SMC with Disturbance Observer for a Linear Belt-Drive

Accurate position tracking control in a belt-driven servomechanism can experience vibrations and large tracking errors due to compliance and elasticity introduced by force transmission through the belt and nonlinear friction phenomenon. In this paper, a new control algorithm based on sliding mode control that is able to deal with these problems is proposed. In order to further optimize position tracking performance the control scheme has been extended by an asymptotic disturbance observer. It has been proven that robust and vibration-free operation of a linear belt-driven system can be achieved. The experiments presented in the paper show improved position tracking error response while maintaining vibration suppression.