Sensitivity analysis of the identification of variable inertia with an extended Kalman Filter

The dynamic behavior of a drive system is influenced by the external load and by the parameters of the mechanical system which can change during operation due to several factors. The online identification of time variable mechanical parameters is a task of prime importance for the tuning of self-adaptive control schemes. In this work a sensitivity study of a technique for the identification of time variable mechanical parameters is presented by using extended Kalman Filters. This identification method, introduced in the past by other authors, is one of the few procedures that allows online identification of time varying parameters. The effect of several parameters such as the mechanical speed, the amplitude and the number of bit registers in the generation of the PRBS that is used as additional excitation is analyzed and experimentally tested on a mechanical system with a repetitive production cycle that often can be found in many industrial applications.