This article presents position tracking control of a flexible beam using a piezoelectric actuator. This is achieved by implementing both a feedforward hysteretic compensator of the actuator and a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) feedback controller. The Preisach model is adopted to develop the feedforward hysteretic compensator. In the design of the compensator, estimated displacement of the piezoceramic actuator is used based on the limiting triangle database that results from collecting data of the main reversal curve and the first-order ascending curves. Modal parameters of the flexible beam, such as natural frequency, are obtained using a finite element method. Experimental implementation is conducted for position tracking control and performance comparison is made among an open-loop feedforward compensator, a PID feedback controller without considering the effect of hysteresis, and a PID feedback controller integrated with the feedforward hysteretic compensator.
