The regulation of position error in contouring systems

The authors discuss the use of a novel hardware configuration in the control of position error during contouring operations. The architecture described allows real time error control in multiple axis systems; this is achieved by allowing any axis with a phase lag which exceeds that specified, to slow down the entire system until it is in conformance. The performance of the system is demonstrated by both simulation and experiment, using cornering and circular interpolation as examples. The major contribution of the work is thought to be the ability of the system to cope, in real time, with system constraints and nonlinearities. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd