Summary
This study investigates the event‐triggered adaptive control issues of a flexible manipulator when the control system is implemented over a network. The flexible manipulator has two actuators, which receive signals from the controller through the communication network. Given the limited communication problem of network and potential actuator failures, an event‐triggered adaptive fault‐tolerant controller is proposed based on the partial differential equation model. In our design, two event‐triggering mechanisms are introduced to avoid continuous signal transmission from the controller to the actuator. Then, an adaptive law using the projection mapping operator is designed to compensate for the impact of actuator failures. By employing the proposed control scheme, angular position tracking and vibration elimination can be achieved while reducing signal transmission, regardless of actuator failure. All closed‐loop signals are proved to be uniformly ultimately bounded. The control performance is demonstrated by numerical simulations.