and the computation speed for the multi‐rigid‐flexible‐body system (MRFS) is too slow to satisfy the required response time for quick control, the dynamic models of multibody systems have to be simplified when dealing with those problems, and the model error needs to be compensated for through complex control design. ...