2012: Tuning the Jaguar's Speed Control PID Loop

[jwakeman]

Originally Posted by Ether

Could you share the reasoning that led you to suspect that a current inner loop would be superior to a voltage inner loop?

To be perfectly honest I discussed it with two individuals who I consider to be much smarter than me in the area of motor control and closed-loop control in general and they both identified this as the best way to go (independently). I think one consideration was that you wouldn't have to be concerned with inducing currents above the 40 amp limit of the jaguars and therefore also wouldn't have to protect against doing so with ramp rates on voltage. Also I believe we said that a speed controller controlling current is 'more natural' than controlling volts because current is essentially equivalent to torque and is a deriviative away from speed. That last line was regurgitated if you can't tell. Finally, in my contol classes I remember adding an inner current control loop to enhance the performance or speed regulators. That's the best answer I can give for now..