Adaptive–Predictive Lateral Web Movement Control Algorithm for Flexible Material Winding Systems

Various industrial technologies require flexible material webs to undergo processes such as thermal treatment (e.g., drying), printing, or laminating. Such processes are usually performed within winding systems, where the web goes through a set of rolls, and the precision of the web movement determines the quality of the final product. Therefore, high accuracy in the control of both the longitudinal and lateral movement of the web is of paramount importance. Designing the proper control system requires insightful analysis of the technological setup and precise modeling of its dynamic properties. In this paper, the transfer function model of the roll-to-roll system with closed-loop web circulation has been developed based on the mathematical description of the open-loop system. It has been proven that the analyzed system can be efficiently represented by an integral block with negligible inertia. Having established this, several control algorithms have been analyzed, and, as a result, the dedicated adaptive–predictive control algorithm has been proposed. The developed solutions have been verified both by simulations and real experiments performed using the semi-industrial laboratory setup. The high control quality of the proposed algorithm (e.g., considerable reductions in overshoot and settling time compared to PI control), outperforming classical approaches, has been confirmed under various disturbances.