Sensor-based controller tuning of indirect drive trains

This paper presents a sensor-based controller tuning method for indirect-drive trains. In the standard control practice of the indirect-drive trains, the variable for control feedback (motor position) is different from the variable for performance evaluation (load position). In order to improve the performance of such standard controllers, it is suggested to use additional load-side sensor measurements in the controller tuning process. The load-side acceleration is utilized in this paper due to the easy installation of MEMS accelerometers. The additional load- side acceleration measurement is included in the performance index of the controller tuning. The iterative feedback tuning (IFT) method is utilized to adjust the controller gains to minimize the performance index based on the sensor measurements. The effectiveness of the controller tuning method is demonstrated by experiments.