Get Wound Up with ADRC

Industrial winders, CNCs, robotics, and servo drive applications require high-performance speed and position control, which is difficult to achieve with PID. PID control needs either robust system modeling or extensive empirical tuning to achieve optimum results.  See how LineStream Technologies got one OEM all “wound up” about Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC).

The Application: Industrial Winder

If you are manufacturing paper, plastic films, metals, wire or textiles, chances are that you are familiar with industrial winders. Here’s how they work:  A speed controller drives the spindle. Position controllers hold the dancer arms in the vertical position. The dancer arms control the tension of the material as it is wound on the spindle.

The Control Challenge:

Produce tightly wound, uniform rolls of material Winders are notoriously difficult to control because of constantly changing dynamics:

Pain Point: Reduce Position Deviation seen with PID Control

The controller must compensate for all of these dynamics to produce tightly wound, uniform rolls of material.  A leading supplier of industrial winding equipment tried to use PID to control the spindle speed and dancer arm position.  The company’s control experts tuned the PID controller, but you could see the dancer arm moving as material was would onto the spindle.

Solution:

InTAC with Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) reduces position deviation by 40%. In a head-to-head comparison, the InTAC control block , featuring ADRC, delivered a 40% reduction in dancer position error relative to the PID-based solution.  Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) actively compensates for changing system dynamics, caused by inertia changes, environmental fluctuations and material imperfections. InTAC is available for SIEMENS PLCs.  Contact GCG today to get your free evaluation copy.