Switched hybrid position control of elastic systems with backlash

Backlash nonlinearity, caused by physical disconnect of mating gears, becomes a problem in the presence of position or speed mismatch between the sides of the mechanical transmission link. In this paper, switched hybrid model of a generalized system has been used, and all fixed model configuration of multiple model adaptive control has been adopted for position control of elastic system with backlash nonlinearity. A number of different control strategies were suggested availing the inherent architecture of multiple model adaptive control and taking into account the possibilities of sensor locations. All the strategies do not require a priori knowledge of backlash angle, eliminating the need to estimate the angle. The control techniques are compared on the basis of transient response, steady state response, control effort and frequent switching of system modes.