Speed controller for four-mass mechanical system with two drive units

In this paper two approaches of rotational speed control of a multi-mass system equipped with two cooperating drive units are described. The assumed control object is a model of a binocular telescope. First of the control structures is based on a PID controller with appropriate filtration to minimize the occurring torsional vibrations. This classical control concept is confronted with utilization of neural network as a speed controller. In the paper, description of the system model and its exemplary characteristics are presented. The controllers design and their comparison on the basis of the assumed criteria are depicted as well.