Active Isolation and Control of Vibrations

This book investigates a solution for thesix-degree-of-freedom vibration isolation andsuppression. Both ground and space applications havebeen taken into account. Vibrations propagating intothe mechanical systems can cause many problems atdifferent levels causing performance degradation forsensitive systems. The proposed solution in this workis to use a six-axis active hexapod based on Stewartplatform configuration. The rigidity of the legs ofthis hexapod determines the application to be usedfor; a stiff hexapod for example is used as a rigidinterface for active damping and precision pointingapplications while a soft hexapod is used ingeneral for the purpose of active isolation ofvibrations. Active vibration isolation and damping ofsensitive equipment is investigated here whereseveral single-axis isolation techniques are analyzedand tested. The study of single-axis systems has beendeveloped and used to build a six-axis isolator. Asix degrees of freedom active isolator based onStewart platform has been designed manufactured andtested for the purpose of active vibration isolationof sensitive payloads.