Backstepping Control of Rewinding Systems with Flexible Couplings

Abstract

Roll-to-roll (R2R) system can be found and applied in various fields, such as paper manufacture and printing process. The matter regarding tension control is still a challenge because this tends to rely on elasticity of web materials with its elasticity and roll inertia which change. Additionally, another issue is limited stiffness shafts connecting the web handling system and driving motor. Due to non-rigid nature of the shafts, un-wanted vibration can be released, and this impact to the system. Therefore, the tension control is more complicated. In this paper, a control solution for a roll-to-roll web-transport system with flexible couplings will be performed. The connection of this system coupled with motors through non-rigid driving shaft is formed as a two-mass system. Moreover, the paper shows that the thickness of web material is assumed to be conscious in order to achieve a simple calculation of roll inertia momentum. By using backstepping control technique, control laws for unwinding and rewinding roll are defined. The control schemes ensure a linear velocity and tension tracking performance of the system. Extensive numerical simulations are carried out to verify the feasibility of the proposed control strategy. The simulation results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed control, web tension and position are driven to desired values.