Optimal integral force feedback and structured PI tracking control: Application for objective lens positioner

This paper describes a new vibration damping technique based on Integral Force Feedback (IFF). Classical IFF utilizes a force sensor and integral controller to damp the resonance modes of a mechanical system. However, the maximum modal damping depends on the frequency difference between the system’s poles and zeros. If the frequency difference is small, the achievable modal damping may be severely limited. The proposed technique allows an arbitrary damping ratio to be achieved by introducing an additional feed-through term to the control system. This results in an extra degree of freedom that allows the position of the zeros to be modified and the maximum modal damping to be increased. The second contribution of this paper is a structured PI tracking controller that is parameterized to cancel the additional pole introduced by integral force feedback. The parameterized controller has only one tuning parameter and does not suffer from reduced phase margin. The proposed techniques are demonstrated on a piezoelectric objective lens positioner. The results show exceptional tracking and damping performance while maintaining insensitivity to changes in resonance frequency. The maximum bandwidth achievable with a commercial PID controller is 26.1 Hz. In contrast, with the proposed damping and tracking controller, the bandwidth is increased to 255 Hz.