Stability and robustness of disturbance-observer-based motion control systems

This paper analyzes the robustness and stability of a disturbance observer (DOB) and a reaction torque observer (RTOB)-based robust motion control systems. Conventionally, a DOB is analyzed by using an ideal velocity measurement that is obtained without using a low-pass filter (LPF); however, it is impractical due to noise constraints. An LPF of velocity measurement changes the robustness of a DOB significantly and puts a new design constraint on the bandwidth of a DOB. An RTOB, which is used to estimate environmental impedance, is an application of a DOB. The stability of an RTOB-based robust force control system has not been reported yet since its oversimplified model is derived by assuming that an RTOB has a feedforward control structure. However, in reality, it has a feedback control structure; therefore, not only the performance but also the stability is affected by the design parameters of an RTOB. A new practical stability analysis method is proposed for an RTOB-based robust force control system. In addition to that, novel and practical design methods, which improve the robustness of a DOB and the stability and performance of an RTOB-based robust force control system, are proposed by using the new analysis methods. The validity of the proposals is verified by simulation and experimental results.