Application of a path control method using nearest-point search and target-point setting in the direction of moving for a ball-and-plate device

Abstract

In this study, we applied a path control method using nearest-point search in a ball-and-plate device and performed an experimental verification with an actual machine. In this method, a path is input to a computer as a sequence of points with high affinity and path control is performed by separating the path in the direction of movement and in the direction of path error, based on the nearest point obtained. In conventional path control, the target point is assumed to be given in advance in the direction of movement. However, depending on the target application, the path response may be disturbed when there are multiple nearest points or when a large disturbance is applied. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a method for determining the target point by using the relation between the nearest point and the target point in the direction of movement so that it is suitable for the path control of the ball-and-plate device. We applied this method to a new ball-and-plate device that moves the plate stably using four synchronously controlled linear motors. The effectiveness of the method was verified through an experiment in which various disturbances were applied.

Keywords

• path control
• synchronous control
• ball-and-plate device
• nearest-point seach
• target-point setting
• disturbance obeserver