Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Modelling and Simulation in Engineering

Volume 2007, Article ID 50586, 6 pages
doi:10.1155/2007/50586

Research Article
Motion Control and Implementation for
an AC Servomotor System

L. Canan Dulger
and Ali Kirecci
Received 4 September 2006; Revised 5 January 2007; Accepted 17 January 2007
Recommended by Igor Kotenko
This paper presents a study on trajectory tracking problem for an AC synchronous servomotor. A mathematical model for the
system including AC synchronous servomotor, gearbox, and a load is developed to examine the systems dynamic behavior. The
system is controlled by a traditional PID (proportional + integral + derivative) controller. The required values for the controller
settings are found experimentally. Dierent motion profiles are designed, and trapezoidal ones are implemented. Thus, the experimental validation of the model is achieved using the experimental setup. The simulation and experimental results are presented.
The tracking performance of an AC servomotor system is illustrated with proposed PID controller.
Copyright 2007 L. C. Dulger and A. Kirecci. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.

1.

INTRODUCTION

Electric motors can be classified by their functions as servomotors, gear motors, and so forth, and by their electrical configurations as DC (direct current) and AC (alternating current) motors. A further classification can be made as single
phase and polyphase with synchronous and induction motors in terms of their operating principles for AC motors, and
PM (permanent magnet) and shunt DC motors for DCs. Although DC motors are preferred dominantly in the variable
speed applications, increasing use of AC motors can be seen
prior to improvements in solid state components. Servomotor is a motor used for position or speed control in closedloop control systems. The requirement from a servomotor is
to turn over a wide range of speeds and also to perform position and speed instructions given. DC and AC servomotors
are seen in applications by considering their machine structure in general. When the requirement is low power and variable speed, AC servomotors are the ones preferred in control
systems. They certainly introduce a brushless structure and
oer no maintenance [14]. Applications of AC servomotors
can be seen in conveying technology, printing, wood processing, textile industry, plastics industry, food and packaging industry, packaging and filling plants, and machine tools. Two
types of AC servomotors are available as squirrel cage asynchronous and permanent magnet synchronous.
In the field of control of mechanical linkages and robots,
research works are mostly found on DC motors. Limited

number of studies are found in the literature about AC servomotor motion control and tracking characteristics, since
AC servomotor technology is respectively new. AC servomotors applied in some research articles are overviewed herein.
Gross [5] has described a study on simulation and dynamic
performances of electrical machines; the transformer, the DC
machine, the polyphase induction machine, the polyphase
synchronous machine, and the single phase induction machine with an electric machine simulation program. Viitanen et al. [6] in his work presented an environment to model
and simulate mechatronical devices; electrical motors (AC
and DC), electronics, fluid power and control, and mechanical systems. Morimoto et al. [7] have described a study on
a high-performance servo drive system and characteristics of
a salient pole permanent magnet motor. Lessmeier et al. [8]
compared the performances of AC servo drives using synchronous and asynchronous motors. A mathematical model
is given with the control scheme and supported by experimental results. Tzou [9] achieved robust control of an AC induction servomotor for a motion-control system. Friedrich
and Kant [10] have given a comparative study between two
permanent magnet AC machines by using numerical simulation and also experimentally. Simulations were included for
a two-joint rigid robot directly driven by induction motors.
Jiang and Holtz [11] have worked on high dynamic speed
sensorless AC drives. Experimental verification was achieved
with an induction motor. On-line mode parameter tuning
was applied to eliminate the steady-state error. Vukosavic and

Modelling and Simulation in Engineering

Stojic [12] have dealt with the problem of mechanical resonance in a system of comprising a permanent magnet synchronous servomotor and a load with experimental verification. Goldfarb and Sirithanapipat [13] have given a study
on the performance of PD controlled servo systems. Simulations were carried on the measure of tracking. Safak and
Turkay [14] studied universal motor dynamics. A mathematical model was presented with simulation results. An experimental implementation was included. In a motion control
and implementation, Guerrero-Ramrez and Tang [15] performed motion control of robots by induction motors to
track the given trajectory by proposing a current controller.
Wang et al. [16] developed a complete PM AC servomotor
model. A neural network self-tuning PI control scheme is
implemented. Experimental results are presented with simulations in that study.
This paper discusses dynamic behavior and practical implementation on AC synchronous servomotor. A permanent
magnet synchronous AC servomotor with a fitted resolver
is applied in this study. Resolver is considered as a rotary
transformer producing an output signal which is a function
of the rotor position. Mathematical model of the system is
developed by including motor, gearbox, and an inertia disk
representing the load. An experimental arrangement is built
up, and characteristically dierent motion profiles are implemented to examine the positioning performance of the
system for potential industrial applications. AC synchronous
servomotor is incorporated with a PID controller. Simulation model and experimental results are presented herein to
form a base for similar studies. The study is verified experimentally.
2.

EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM

The experimental system consists of a 1.5 kW permanent

magnet synchronous AC servomotor fed from an inverter
operated at 190 Hz frequency and its matching servo drive,
a gearbox with 5.665 : 1 reduction ratio, a fitted resolver,
and a constant load. The experimental verification is performed using the setup. The hardware configuration of the
experimental AC servomotor system is presented in Figure 1.
Motor-driver data is given in Table 1.
A motion-control card [18] manufactured by Performance Motion Devices Inc. (PMD-MC) 1401 series DB1000
PC motion-control card is chosen as an interface. The control card provides a 4-axis control with incremental quadrature encoder input. The software needed is provided by the
manufacturing company. Motor-control system configuration is achieved by using a 68-pin connector to dual 34-pin
header converter cable.
3.

AC SERVOMOTOR DYNAMICS

The model of the system consists of a motor coupled to a

gearbox and an inertial load rigidly fixed to output shaft.
Friction is taken as negligible throughout the analysis. The
relations for stator and rotor windings and dynamic torque
analysis for the permanent magnet AC synchronous machine
can be described by the following nonlinear dierential equa-

MDSKS 056-23
Load
AC servomotor

Gearbox

Resolver cable
Power cable
(S9322)

(MC1401series)
PC

Servo drive

Motion-control card

Figure 1: Configuration of system hardware.

Table 1: AC servomotor-driver data [17].

Drive type-9322
Motor power
P = 0.75 kW
Motor output current, 8 kHz
I = 2.5 A
Output power
P = 1.7 kVA
Terminal voltage
V = 320528 V
Weight
m = 3.5 kg
Motor type-MDSKS 056-23, 190
m = 5.3 kg
n = 3800 rpm
T = 2.8 Nm
P = 1.1 kW
V = 330 V
I = 2.3 A
Tmax = 11.6 Nm
Imax = 10 A
f = 190 Hz
Jm = 1.2 kg cm2

Motor weight
Speed
Torque
Power
Voltage
Current
Maximum torque
Maximum current
Frequency
Moment of inertia

tions [7, 19, 20]:

dIR
d  jm 
Is e
= VR ,
+ Lo
dt
dt

(1)

dIs
d  jm 
= Vs ,
IR e
+ Lo
dt
dt

(2)

1
d
d2 m
d
Jl
+ c m = K1 Vs K2 m .
2
N
dt 2
dt
dt

(3)

RR IR + LR
Rs Is + Ls


Jm + Jg +

The following symbols are used in the above equations:

(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
(viii)
(ix)

RS , RR : stator and rotor resistances (),

LS , LR , Lo : stator, rotor, and mutual inductances (mH),
K1 , K2 : motor constants (Nm/V, Nms/rad),
Vs : control field voltage in stator,
c: damping resistance of the load (Nms/rad),
m : angular position of the motor (rad),
mR : reference angular position of the motor (rad),
m : angular velocity of the motor (rad/s),
m : angular acceleration of the motor (rad/s2 ),

L. C. Dulger and A. Kirecci

and K1 and K2 are calculated from the following relationships:

(i) K1 = stall torque/rated voltage (Nm/V),
(ii) K2 = stall torque/no-load speed at rated voltage
(Nms/rad).

7
Angular displacement (rad)

(x) Jm , Jg , Jl : moment of inertias of the motor, gearbox,

and load,
(xi) N: reduction ratio between motor and load (5.666 : 1),

6
5
4
3
2
1

3.1. Controller settings

Vs = K p e(t) + Kv

d
e(t) + Ki
dt

t
0

e(t)dt,

(4)

where K p , Kv , and Ki represent the proportional, derivative,

and integral gains, respectively.
In the equation, gains are referred to as Kv = K p Td and
Ki = K p /Ti . e(t) is the error given by

e(t) = mR m

2
Time (s)

Reference
Simulation
(a)
8
Angular velocity (rad/s)

Three-mode control referred to PID (proportianal + integral + derivative) control is incorporated with the system
to eliminate tracking errors. The PID tuning parameters are
found by applying Ziegler-Nichols (ZN) amplitude decay response of the closed-loop system with proportional gain.
The gain is increased until the system becomes critically stable. Kcr corresponds to this gain. Then the period of oscillation is taken as Tcr . So controller tuning is performed by
experimental settings of the three parameters for PID controller [2, 4, 21]. PID tuning parameters are calculated as
K p = 0.6Kcr , Ti = 0.5Tcr , and Td = 0.12Tcr . Several iterations are required in the model to obtain the desired system
behavior.
PID controller is described as

0
0

Time (s)
Reference
Simulation
(b)

Figure 2: Simulation results for trapezoidal motion I.

(5)

and Vs in (2) is the PID controller output.

3.2. Simulation results
The performance characteristics of AC servomotor control
system is studied initially by using test input signals like
step and ramp input. Having obtained critically damped responses, motion profiles involving trapezoidal character are
then implemented.
Two trapezoidal motion profiles called as trapezoidal
motion I and II are applied. Trapezoidal profile I has an initial
constant velocity period followed by a dwell period and then
followed by a constant velocity period in reverse direction as
shown in Figure 2(a). This is an easy profile to implement as
a reference motion. Here, trapezoidal profile I consisting of
3 segments is performed in 4.16 seconds. Initially motor is

rotated to 2 radians in 1.1 seconds, kept its angular position the same for 1.95 seconds, finally, slowed down to zero
radians in 1.1 seconds.
Trapezoidal profile II has an initial constant velocity followed by a dwell, a higher constant velocity followed by another dwell, a higher constant velocity with a longer dwell
period, and finally at the highest constant velocity of all in
reverse direction as shown in Figure 3(a). Trapezoidal profile II involving 7 segments is performed in 6.8 seconds in
this study. Servomotor is rotated to 2 radians in 1 second,
kept its position the same (dwell) for 1 second, increased
to 4 radians in 0.5 second, kept at 4 radians (dwell) for
some time as 1.5 seconds, later increased to 6 radians to 0.4
second, kept the same angular position (dwell) for 1.6 seconds, and finally decreased its position to zero radians in 0.8
second.
The computer simulation employs a fourth order RungeKutta (RK) integration algorithm to integrate (1), (2), and

Modelling and Simulation in Engineering

Angular displacement (rad)

23

taken as 4.16 seconds and 6.8 seconds for trapezoidal motion I and II, respectively. A large number of computer simulations are available by changing PID controller gains while
keeping the system parameters and the initial conditions the
same. So by numerical integration, the angular velocity and
displacement of the motor can be obtained from the angular acceleration. The simulation output includes the stator
current, the rotor current, the motor angular displacement,
velocity, and acceleration as functions of time.
Servomotor-driver data used in simulation are summarized in Table 1. The following system parameters are already
known or measured:

18
13
8
3
2

4
Time (s)

Jg = 0.01 kg m2 ,
K1 = 8.43 103 Nm/V,

Reference
Simulation

Jl = 2.06 103 kg m2 ,
K2 = 7.03 103 Nms/rad,

Ls = LR = 15 mH,

(a)

(6)

20

Angular velocity (rad/s)

15
10
5
0
5

RS = RR = 3 .

10
15
20
25

Time (s)
Reference
Simulation
(b)

Figure 3: Simulation results for trapezoidal motion II.

(3) and solving them numerically. The method is selfstarting. Several function evaluations are required at every
integration step. The fourth-order RK method needs four
function evaluations per integration step. The dynamic equation of the system (3) is of second order. State space representation of the system gives four state equations to be solved.
Initial conditions are needed to solve the dierential equations. The state variables are defined for angular displacement and velocity of the motor. The angular acceleration of
the motor are then derived from combination of these state
variables for the system.
The simulation input contains the electrical properties
of the motor, the mechanical properties of the gearbox, the
load, the controller setting values, and the initial conditions
for the system. The time between two discrete observations,
t is selected as 8 milliseconds. The total response times are

The computer simulation is used to investigate steady-state

operation and dynamic characteristics of AC servomotor
used. Classical PI/PD/PID controller options were included
in software prepared. When the simulation results are obtained, controller tuning under the full mechanical load is
achieved, the performance is considered as acceptable. The
final values for controller settings are taken as K p = 100,
KV = 40, and Ki = 10, respectively. These settings are initially found from tuning carried on experimentally, and supported by the mathematical model. It is already possible to
run simulation with dierent controller gain settings or observe the eect of each controller action separately on system
dynamics. By altering PID controller settings many times,
nearly a damped system behavior is observed and presented
here. Since motor friction torques and other losses (gearbox,
etc.) in the system are neglected, higher controller tuning values are applied for the simulation.
Simulated responses are presented in Figures 2(a) and
2(b) for trapezoidal motion I, and in Figures 3(a) and 3(b)
for trapezoidal motion II as angular displacements and velocities of the servomotor, respectively. Since motor angular
velocities are referred to as constant profile, motor angular
accelerations are not given.
4.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Motion-control program menu allows us to perform trapezoidal move, also to stop an existing move. A trapezoidal motion is performed by editing the axis number, destination position, maximum velocity, acceleration, and starting velocity
as required. When the command is executed, the motion parameters are being sent, and the motion is performed. The
program has an ability to record and observe the motor motion graphically. While collecting the data, the total time interval in axis position data is to be selected in seconds. The
time interval between data points to be captured is then selected in milliseconds. Here it is taken as 8 milliseconds, and
the PID controller is designed to give zero steady-state error
for a step input when there is no load.

L. C. Dulger and A. Kirecci

5
5.

CONCLUSION

8000

Counts

5000

2000

1000

101

201

301

401

501

Samples
Reference
Experimental

A mathematical model of a permanent magnet AC synchronous servomotor coupled to a gearbox and load has been
developed. A traditional PID controller is applied, and tuning of controller is carried on experimentally. Good tracking performance is also obtained in experimental results.
Controller tuning parameters are altered during experiments
and simulation. Simulation results are taken in ideal running
conditions free from losses and friction eects. Steady-state
accuracy during simulation is certainly improved by altering
PID controller gains up to a required point. Here AC synchronous servomotor is studied in detail for tracking problems and characteristics. AC system considered here can be
applied as a drive system for coming studies easing the use
of AC servomotors. AC servo systems are certainly recommended when maintenance free and variable speed intelligent applications are needed. Advanced control techniques
can also be applied to improve tracking performance for
coming studies.

Figure 4: Experimental results for trapezoidal motion I.

REFERENCES

24000

Counts

19000
14000
9000
4000
1000

151

301

451
Samples

601

751

Reference
Experimental

Figure 5: Experimental results for trapezoidal motion II.

The experimental AC servomotor system is operated under loaded and unloaded cases. Figures 4 and 5 represent the
experimental results of trapezoidal motion I and II responses
when the system is coupled to a fixed load. The variables
are scaled as digital counts and number of samples in experimental results. Trapezoidal motion I is taken as 520 samples, referring to 4.16 seconds overall. Trapezoidal motion II
is taken as 854 samples covering 6.8 seconds all. The output
tracks the reference well. Actually, the best tracking performance is achieved when PID controller gains are tuned. Experimental controller tuning values are found as K p = 20,
KV = 12, and Ki = 3, respectively.

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6
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AUTHOR CONTACT INFORMATION

L. Canan Dulger:
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University, 27310 Gaziantep,
Turkey; dulger@gantep.edu.tr
Ali Kirecci: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of
Engineering, Gaziantep University, 27310 Gaziantep, Turkey;
kirecci@gantep.edu.tr

Modelling and Simulation in Engineering