Funnel control with disturbance observer for two-mass systems

Funnel control in combination with a (simplified) disturbance observer is applied to speed control of elastic two-mass systems where solely motor side speed measurement is available for feedback. The disturbance observer increases damping of the closed-loop system and ensures that the tracking error vanishes asymptotically (i.e. `steady state accuracy´). Comparative measurements results illustrate improved damping and control performance compared to PI-funnel control (i.e. funnel control in combination with a PI controller).