Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE

International Conference on Control Applications

Taipei, Taiwan, September 2-4,2004

Optimal Positioning Control of a DC Servo Motor Using Sliding Mode

Gwo-Ruey Yu, Ming-Hung Tseng and Yuan-Kai Lin

gwow(icisu.edu.w
Department of Electrical Engineering
I-Shou University
Kaohsiung, Taiwan 804, ROC

Abstract - This paper has presented a novel methodology that is
applied to control the position of a dc servomotor. The design is
composed of the optimal Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) and
the sliding mode control. The control strategy is realized through
the digital signal processor (DSP). Moreover, the proposed
technique is compared with LQR and sliding mode control,
respectively. Both simulation and experiment results demonstrate
thf proposed design possesses the optimal performance and
robusmess against modcl uncertainly and external disturbance.
I. INTRODUCTION
Due to the impact of the automation, the industrial lcvel and
technological notion have been changed recently. An
important control component is the dc servomotor, which is a
power actuator device that delivers electrical energy into
mcchanical motion. Because of features such as speed
controllability, well-behaved characteristics, and adaptability
to various types of control methods, dc servomotors are
extensively applied in numcrous servomechanisms [I].
Therefore, it is very important to study the positioning control
of dc B C T Y O ~ O ~ O ~ S .
In the realization of control methodology, no matter it is the
noise, or the disturbance, or the external factors that changed
the parameters of the system, all of these will affcct the
achievements of controllers. Based on these reasons, the
robustness of a controller is quite crucial for thc
implementation. Sliding mode control has been applied to
many engineering fields due to excellent robustness, for
example, motor control, robotic control and flight control [2].
However, it is not easy to adapt the dynamics of the reaching
phase in the design of sliding mode control [3].
The optimal Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) control
problems have been widely investigated in the literature. The
performance mcasure is a quadratic function composed of state
vector and control input. If the linear time-invariant system is
controllable, the optimal control law will be obtained via
solving the algebraic Riccati equation. The Kalman gain will
be a constant matrix only [4]. After choosing the weighting
matrices, the fccdback gain is easily designed such that the
required specifications are secured. Nevertheless, the
robustness of the optimal gain is not satisfactory as similar as
that of the pole-placement gain [ 5 ] . To take advantage of the
robustness of sliding mode control and the facile
implementation of LQR control, it is necessary to put the
concept of LQR design into the Srmcmre of sliding mode
control.
In this paper, a novel methodology that combines LQR with
sliding mode control is submitted to design the positioning
control of a dc servomotor. Furthermore, the proposed
technique is carried out through the TMS320F243d DSP chip
[6]. The merits of this control strategy are not only the optimal
performance could be obtained hut the robusmess is
guaranteed also. The optimal step response of the dc
servomotor is achieved by taking advantage of LQR design.
On the othcr hand, sliding function could ensure the
robustness of the dc servomotor against model uncertainty and
external disturbance.
II. THE STATE-SPACE MODEL OF DC SERVOMOTORS
The state-space model of a dc servomotor is generally
described by 171
where the control input are the applied voltage e, ; thc statcs
are the rotor displacement B,, the rotor angular velocity wm
and the armature current i, ; respectively. The parameters are
the viscous friction coefficient D, , the rotor inertia J,, the
torque constant k , , the back emf constant k, ; the armature
resistance R, and the armamre inductance L, .
Table I lists the numerical values for the parameters o f the
dc servomotor studied in this paper.
The transfer function of the dc servomotor could be
derived from ( I )
-= flJ4 kr (2)
E"k) u"?+(w~+mY+(&+wmb
Lct (2) be
B
m -6) C
(3)
E,(s) s3 +as2 +bs
where
Due to the measurable signal is the rotor displacement
only; it IS ncccssaly to obtain the state-spacc model of the
positioning error.

0-7803-8633-7/04/$20.0002004 IEEE 212

 -= o=R~+B'/z It follows that
au
aH
< j, =- = Ax + Bu (9)
an
/1 = - - =aH
-(Qx+A'A
ax 1

273
energy will make the feedback system to satisfy the sliding The dcsign parameters of these different controllers are
condition sJSr < O under extcmal disturbance. listed in Table 11. The Kalman gain are acquired by choosing
The total control e n e r a U of LQR with sliding mode is the weighting matrices

ur - qsign(sT j
=U* (21)
Differentiating (20) yields
(28)
SJ(x)=k,x, + ( k 2 -b/c)xl + ( k ; - o / c b 2 - l / c . i J (22)
From (6) and (21), gets R=l
s,(+-qsign(sr) (23) In the next, the control law of the traditional sliding mode
Then, multiply sT on both sides control is designed as follows [ I I ]
STST =-+rl (24) (29)
The constant q should be positive in order to satisfy the sliding
condition where
STST <0 (25) SJ >o
If the extemal disturbance d exists, (24) will be modified as (30)
sTSr =-qlsrl+dsJ < O (26)
The choice of q is q > Id1 . ST =c, .X(+q..+. (31)
Fig. I shows the block diagram of the positioning control of In order to avoid the high gain and the chattering
the dc servomotor using LQR with sliding mode. phenomena, the concept of the sliding layer is introduced in
the control law 1121. Thus the saturation function s ~ ( s ~ , Eis )
replaced with the sign function in equation (29).
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed (32)
methodology, three different controllers o f the positioning
control of the dc servomotor were utilized. The first is the where
LQR technique by state feedback. The second is the traditional ss >E
sliding mode control. The last is the control strategy using
(33)
LQR with sliding mode. Furthermore, their performances are
compared under three different conditions. These cases are ss >--E

system at nominal condition, model uncertainty and the Ss=Cl.x,+L?.++s (34)

existence of disturbance respectively. Computer simulations
a , c, , and ci are positive constant. E i s the thickness of
are run by means of using the software Matlab 6. I [lo].

[;]=I"
Substituting Table I into (6), thc state-space model of the
position error could be obtained
0I 0

0 - 667283.18 - 7165.86
sliding layer.
Fig. 2 shows the step responses of angular position of the dc
servomotor at nominal condition by three different controllers.
Apparently, the rising time of the novel control strategy is the
smallest. Furthermore, there is no overshoot in the step
respanse of positioning control using LQR with sliding mode.
Fig. 3 shows the step responses of the dc servomotor at
model uncertainty which the parameters of Ro and L" are
(27)
~ 13860133.43 twice. Fig. 4 shows the step responses of the dc servomotor
subjected to the disturbance on 3 4 seconds, which the
amplitude is 10.

8. t

7 Sliding mode control

LQR with

Fig. I . The block diamm of c m ~system

l

214
 From Fig. 2(a) and Fig. 3(a), it could be seen that the rising
time increases when the LQR controller is applied to the case
of model uncertainty. Fig. 4(a) shows the responses are shaken
violently when extemal disturbance occurs. These indicate that
the LQR is lack of robusmess.
Although the sliding mode controller possesses robustness
against model uncertainty, it is not easy to achieve the desired
transient response. Besides, Fig. 4(b) shows the responses are
still affected by extemal disturbance. On the contraty, the
controller using LQR with sliding mode owns the best
performance and robustness.

m e (se')
Fig. 2 Simulated step rcsponses ofthc dc sc~omolorat nominal condition:
(a) LQR (b) sliding mode coned (c) LQR with sliding modc.
Fig. 3 Simulated slcp rcsponscs ofthe dc sww"tor at malcl unccnamry:
(a) LQR (b) sliding modc c~nlrol(c) LQR with sliding modc.
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The hardware used in the experiment includes a personal
computer, the Titan DSP controller board, power amplifier and
dc servomotor module made by Syscor Company in Canada.
Fig. 5 shows the architecture of the experiment equipments.
An RS232 cable connects a personal computer and the Titan
DSP controller board. A ribbon cable is used to connect the
Titan DSP controller board and dc servomotor module. The
type of Titan DSP controller board is MC4A-243-02 and the
type of DSP is TMS320F243. Fig. 6 shows thc photo of the
DSP controller board.
The operating medium of Syscor board is building on
MatlablSimulink. The operating procedure is: ( I ) download
the set up file of FPGA to controller board for completing the
set up of peripheral, ( 2 ) download the executed file to the DSP
chip after compiling the control algorithm written by C
language, (3) establish control modcl in Simulink. After the
signal of the sen'omotor position measured by incremental
encoder, it will be passed to the Titan DSP controller board
through the ribbon cable. Then, the signal will be transmitted
to PC through the RS-232 cable. Fig. 7 shows the photo of the
dc servomotor module.
The control signal will pass through circuits, power
amplifiers, cables, FPGA chips, and a DSP chip in experiment.
These facilities will make the model uncertainty.
Consequently, the value of parameters in the experiment and
in the simulation will be set different. In the experiment, the
design parameters of three different controllers are listed in
Table 111.
The values of k are acquired by choosing the wcighting
function
0

[ i-.;
106
Q= 0 10.'

401
D 0 '(35)

R=l
20 Fig. X shows the experimental responses of the dc
servomotor at nominal condition. Fig. 9 shows the applied
voltage for U * , us and U, respectively. The step response of
00 05 1 1.5 2 25 3 35 1 45 5
time (sec) the position is obtained using LQR as shown in Fig. X(a). The
Fig. 4 Simulaled slcp mponscs of the dc ScNomotor undcr disrurbancc:
rising time is probably 0.05 seconds. Fig. X(b) shows the
(a) LOR (b) sliding modc conlrol (c) LQR with sliding mode.
experimental response using sliding mode controller. The

275
rising time is around 0.6 scconds. Fig. 8(c) shows the
experimental results using LQR wilh sliding mode. Obviously,
thc position responsc of the dc servomotor is excellenl. There
is no overshoot, steady-state emr and the rising time is tiny in
using the proposed control strategy.

.
Personal Motor Module
Computer

Fig. 5 The architpctureof experiment equipment

100 I ,

I i

Fig. 6. Titan DSP Controller board

0 025 05 075 125 15

time ( s e 0
(b)

70

M-
Fig. 7. The dc Servomotor module O

Table 111. The paramelen in experiment

950~
n
40

ine ear quadratic k, =-IO’, k, =-10.4212 30 -

regulator k, = -0.059271
25-
cI = 3 . 7 5 ~IO‘, 10 -
Sliding mode control c2 = 4 . s 7 r 1 0 4
E = I , U = 2 . 5 4 8 ~10’ time (sec)

LQR with k , = - I O ’ , kl=-10.421, (C)

sliding mode k , = -0.054271, q = 31000 Fig. 8. Experimental step responses ofthc dc SewOmDtor position:
(a) LQR (b) sliding mode control ( c ) LQR wilh sliding mode.

216
 VI. CONCLUSION
The design method of LQR with sliding mode control has
been presented in this paper. Simulating results demonstrate
the excellent robustness against model uncertainty and external
disturbance. Furthermore, the proposed control law is
implemented on a DSP chip to command the position of a dc
servomotor. The experimental results have shown the
effectiveness of the control strategy.

VII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research is sponsored by means of the National
Science Council of the Republic of China, under Grant NSC-
92-22 13-E-2 14-0 14.

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I

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.mo om 01 015 02 025 03 0% OA 045 05

time (sec]
(C)

Fig. 9. The applied voltage:

(a) LQK (b) sliding mode control ( c ) LQK with sliding mode.

211