An Evaluation of Tracking Performance of a Positioning Controller with Feedforward on an XY Milling Table Ball-Screw Driven System
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Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering(MPE), Islamic University of Technology(IUT), Board Bazar, Gazipur-1704, Bangladesh
Abstract
This study evaluates the tracking performance of various positioning controllers for an XY
milling table ball-screw driven system under dynamic cutting force disturbances. The
objective was to determine the effectiveness of augmenting traditional feedback controllers
with Feedforward (FF) compensation to improve precision. Four control strategies were
designed and simulated in MATLAB/Simulink: a standalone PID controller, a PID with
Feedforward (PID plus FF), a Cascade P/PID controller, and a Cascade P/PID with
Feedforward (Cascade plus FF). Performance was assessed using Maximum Tracking Error
(MTE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis.
Results demonstrated that the Cascade P/PID controller significantly outperformed the
standalone PID, reducing RMSE by over 55%. The most effective strategy was the Cascade
plus Feedforward controller, which achieved the lowest errors, reducing RMSE by 57.3%
compared to the baseline PID and attenuating the dominant 26 Hz disturbance harmonic by
59.1%. The study concludes that the synergistic combination of cascade control and
feedforward compensation provides superior tracking performance and disturbance
rejection, making it the recommended strategy for high-precision CNC machining
applications.
Description
Supervised by
Dr. Madihah Binti Haji Maharof,
Asssistant Professor,
Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering(MPE),
Islamic University of Technology (IUT)
Board Bazar, Gazipur-1704, Bangladesh
This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Mechanical and Production Engineering, 2025
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