Effects of Input Shaping on Manual Tracking with Flexible and Time-Delayed System Dynamics

Manual tracking tasks are more difficult when the system used for tracking has flexibility and time delays. This paper uses a set of operator experiments to quantitatively examine how system flexibility and time delays degrade manual tracking. Additionally, it investigates the effects of adding input shaping to the system. Performance is quantified by root-mean-squared tracking error and subjective rating of difficulty.