MO'I'ION C O N T R O L O F L I N E A R S Y N C H R O N O U S BASED O N DISTURBANCE OBSERVER

MOTORS

Satoshi Komadar, Muneaki Ishidar, Kouhei Ohnishiir and Takamasa Horii *Electrical Engineering, Mie University 1515 Kamihama-cho, Tsu-shi, 514, Japan **Electrical Engineering, Keio University 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kouhoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, 223, Japan

Abstract

- This paper proposes a simple and high performance p a t h tracking c o n t r o l method which requires a c c u r a t e acceleration c o n t r o l l e r . To r e a l i z e t h e acceleration c o n t r o l , t h e disturbance feedback i s necessary. In t h i s paper, t h e disturbance observer estimates t h e disturbance from a c u r r e n t reference t o t h e power c o n v e r t e r and a position signal with simple computation. Moreover, t h e poles of t h e observer are varied in accordance with t h e velocity of t h e motor f o r precise positioning. In experiments using a l i n e a r synchronous motor which i s a kind of d i r e c t drive motor, t h e precise and high performance path tracking c o n t r o l is realized.

1 INTRODUCTION
Since d i r e c t d r i v e (DD) motors d i r e c t l y drive t h e i r loads without g e a r s o r b a l l screws, they have high stiffness and l i t t l e f r i c t i o n loss. From these reasons, they can r e a l i z e precise position c o n t r o l . However, DD motors a r e more sensitive t o t h e disturbance and parameter variation than motors with reduction gears. DD motors which g e n e r a t e high t o r q u e usually produce l a r g e ripple component in torque. Moreover, since t h e t h r u s t of linear motors which a r e a kind of DD motor i s reduced by end e f f e c t , t h e c o n t r o l of linear motors a r e more difficult. For f a s t and precise motion c o n t r o l of DD motors, t h e compensation of disturbance and parameter variation is necessary. In t h e case of robot manipulators which a r e highly nonlinear c o n t r o l object, much computation is necessary f o r solving t h e inverse dynamics as t h e number of j o i n t s increases(l1. Moreover, t h e inverse dynamics i s impossible t o compute t h e t o r q u e ripple, t h e load variation due t o t h e unknown o b j e c t and so on. A method adding t o r q u e c u r r e n t t o compensate t h e ripple has been proposed, which, however, needs t o know o r measure t h e torque ripple of t h e motor beforehandL21. O t h e o t h e r hand, a disturbance compensation n method by t h e disturbance observer has becn proposed. This observer estimates t h e disturbance and parameter variation of t h e motor from simple computations[3], and has t h e same function a s t h e inverse dynamics. Moreover, t h e estimated disturbance contains load variation, t o r q u e ripple, f r i c t i o n force, reactive f o r c e due t o t h e contact task, and i n t e r a c t i v e f o r c e such a s gravitational force. For t h e computation of t h e disturbance observer, it is n o t necessary t o know t h e torque ripple, f r i c t i o n f o r c e and so on. The disturbance compensation by t h e disturbance observer is a realization of two-degrees-of-reedom c o n t r o l system[4]. The old disturbance observer estimates the disturbance from t o r q u e c u r r e n t and velocity signals of t h e motor. Here, we propose a disturbance observer which estimates t h e disturbance from t o r q u e c u r r e n t reference t o t h e power c o n v e r t e r and position signal.

The new disturbance observer reduces t h e number of sensors, and avoid t h e e r r o r of t h e estimated disturbance due t o t h e e r r o r of t h e c u r r e n t sensor and t h e c o n t r o l e r r o r of t h e c u r r e n t . The model following acceleration control[5] is another method t o realize robust c o n t r o l l e r . This method organizes t h e reference model, and makes t h e p l a n t behave in t h e same way of t h e reference model. The advantage of computing t h e disturbance by t h e disturbance observer is t h a t the collision detection[6] and computation of contact force[7] a r e possible. In the disturbance compensation by the disturbance observer, t h e r e is a trade-off between t h e sensitivity t o t h e disturbance and t h e instability because of t h e quantization e r r o r and t h e noise of the position o r speed sensor. Therefore, f o r the improvement of s t a b i l i t y of t h e precise positioning, w e propose t o make t h e poles of t h e observer small with t h e speed. By t h i s s t r a t e g y , both t h e robust position c o n t r o l a t high speed and t h e s t a b l e and precise c o n t r o l at low speed a r e realized. In t h i s paper, we show t h e disturbance observer which estimates t h e disturbance from t o r q u e c u r r e n t reference t o t h e power c o n v e r t e r and position signal by simple computations. The disturbance of motors i s compensated by t h e feedback of t h e estimated disturbance, which realizes the acceleration c o n t r o l l e r . The poles of t h e observer are varied in accordance with t h e l i n e a r function of t h e speed command f o r precise positioning. On t h e basis of the acceleration c o n t r o l l e r , t h e high performance path tracking c o n t r o l of a linear synchronous motor which i s a kind of DD motor is performed. The s t r a t e g y i s equivalent t o t h e one-degree-of-freedom acceleration tracing orientation method (ATOM)[8] which is a c o n t r o l method of robot manipulators.
2 DISTUIU3ANCE OF MOTORS

s.Y 1 . 1 - y s Ms+D where I , : t h r u s t (torque) c u r r e n t X : position of mover (angle of r o t o r ) s : Laplace o p e r a t o r M : mass (moment of i n e r t i a ) of mover ( r o t o r ) and load D : viscosity constant K, : t h r u s t (torque) constant F + , . : Coulomb f r i c t i o n f o r c e (torque) Fi. : reactive f o r c e (torque) due t o t h e contact task

0879426OC4/90/1100-0154$01.00 0 1990 IEEE

Fit-,- : interactive f o r c e (torque) from outside

The parameters M, D and K,, and t h e disturbance f o r c e F r , ., F W > * and F,,,t change i r r e g u l a r l y . Motors involve two types; one is linear and the o t h e r is revolutionary. Ilcre, we t r e a t them as unity, and assume t h a t they a r e controlled a s if they were DC motors. From here, we only use t h e t r a n s l a t i o n a l terminology. To r e a l i z e the acceleration control, we assume t h a t t h e motor has the nominal t h r u s t constant K,,, and mass M,, a s shown in Fig.2. The disturbance i s given by

Therefore, t h e robust c o n t r o l l e r is achieved by choosing t h e disturbance feedback t r a n s f e r function G ' ' ' n P ( ~ ) so t h a t I G ( j o )I becomes a s small a s possible. For example, if G'""'(s) is unity, G(s) becomes null; I.e. t h e system is not influenced by t h e disturbance a t a l l .
4. ACCELERATION CONTROLLER

If t h e c u r r e n t reference t o t h e nominal system shown in Fig.4 is computed from

The disturbance contains mass variation force, viscosity force, interactive force, f r i c t i o n force, rcactive f o r c e due t o t h e contact task and t h r u s t ripple. If I T is reference c u r r e n t t o t h e i n v e r t e r instead of detected c u r r e n t , the c u r r e n t e r r o r which arises in t h e motor is included in t h e t h r u s t constant K,.

t h e acceleration c o n t r o l l e r shown in Fig.5 is obtained. The acceleration e r r o r of t h e acceleration c o n t r o l l e r is given by[9]

(5)

Therefore, t h e acceleration response which coincides with t h e command is realized by compensating t h e disturbance Fdij.
1 " I

Fig. 2 Block diagram of motor based on disturbance definition

3 DISTURBANCE FEEDBACK

If the disturbance shown in (1) is estimated through transfer function G " ' ( s ) , it is possible t o compensate the disturbance by t h e feedback of t h e estimated disturbance a s shown in Fig.3. Equivalent transformation of Fig.3 is Fig.4, where t h e sensitivity function G(s) is inserted between t h e disturbance F 3 > and the nominal system. Here, t h e disturbance F A , , is given by (2), and is t h e one whose I shown in (1) is rcplaced by I -T.
il

Fig.5 Acceleration c o n t r o l l e r
5 POSITION CONTROL BASED ON ACCELERATION CONTROLLER

F ,,,=(M-M,

)S:X+DSX+F,,

.+F~,,+F, . + ( K + , -K+)I

:er

(2)

The path tracking c o n t r o l l e r shown in Fig.6[8] is realized by t h e acceleration c o n t r o l l e r shown in Fig. 5. The c o n t r o l l e r has t h r e e commands of position, speed and acceleration, and computes t h e acceleration reference t o t h e acceleration c o n t r o l l e r from them using (6).

Ikre, the sensitivity function G(s) is given by[9]

FE:

S Y - <Y 1 h T + = s -

Fig.6 Position c o n t r o l l e r based on acceleration controller By combination of t h e acceleration c o n t r o l l e r with the position c o n t r o l l e r , t h e block diagram shown in Fig.7 is obtained. The e r r o r equation is given by[9]

Fig.4 Equivalent performance of Fig.3

Therefore, if t h e influence of t h e disturbance in t h e r i g h t hand side of (7) is n u l l , t h e responses of position, speed and acceleration coincide with t h e

155

commands. Otherwise, t h e deviations from t h e commands a r e determined by t h e disturbance FII sensitive function G ( s ) and t h e poles of t h e c o n t r o l l e r .

component of t h e disturbance, t h e influence of the disturbance shown in t h e r i g h t hand side of (5) becomes sufficiently small; i.e. robust acceleration c o n t r o l l e r i s realized. Since t h e cut-off frequency of the observers i s limited by t h e S/N r a t i o and t h e resolution of velocity sensors o r position sensors, i t is necessary t h a t t h e specifications of t h e sensors i s determined by t h a t of t h e c o n t r o l l e r . When t h e influence of t h e disturbance is suppressed sufficiently small, t h e position deviation becomes almost zero. For t h e s t e p disturbance, t h e f i n a l value of t h e influence of t h e disturbance becomes n u l l , i.e.

Fig.7 Block diagram of position c o n t r o l l e r

s l & m o s F j i 5 = 0. G(s)~
6 DISTURBANCE CALCULATION METEODS

From above discussion, we find t h a t t h e disturbance feedback r e a l i z e s t h e acceleration c o n t r o l of motors; and t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e position c o n t r o l l e r using t h e acceleration c o n t r o l l e r a r e clarified. Therefore, we show some methods t o c a l c u l a t e t h e disturbance. In t h e case of r o b o t manipulators, i t i s almost impossible t o compute t h e disturbance shown in (1) one by one. Moreover, parameter variation such as mass variation can n o t be known. Therefore, it is smart to compute t h e disturbance from t h e input/output relationship of t h e motor. 6 1 Disturbance Estimation from Input/Output Relation . W show some methods which compute t h e disturbance e shown in (1) from t h r u s t c u r r e n t signal and acceleration, velocity o r position signal. The methods a r e shown in Fig.8 t o Fig.10 and t h e i r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a r e described in t h e columns (B) t o (D) in TABLE I respectively. The column (A) in TABLE 1 shows t h e case of no disturbance compensation. (A) In t h e case of no disturbance compensation (G""" (s)=O), t h e s e n s i t i v i t y function G ( s ) becomes unity from ( 3 ) . There is position deviations in both t r a n s i e n t and steady s t a t e s . (B) The t o t a l disturbance F 3 , i s obtained without delay (G-"" ( s ) = l ) by t h e computation from t h r u s t c u r r e n t I , and acceleration s"X as shown in Fig.8. Since t h e sensitivity function G ( s ) becomes n u l l , t h e r e i s no influence of t h e disturbance and no position deviation in both t r a n s i e n t and steady s t a t e s . This disturbance computation method is ideal b u t impractical because ideal acceleration sensors a r e n o t available. Moreover, we c a n ' t obtain t h e acceleration signal f r e e from noise by t h e differentiation of signals from speed sensors o r position sensors. (C and D) Fig.9 and Fig.10 a r e disturbance obscrvers which estimate t h e disturbance from velocity and position signal respectively. Here, t h e disturbance can be t r e a t e d as observable s t a t e variable assuming t h a t t h e disturbance is a s t e p function[lO]. The disturbance observers a r e derived with t h e Gopinath method[ll]. The observers shown in Fig.9 and Fig.10 estimate t h e disturbance F L , 5 L L ' ' ' with f i r s t and second o r d e r lag respectively. By t h e feedback of t h e estimated disturbance, t h e s e n s i t i v i t y function G(s) becomes a high pass f i l t e r . Therefore, t h e disturbancc whose frequency component is smaller than t h e cut-off frequency of t h e disturbance observers is compensated. In o t h e r words, by using t h e disturbance observer whose cut-off frequency is l a r g e r than t h e frequency
156

Therefore, t h e f i n a l value of t h e position deviation becomes n u l l , i.e.

'

Final value f o r s t e p disturbance

(g

K '=k g )

Fext P i n t F f t c

I-Ep

F CDP
dis

Fig.8 Disturbance computation by acceleration signal

~~

Fig. 9 Disturbance observer by speed signal

system is shown in Fig.11. Here, t h e synchronous motor is controlled t o be a brushless DC servo motor; and t h e velocity used in t h e c o n t r o l l e r s is obtained from approximate differentiation of position signal. The I disturbance of t h e motor is compensated by t h e I disturbance observer by t h e position signal shown in Fig. 10; and t h e acceleration c o n t r o l l e r is realized. The c u r r e n t reference t o t h e i n v e r t e r is used in t h e computation of t h e disturbance observer instead of the detected c u r r e n t . B y t h i s method, t h e estimation e r r o r due t o t h e e r r o r of c u r r e n t sensors is eliminated; and t h e e r r o r of c u r r e n t c o n t r o l l e r is compensated because t h e c u r r e n t e r r o r is involved in K,

Disturbance

linear motor rated thrust rated current t a b l e mass

controller

2ooos-'

loos-'
Current

Fig. 10 Disturbance observer by position signal

6.2 Prccisc Position Control Based on Disturbance Obscrvcr

NEC uPD7 7 2 3 0

32bit floating point

When t h e disturbance compensation is performed by the disturbance observer, t h e r e is a trade-off between the sensitivity t o the disturbance and t h e instability bccnusc of the quantization e r r o r and t h e noise of t h e position o r speed sensor. In o t h e r words, if t h e cut-off frequency of t h e disturbance observer is higher, t h e robustness becomes stronger; however t h e s t a b i l i t y of the c o n t r o l l e r is more affected by t h e noise of t h e estimated disturbance due to the noise and quantization e r r o r of t h e sensors. To perform t h e precise position c o n t r o l , it is necessary t o suppress thc noise of the estimated disturbance. Therefore, t h e cut-off frequency of t h e disturbance is decreased a s the speed of motor decreases. Here, t h e poles of the observer p a r e changed a s a linear function of the speed command a s shown in (10). p=p.i '+pa (10)

Linear Encoder Resolution a5 m u p d m se posit ion Signal Generator Fig. 11 Experimental system

7.2 Experimental Results

Since DD motors have no reduction gear o r no b a l l screw, they have few f r i c t i o n , and a r e able t o perform precise position c o n t r o l . However, they a r e easily affected by t h e load variation, and have high t h r u s t ripple. Therefore, w e show t h e experimental r e s u l t s of compensation of mass variation and t h r u s t ripple. And f u r t h e r , experimental r e s u l t s of precise position c o n t r o l a r e presented. Fig.12 shows wave forms of t h e position and speed commands and t h e responses t o them, when t h e path tracking c o n t r o l is performed. In t h e case without the disturbance observer and with S.l[kg] load, t h e speed response exhibits overshoot as shown in Fig.lZ(b). In t h e case with t h e disturbance observer a s shown in Figs.12 (c) and (d), t h e response is n o t influenced by t h e mass variation of t h e load. Fig.13 shows experimental r e s u l t s of t h e speed reference and response when t i l t i n g t h e linear synchronous motor. Since t h e speed ripple is synchronized with t h e pitches of magnetic poles of t h e winding, it seems t h a t t h e variation of t h e t h r u s t constant influences t h e velocity. W can confirm t h e e suppression of t h e velocity ripple, because the disturbance observer estimates t h e t h r u s t ripple and compensates it.

Both the robust control a t high speed and t h e s t a b l e and precise c o n t r o l a t low speed a r e realized by t h i s strategy. Here, the parameters p- and p,: of (10) a r e detcrmincd experimentally

7. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
7.1 Expcrimcntal System

The proposed position c o n t r o l l e r shown in Fig.6 is npplicd to a linear synchronous motor (LSM) which is a kind of DD motor. The specifications of t h e motor and t tic c o n t r o l l c r a r e shown in TABLE l ; t h e experimental I

157

10

5
0

30

-30
0

0.5

1
[ s e c ]

1.5

0.5

1.5

Ti m e

( a )without disturbance observer without load

T i m e [sec] b )without disturbance observer with load

10

5
0 30

-3 II 100 0 -1 00

0.5

1.5

0.5

I .5

T i m e [sec] ( c )with disturbance obserber without 1 oad

e [s P c 1 ( d )with disturbance obserher with load

111

'1' i

Fig. 12 Experimental r e s u l t s of path tracking c o n t r o l of l i n e a r synchronous motor

*
m u

5 -5 -x

5 0

5
*X 0

-5
0

T i m e [sec] (a)without disturbance observer

T i m e [sec] @)with disturbance observer

Fig. 13 Experimental r e s u l t s of suppression of t h r u s t ripple

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Fig.14 is t h e r e s u l t s of precise position c o n t r o l w i t h t h e t a b l e t i l t e d by 1 1 ~The estimated disturbance . by t h e disturbance observer contains noise due t o t h e quantization e r r o r of t h e position sensor. If t h e poles of' t h e observer a r e large, t h e vibration a r i s e s due t o t h c noise a s shown in Fig.l4(b). Therefore, in o r d e r t o arhieve t h e precise position c o n t r o l , we make t h e poles of' t h e observer small (500s-I). The maximum e r r o r is 1 m ( 2 times of t h e resolution of t h e position sensor); high precision position c o n t r o l is realized. The r e s u l t shows t h a t t h e precise position c o n t r o l is possible by the reduction of t h e poles of t h e observer though t h e iippcr bound of t h e frequency of t h e eliminated disturbance becomes low. Fig.15 i s t h e path tracking c o n t r o l when t h e poles of t h e obscrver a r e varied a s shown in (10). Here, t h e cxpcriments a r e performed with t h e t a b l e t i l t e d by 11' . Since t h e poles of t h e disturbance observer a r e made small a t low speed, position response a t stationary s t a t c is s t a b l e . Moreover, since t h e poles become larger a t high speed command, t h e robustness of t h e controller i s not so affected.

8 CONCLUSION The path tracking c o n t r o l based on t h e acceleration c o n t r o l l e r by t h e disturbance feedback is proposed. From t h e s t u d y of t h e s e n s i t i v i t y function and t h e characteristics of t h e position c o n t r o l l e r , it is found t h a t t h e accurate acceleration c o n t r o l is t h e key t o improve t h e performance of t h e proposed method. In t h i s paper, t h e disturbance compensation is performed b y t h e disturbance observer which estimates t h e disturbance of t h e motor from position signal and t h e c u r r e n t reference t o t h e i n v e r t e r . The proposed method requires less computation e f f o r t , is robust against disturbance and parameter variation, and avoids t h e e r r o r of t h e estimated disturbance due t o t h e e r r o r of t h e c u r r e n t sensor and t h e influence due t o t h e t h e e r r o r of c u r r e n t c o n t r o l . The proposed method is applied t o a l i n e a r synchronous motor which is a kind of DD motor. The effectiveness of t h i s method against t h e i n e r t i a variation, t h r u s t ripple and gravitational f o r c e is shown by t h e experiments of t h e continuous path c o n t r o l . The precise position c o n t r o l is realized by reducing t h e poles of t h e disturbance observer i n accordance with t h e speed of t h e motor.
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Time [ s e c ] (a) p o l e s of observer is 500s-'

n 4 E q 2 0
Y

x ; -2
U

-4 0

0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Time [sec] ( b l p o l e s of observer is lOOOs-'

0.1

pig. 14 Experimental r e s u l t of precise position c o n t r o l

E O
X

. '

. -

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-

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