Robust Control Design through Experimental Load Identification for Variable Speed Drives

A robust method for speed control design in variable speed drives based on experimental plant model identification is presented in this paper. Genetic algorithms are employed for both experimentally identifying the nominal mechanical system parameters and to optimize suitable controllers on an accurate simulation of the experimental prototype using the estimated plant parameters and with a robustness constraint based on the same identified mechanical system model. Structure and parameters of robust speed controllers have been designed for a permanent magnet DC variable speed drive subject to variable mechanical loads. Experimental tests are presented to validate the proposed design procedure. The method provides a fully automated commissioning procedure for servo and high performance drives and offers significant improvements to current industrial drive systems.