Speed control of torsional drive systems with backlash

This paper presents the design, analysis and comparison of the conventional PI-control to two state space controllers for speed control of drive systems with elastically coupled loads. A state space controller of fourth order which considers only the mechanical system and a state space controller of fifth order which takes an approximation of the electrical system into account are analyzed. Thereby, the effects of backlash in the drive are analyzed in each control. State space control yields a high performance, is able to damp torsional oscillations effectively and to reduce backlash effects. Measurement results confirm these statements.