The Intelligent Combination of Input Shaping and PID Feedback Control

Abstract

Input shaping and Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) feedback control are simple, easy-to-implement and generally low cost control strategies. Considering this, it is remarkable that they are also very effective control techniques. In fact, a majority of the world's feedback controllers utilize PID (or the subset PD) control. In addition, input shaping has seen significant use on real-world machines such as cranes, micro-mills, coordinate measuring machines, computer disc drive manufacturing machines, spacecraft, etc.

However, despite similarities in effectiveness and ease of implementation, input shaping and PID feedback control are fundamentally different strategies. Input shaping is an anticipatory control scheme capable of enabling quick, low-vibration motions. PID feedback control is reactive in nature, and it is primarily required to deal with problems such as modeling errors, disturbances and nonlinearities. Of course, PID control is also used to reduce vibrations (as in the case of input shaping). But, because it is a reactive controller, it is slower than input shaping at eliminating motion-induced vibration.

Given their effectiveness and practicality, as well as the fact that they address important and complimentary control issues, it would be advantageous to combine these two control strategies. The result would still be practical and effective, yet would now address a range of system phenomenon beyond that which is capable by either of the individual control techniques. However, there is a definite gap in the state-of-the-art technology for combining these techniques. For example, little research has addressed the intelligent combination of traditional, outside-the-loop input shaping and PID feedback control. In addition, only a few researchers have attempted to place input shaping filters within feedback loops.

This research studies the intelligent combination of input shaping and PID feedback control by developing a concurrent design procedure for outside-the-loop input shaping/PID feedback combinations and by analyzing the effect of placing input shaping filters within feedback loops.