4

Machine Servo Drives

4.1

TYPES OF DRIVES

Positioning systems in general have their most basic form, and also the most
complex, in the human being. The brain serves as the summing network that
accepts the command for a desired motion or position, the musculatory
system serves as the power source or prime mover to cause motion to take
place, and the sensory system, such as the eyes, determines the present
position. In general, these three thingsthe brain, the muscles, and the
eyesare analogues to the three basic parts of any positioning system. The
brain accepts the command, or reference as it is sometimes called, and
compares it to the feedback to answer the question, How do we get to
where we want to be? The eyes are the feedback device, sometimes called a
measuring system, which answers the question, Where are we? The
difference between the command or the desired position and the actual
position (determined from the feedback device) is referred to as the position
error. It is this error that makes the prime mover cause motion to take place,
resulting in the actual position equaling the desired position and the position
error being reduced to zero.
Applying these denitions to a position control system, we have three
basic parts of a position system, shown in block diagram form in Figure 1.
The desired position must take the form of a piece of equipment to

Copyright 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Fig. 1

Machine servo-drive block diagram.

convert from the language of dimensions to the language of the prime

mover. The input may be a calibrated scale in the dimension of inches or
degrees with a pointer and handle. The output will usually be some voltage.
The actual position is usually determined with some measuring
device that is generally referred to as a transducer. The output language of
the measuring or feedback device must be the same language as the
command since the feedback is subtracted from the command signal. The
answer is the position error signal. Thus the three basic parts of the servo are
the drive, feedback device, and summing junction.
The prime mover is usually the drive for the positioning system. The
position error signal is the input to the drive. When there is a position error,
the drive will cause motion to take place. Thus far, the discussion has been
around positioning systems. In this discussion there are three types of
feedback control systems in common usage. These are referred to as type 0,
type 1, and type 2 servomechanisms. The type number refers to the net
number of integrators around the loop.
A type 0 servomechanism has a constant value of the output, such as
speed, and requires a constant error signal under steady-state conditions.
One form of a type 0 servo is a regulator, which implies that something is
being controlled to produce a desired output, such as speed, despite
disturbance conditions. The block diagram of Figure 2 shows a drive used in
a speed regulating system where the controlled output is speed.
Desired output speed is controlled by the reference input voltage to the
drive. The system becomes a regulator when a feedback signal is added with
a tachometer generator to measure output speed. As the tachometer input
shaft rotates, an output voltage is generated that is proportional to the speed
of the tachometer. A summing circuit at the input of the drive will subtract
tachometer feedback voltage from the reference input voltage. The resultant

Copyright 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Fig. 2 Speed regulating system.

voltage will be a constant error voltage to the drive under steady-state

conditions. An external disturbance, such as loading, or a change in the
amount of reference input will cause the regulator to compensate for loading
and maintain its original speed or change its original output speed to some
new speed if the reference input voltage is varied. For either case, the
regulator is acting under transient conditions, and the time required to again
reach the steady-state condition, or a new steady-state condition, is the
response time. There are times when the reference input is continuously
varied, and the regulator output will attempt to follow the change in
reference input. A sinusoidal reference input voltage is often used to test the
ability of the regulator to follow a changing reference input. As the
frequency of the sinusoidal voltage increases, the regulator output will
follow the changing reference input until a frequency is reached where the
regulator output can no longer follow the varying input. The frequency at
which the regulator ceases to follow the sinusoidal reference input is referred
to as the cutoff frequency of the servo-drive frequency response. With
appropriate compensation (an integrator), a type 0 regulator can be
converted to a type 1 system.
A type 1 servomechanism will have zero error for any constant value
of the controlled output. A constant rate of change of position (velocity)
requires a constant error signal under steady-state conditions. This error is
usually referred to as the following error in a type 1 positioning system. The
positioning machine servo drive is an example of a type 1 servo. Such a
feedback control system may include a speed regulator as shown in Figure 3.
The feedback signal for this type of servomechanism is an integrated
measure of speed (position). Some type of measuring device is used to
provide a feedback voltage proportional to position (a resolver for
example).
The third type of servomechanism is referred to as a type 2
servomechanism, sometimes referred to as a zero-velocity error servo.

Copyright 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Fig. 3

Positioning servomechanism.

The type 2 servomechanism has a zero error for a constant value of

controlled variable (position). These drives also have zero error for a
constant controlled variable of speed. A constant rate of change of speed
(acceleration) requires a constant error. The type 2 servo drive requires
compensation, which results in its being conditionally stable. Changing
gains or compensation time constants can produce an unstable drive.

4.2

FEED DRIVE PERFORMANCE

Servo-drive performance is a measure of how well a servo can make rapid

changes in velocity, path, etc. and maintain required accuracy in the
controlled variable (position). The frequency-response bandwidth is one
way to dene the performance of an industrial servo drive.
To understand the relevance of servo loop bandwidth to servo
performance it is necessary to dene what is meant by servo bandwidth.
Bandwidth is a term describing the frequency-response characteristic of a
servo drive. In its simplest denition, the frequency response is a measure of
how well an output of a servo follows the input as a sinusoidal input driving
frequency increases. At low frequencies the output of a servo faithfully
follows the input, so the ratio of output to input is 1. This is often referred to
as the at part of the response. At high frequencies, the output of a servo no
longer follows the input. The higher the servo bandwidth, the greater the
capability of the servo to follow rapid changes in the commanded input. For
example, in a machine contouring system, the performance of a servo to
make rapid changes in the path (square corners, etc.) is directly related to
the servo bandwidth.

Copyright 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved

As the frequency increases beyond the at part of the response, the

servo output begins to lag behind the input driving signal. There is a phase
lag and an amplitude attenuation between the output and input. When the
phase lag reaches 180 degrees the servo is unstable. Thus it is a requirement
to establish some performance specication to state how much phase lag is
acceptable before instability occurs.
Most industrial axis servo drives use a velocity servo inside a
positioning servo system. It is critical that the position servo drive have
an open-loop phase lag less the 180 degrees to avoid instability of the servo.
As an index of performance (IP), a maximum of 135 degrees phase lag has
been used as a criterion. This means there are 45 degrees phase lag left
before instability occurs, and this 45 degrees is referred to as the phase
margin before the servo goes unstable. Thus, the total acceptable phase lag
of the internal velocity loop and other components cannot be more than 135
degrees phase lag.
In any positioning servo system with an internal velocity servo there
will be a required integration of the velocity output of the velocity servo to
the position output of the position loop. This integration component takes
place in the motor and is measured by the position transducer (often a
resolver). Any integration component has a xed 90 degree phase lag at all
frequencies. Thus the total allowable phase lag of 135 degrees for the
velocity servo and integration is now reduced to 45 degrees (135790) for the
closed-loop velocity servo.
Therefore the useful velocity servo bandwidth occurs at a frequency
where the closed-loop velocity servo has a phase lag of 45 degrees (often
stated as the 45 degree phase-shift frequency). A typical frequency response
for a brushless DC servo drive with a load inertia equal to the motor
armature is shown in Figure 4. The useful velocity servo bandwidth is
20 Hz.
A term to dene the performance criteria of a position servo is referred
to as the position-loop gain or velocity constant. This gain is actually the
open position-loop gain. Referring to Figure 5, the block diagram for a
position servo, the open-loop gain is a parameter that represents the product
of the individual gains in the position servo loop without the feedback being
closed. The closed position-loop gain for this example is position output/
position command. Without the feedback being closed, a position command
will cause the drive to have motion. The ratio of output/input will therefore
be in units of velocity/position. As an example, if the input command has the
units of inches, the open position loop output will be inches per second.
Thus the open position-loop gain is Kv (in.)/(in.-sec) 1/sec. A
position-loop gain, in units of 1/sec, does not have a practical meaning to
many machine control people working in industry. By making a units

Copyright 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Fig. 4 Machine servo frequency response.

conversion of
Kv

1
60 sec
in:
1
inches per minute
6
6

60:06
sec
min
1000 mils sec
mil

or
inches per minute=mil616:67 1=sec
Thus the open position loop gain expressed as some velocity (inches per
minute, ipm) divided by distance (mils) has a practical signicance.

Fig. 5 Machine servo-drive block diagram.

Copyright 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Typical measured velocity servo frequency response bandwidths for

some commercial servo drives are shown in Figure 6. The servo bandwidths
are shown versus increasing inertia loads.
The Gettys DC silicon controlled rectier (SCR) drive is a typical
three-phase, half-wave DC SCR servo drive. As inertia load is added to the
motor, the drop in servo bandwidth is minimal since the motor inertia is
0.437 lb-in.-sec2 compared to the inertia load being added. However, the
servo bandwidth is limited since it is a function of the transport lag (dead
time in the SCR ring), which contributes phase shift to the servo drive. The
DC SCR drive has a forcing capability of 400%, which is an advantage over
the transistor type servo ampliers.
If the same DC motor is used with a transistor-type pulse-width
modulation (PWM) amplier (General Electric HI-AK), the servo
bandwidth characteristics are much higher since there is no transport lag
in the servo amplier. However, the forcing capability (for acceleration) is
limited to 200% because of the transistor current capability. As time passes,
newer transistor technology will improve the current capability.
With an AC drive (brushless DC Indramat drive) the servo
performance is comparable to the DC PWM servo drive and has the same

Fig. 6 Loading effects on servo performance.

Copyright 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved

current capacity limitations. The AC (brushless DC) synchronous motor

shown has an inertia about half (0.2 lb-in.-sec2) that of the DC motor. The
hydraulic (Hartman) servo drive has an armature of about 0.015 lb-in.-sec2.
Thus at no load, the performance is over 60 Hz. As a coupling and load
inertia are added to the motor shaft, the servo performance drops rapidly.
The frequency response is a powerful analytical tool that can be used
for design or diagnostic procedures. Industrial servo drives are connected to
machines. Since machines can have nonlinearities of backlash, stiction, etc.
and mechanical resonances, the frequency response of the servo drive and
machine can be used to identify these nonlinearities and structural
resonances. An example of a frequency response of a machine slide that
has a 40-Hz resonance inside the position loop is shown in Figure 7. The
resonant peak is about 25 dB, which results from a structural compliance
and an underdamped machine slide (roller bearings). These applications of
the frequency response are discussed in further depth in Part II.
In addition to the frequency-response method to measure performance
of an industrial drive, the transient step response can be used. Measuring the
frequency response requires a servo analyzer, which may not always be

Fig. 7 Machine servo frequency response with a resonance.

Copyright 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Fig. 8

Second-order transient response.

readily available. A transient step response can readily be made with a

simple battery circuit. The step response is used extensively in testing,
diagnosing, etc. of industrial machines in the eld. A typical transient
response for a second-order system is shown in Figure 8. For velocity servo
drives an index of performance exists, which recommends that the transient
response have one overshoot. Likewise, for positioning servo drives
(especially contouring drives) there should not be any overshoot (critically
damped).

Copyright 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved