Servo Tuning
Tuning servo is a basic skill in automation and machine building. There is tuning by ears and eyes (who know how good this is). There is also tuning by performance factor. The fundamental key is the good understanding of PID control. P is proportional gain, adding. I is integration gain, reducing. D is derivative gain, anticipating. For servo tuning, the following error and derived charts are key for good visual understanding of the system performance. The modern control system should put that in front of every engineer without burden of expensive equipment or setup or programming skill. But unfortunately it is not my experience with many machine builders and control system suppliers. I have seen more tuning by ears/eyes than tuning by chart, which is very sad story,
In one of the most recent project, I finally find a system I enjoy working with in many aspects. At its tuning/charting capability, this is what I can have in front of my eyes within 5 minutes without costing me anything extra. Within 5 minutes, I tuned the system’s following error from 100 microns down to 20 microns with my ears and eyes not registering anything different.
