ISA Transactions 50 (2011) 588–598

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ISA Transactions
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Identification and adaptive neural network control of a DC motor system with

dead-zone characteristics
Jinzhu Peng, Rickey Dubay ∗
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3, Canada

article info abstract

Article history: In this paper, an adaptive control approach based on the neural networks is presented to control
Received 29 April 2011 a DC motor system with dead-zone characteristics (DZC), where two neural networks are proposed
Received in revised form to formulate the traditional identification and control approaches. First, a Wiener-type neural
17 June 2011
network (WNN) is proposed to identify the motor DZC, which formulates the Wiener model with a
Accepted 23 June 2011
Available online 23 July 2011
linear dynamic block in cascade with a nonlinear static gain. Second, a feedforward neural network is
proposed to formulate the traditional PID controller, termed as PID-type neural network (PIDNN), which
Keywords:
is then used to control and compensate for the DZC. In this way, the DC motor system with DZC is
Neural network identified by the WNN identifier, which provides model information to the PIDNN controller in order
System identification to make it adaptive. Back-propagation algorithms are used to train both neural networks. Also, stability
PID control and convergence analysis are conducted using the Lyapunov theorem. Finally, experiments on the DC
Nonlinear DC motor motor system demonstrated accurate identification and good compensation for dead-zone with improved
Dead-zone characteristics control performance over the conventional PID control.
Wiener model © 2011 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction friction and dead-zone, where an identification approach of the

DC motors are devices which can convert electrical energy into
mechanical energy. It has been widely used in the engineering
field due to its simple structure, able to be easily integrated in
control systems with relatively low cost. The traditional model
of a DC motor is a second-order linear one, which ignores the
Coulomb friction of the motor. Unfortunately, the Coulomb friction
can cause the DC motor system to have nonlinear (such as dead-
zone) characteristics [1], which can lead to degrading control
performance of the overall system. This is prominent where the DC
motor has to operate over a wide range that includes low angular
speeds. Therefore, in order to improve the performance of this
servo system, identification and control of the nonlinear DC motor
system with dead-zone characteristics (DZC) have been a much
researched topic that is still ongoing.
For nonlinear system identification, Wiener and Hammerstein
models are the most widely used for modeling of processes [2,3].
In Hammerstein modeling, a nonlinear steady-state block precedes
a linear dynamic one, while the Wiener model contains the same
elements in the reverse order [4]. In order to achieve a certain
performance or adaptive capability, the neural networks were
integrated into Wiener or Hammerstein models [2,5,6]. Kara [7]
used a Hammerstein model to identify a DC motor with Coulomb
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 506 458 7770; fax: +1 506 453 5025.
E-mail address: dubayr@unb.ca (R. Dubay).
0019-0578/$ – see front matter © 2011 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.isatra.2011.06.005
linear and nonlinear system models was performed using the
recursive least squares (RLS) method. The experimental test on a
practical DC motor system demonstrated that the Hammerstein
model is able to identify the dead-zone characteristics efficiently.
However, the approach cannot be applied to adaptively control the
DC motor online.
For DC motor control, the traditional proportional, integration
and derivative (PID) controller is one of the popular methods,
since its design is well known for simple systems and does
not require detailed knowledge of the system dynamics [8].
However, when using PID structures, it can be difficult to
determine the appropriate PID gains when various uncertainties
and nonlinearities exist, such as payload variations, hysteresis,
friction and others. All these factors could degrade the control
system performance. Numerous research papers focused on
adaptive PID control [9], self-tuning PID control [10,11], self-tuning
predictive PID control [12], and so on. In adaptive and self-tuning
PID, the controller parameters were tuned in accordance with
changes of the process parameters automatically [9,11]. Though
satisfactory performance can be obtained, these controllers are
still limited on adapting the tuning control parameters associated
with nonlinear system characteristics. In recent years, neural
network based control techniques have been successfully applied
in industrial applications. Martins et al. [13] and Chen et al. [14]
used neural networks to modify the gains of PID controllers. Yuan
and Wang [15] presented a neural network based self-learning
PID controller for electronic throttle, where the PID controller
 J. Peng, R. Dubay / ISA Transactions 50 (2011) 588–598 589

parameters are treated as the weights of Gaussian potential

function neural networks and adjusted using the neural networks
algorithm. To keep the simple features of PID controllers, Shu and
Pi [16] proposed a PID neural network, which introduced a new
type of network having its hidden layer neurons work as the PID
controller terms through their respective activation functions. This
approach provided the simultaneous advantages of both the PID
Fig. 1. Diagram of the electromechanical structure of the loaded DC motor.
controller and a neural network structure. Cong and Liang [17]
designed a PID-like neural network based adaptive controller for
2. Dynamic model of the nonlinear DC motor system
a MIMO motion control system. The controller was made up of
a neural network with a hidden layer comprising of activation
The system considered in this paper combines a DC motor with
feedback in addition to network output feedback.
a mechanical load. The complete system can be represented by the
In a DC motor system, dead-zone is usually caused by friction diagram shown in Fig. 1.
and mechanical wear. To remove the effect of dead-zone, several For completeness of the paper, the DC motor theoretical model
investigations have been done on this particular nonlinearity, such formulation is presented. The electrical and mechanical equations
as adaptive approaches [18–21], neural networks [22–24] and representing a DC motor is given as [7],
fuzzy systems [25,26]. In most of these works, the mathematical
model of dead-zone was assumed to be expressed by a piecewise dia
va = Ra ia + La + ea (1)
function with some known or unknown (the known bound) dt
parameters. In [20,23,25], inverse functions of the dead-zone were dω m
used to compensate the effects of the dead-zone nonlinearity Jm = τm − Bm ωm − τs (2)
dt
however, the approaches lead to a discontinuous control law that
requires instantaneous switching, which cannot be performed where va is the motor armature voltage, Ra is armature coil
resistance, La is armature coil inductance, ia is the armature
with mechanical actuators in practice. Without using the dead-
current, and ea is the back electromotive-force voltage; Jm is the
zone inverse, Lewis et al. [26] and Wang et al. [18] treated the
moment of motor inertia, ωm is the motor angular speed, τm is the
dead-zone as a combination of linear and saturation functions.
motor torque, Bm is the coefficient of viscous motor friction, and τs
Furthermore, in order to accommodate non-symmetric dead-
is the transmitted shaft torque.
zones, the approach was extended by Ibrir et al. [21] and Zhang
The back electromotive-force voltage ea is related to the motor
et al. [24]. Recently, Nouri et al. [27] proposed a model-following
angular speed ωm through an electrical constant and the motor
adaptive control structure for the speed control of a nonlinear
torque τm is related to the current ia through a mechanical
motor drive system to compensate nonlinearities in which a constant,
recurrent neural network was proposed for the identification and
adaptive control of nonlinear DC motor drives. ea = Ke ωm (3)
In this paper, two type neural networks are proposed to τm = Km ia (4)
formulate the well known Wiener model identifier and a PID
where Ke and Km are the electrical and mechanical constants,
controller, respectively. One is Wiener-type neural network
respectively.
(WNN), which formulates the Wiener model with a linear dynamic The mechanical load torque can be derived to include the load’s
block in cascade with a nonlinear static gain. The other is PID- moment of inertia,
type neural network (PIDNN), which formulates the traditional
PID controller. The WNN is designed and trained first off-line dωL
JL = τs − BL ωL − τd (5)
to learn the DC motor system with DZC from the open-loop dt
input–output data. After the training process is completed, the τs = Ks (θm − θL ) + Bs (ωm − ωL ) (6)
proposed adaptive control scheme is applied on the DC motor
system with DZC, where the WNN and PIDNN are used as an with
identifier and controller respectively. This makes the overall PIDNN dθ m dθL
control scheme have capabilities of learning and adaptiveness.
= ωm , = ωL (7)
dt dt
The DC motor system with DZC is identified using the WNN as where JL the load inertia, ωL the load angular speed, BL is the
a forward identifier, which provides model information online to load friction, and τd is the load disturbance torque; Ks is the shaft
update the PIDNN. This overall strategy of the identifier and the elasticity, and Bs is the inner damping coefficient of the shaft,
adaptive controller is applied on identification and controlling a θm and θL are the motor angle and load angle displacements,
DC motor system with experiments to confirm the effectiveness of respectively.
the proposed methods. In addition, the proposed approach is not To design a high performance motion control system, an
designed for a special DC motor system and therefore, it can be accurate knowledge of the electromechanical system dynamics
used for any DC motor winding type. Furthermore, the approach is usually required, which includes the linear and nonlinear
can be used to identify and control other electrical or mechanical transmission attributes of the system. Friction is an inevitable
systems. characteristic of mechanical systems that is undesirable, and
This paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, dynamic model should be taken into consideration in the modeling and control
of the DC motor system with Coulomb friction which causes the design. A general model of this form including Coulomb friction
dead-zone characteristics is described. The design of the WNN is [22],
for identification is given in Section 3, and the training algorithm
is presented. In Section 4, the design of PIDNN and its training τf (ω) = α0 sgn(ω) + α1 e−α2 |ω| sgn(ω) (8)
algorithm are derived, as well as the overall adaptive control where α0 , α1 , α2 are constants.
scheme is derived. The convergence analysis of WNN and PIDNN With the introduction of the nonlinear Coulomb friction, the
are given in Section 5. The experimental results are given in system model should be improved to represent the nonlinear sys-
Section 6 with conclusion in Section 7. tem characteristics. The governing equations of system dynamics
590 J. Peng, R. Dubay / ISA Transactions 50 (2011) 588–598

Fig. 2. The general Wiener model.

given in Eqs. (2) and (5) are modified to include the speed depen-
dent friction as follows,
dωm
Jm = τm − Bm ωm − τs − τf (ωm ) (9)
dt
dωL
JL = τs − BL ωL − τd − τf (ωL ). (10)
dt Fig. 3. The structure of Wiener-type neural network.
Dead-zone is caused primarily by the Coulomb friction force [7].
The Coulomb friction prevents the rotor from turning until the 3.2. Wiener-type neural network
torque τm is large enough to overcome it. The main purpose of this
paper is to present an adaptive controller for a DC motor system A block-oriented artificial neural network which is termed
that is able to achieve good performances in the presence of the as Wiener-type neural network is designed as shown in Fig. 3,
dead-zone nonlinearities. consisting of a single linear node with two tapped delay lines.
These delay lines form the model of the linear dynamic element
3. Wiener-type neural network for identification and the nonlinear static element. In Fig. 3, x̂(k) is raised to powers
1, . . . , p and each signal path is multiply by the corresponding
Unlike black-box models, Wiener or Hammerstein models,
weights ĉ1 , . . . , ĉp . The output ŷ(k) can be expressed as
which are called block-oriented nonlinear models, have a clear
physical interpretation [28,29]. In this section, a Wiener-type p
−
neural network is designed to obtain the Wiener model entirely. ŷ(k) = f (x̂(k)) = ĉl x̂l (k). (13)
The back-propagation (BP) training algorithm for weights updating l =1
is presented in detail.
The hidden layer output x̂(k) of the WNN can be expressed as
3.1. Wiener model formulation x̂(k) = −â1 x̂(k − 1) − â2 x̂(k − 2) + · · · − âna x̂(k − na )

A general Wiener model is shown in Fig. 2, which consists of

+ b̂1 u(k − 1) + b̂2 u(k − 2) + · · · + b̂nb u(k − nb )
a linear dynamic block and a nonlinear static block. For a SISO na
− nb
−
Wiener model, the linear dynamic block can be described as =− âi x̂(k − i) + b̂j u(k − j) (14)
i =1 j =1
B(q−1 )
x(k) = G(q−1 )u(k) = u(k) (11)
A(q−1 ) where the weights âi , i = 1, . . . , na and b̂j , j = 1, . . . , nb are
with associated with the parameters of linear dynamic block in Eq. (12).
The weights ĉl for l = 1, . . . , p are associated with the parameters
A(q−1 ) = 1 + a1 q−1 + a2 q−2 + · · · + ana q−na of nonlinear static block in Eq. (11). In this way, the negative
B(q−1 ) = b1 q−1 + b2 q−2 + · · · + bnb q−nb gradient training algorithm can be executed to update the weights
where u(k) and x(k) are the input and intermediate variables, of WNN so as to obtain the identified Wiener model. This completes
respectively, ai , i = 1, . . . , na and bj , j = 1, . . . , nb are the the design of the WNN structure.
parameters of linear dynamic block, q−1 is the unit delay operator,
na , nb are the orders of the linear dynamics and generally nb ≤ na . 3.3. Training algorithm
Note that the intermediate variable x(k) is non-measured and does
not necessarily have a physical meaning. In the neural network training strategy, the weights are updated
Many methods have been investigated for the nonlinear static by BP training algorithm. The error function is given as
block, such as polynomial forms [28], neural networks [2,3,29],
1 1
piecewise linear (PWL) method [30]. In this paper, a polynomial JI (WI , t ) = (y(k) − ŷ(k))2 = ê(k)2 (15)
function is derived, which can be described as 2 2
p where ê(k) = y(k) − ŷ(k); y(k) and ŷ(k) are the DC motor
output (the load speed ωL ) and the WNN output, respectively.
−
y(k) = f (x(k)) = cl xl (k) (12)
l =1 The adjustable parameter WI represents the weights ĉl , âi and
where y(k) is the output, f (·) represents the nonlinear component b̂j . Applying the BP training algorithm, the optimization target is
of the Wiener model, cl for l = 1, . . . , p is the parameter of characterized to minimize the error function Eq. (15) with respect
nonlinear static block, l in xl (k) represents the power of x(k), p is to the adjustable parameter WI of the network,
the degree of the polynomial function.
∂ JI ∂ ŷ(k)
To formulate the Wiener model, the task is to identify the = −ê(k) . (16)
parameters a1 , . . . , ana , b1 , . . . , bnb and c1 , . . . , cp according to ∂ WI ∂ WI
plant input and output datasets. There are several methods to The general update rule at this point is given as
identify the parameters of Wiener model, such as the least
squares method or its recursive version [31], maximum likelihood ∂ JI
WI (k + 1) = WI (k) + 1WI (k) = WI (k) − ηI
methods [32], linear optimization methods [33], and nonlinear ∂ WI
optimization methods [34]. Different from the existing parameter
∂ ŷ(k)
identification methods, the parameters of the Wiener model can = WI (k) + ηI · ê(k) (17)
be directly obtained through training the WNN by the BP training ∂ WI
algorithm. This scheme will be adopted in the paper. where ηI is the training rate.
 J. Peng, R. Dubay / ISA Transactions 50 (2011) 588–598 591

Fig. 4. Adaptive PID-type neural network control based on WNN.

According to Eqs. (15), (13) and (14), the partial derivatives of where the partial derivatives in Eqs. (24)–(26) are shown in
the WNN output ŷ(k) to weights ĉl and intermediate variable x̂(k) Eqs. (18), (22) and (23), respectively. From these evaluations the
can be calculated as output of the WNN ŷ is determined and the weights which are
associated with the Wiener model parameters can be updated.
∂ ŷ(k)
= x̂l (k), l = 1, 2, . . . , p (18) As mentioned previously, an ideal DC motor can be regarded as
∂ ĉl a linear dynamic system, with dead-zone as a static nonlinearity
p that describes insensitivity of the system to small input signals.
∂ ŷ(k) −
= l · ĉl · x̂l−1 (k). (19) This indicates that the DC motor system with DZC has the same
∂ x̂(k) l =1 structure as the proposed WNN. Therefore, the WNN can be used
to identify the DC motor system with DZC well.
Since the element of x̂(k − i) is also function of âi and b̂j , the From above, the major contribution of the paper is that it
partial derivatives of intermediate variable x̂(k) to the weights âi provides a novel approach to obtaining the parameters of the
and b̂j can be calculated as powerful traditional Wiener model, which is represented by the
WNN entirely. The structure of the proposed WNN is different
∂ x̂(k) −na
∂ x̂(k − s) from the existing neural networks as the parameters of the Wiener
= −x̂(k − i) − âs · , i = 1 , 2 , . . . , na (20)
∂ âi s =1
∂ âi model can be obtained directly from the weights of the WNN.
Therefore, the training algorithm can be executed every timestep
∂ x̂(k) na
− ∂ x̂(k − s) to update the weights so as to obtain the identified Wiener
= u(k − j) − âs · , j = 1 , 2 , . . . , nb . (21) models.
∂ b̂j s =1 ∂ b̂j
From Eqs. (19)–(21), the following partial derivatives can be 4. Adaptive PID-type neural network control based on WNN
calculated as
In this section, as shown in Fig. 4, the WNN is derived to model
∂ ŷ(k) ∂ ŷ(k) ∂ x̂(k) the DC motor system with DZC, and then a PID-type neural network
= ·
∂ âi ∂ x̂(k) ∂ âi   (PIDNN) is designed to control it. The control objective is to tune
the parameters in the PIDNN controller so that the output y(k) of
 
p
− −na
∂ x̂(k − s)
= lĉl x̂ (k) · −x̂(k − i) −
l−1
âs · , the nonlinear system tracks the desired trajectories yd (k), at the
l=1 s=1
∂ âi
same time, to tune the parameters in the WNN identifier so that its
i = 1, 2, . . . , na (22)
output ŷ(k) can model the system nonlinear behavior y(k) in real
∂ ŷ(k) ∂ ŷ(k) ∂ x̂(k) time. Therefore, the WNN identifier can provide updated model
= · information to the PIDNN controller every timestep [35].
∂ b̂j ∂ x̂(k) ∂ b̂j
   
p
− −na
∂ x̂(k − s)
= lĉl x̂ (k) · u(k − j) −
l−1
âs · , 4.1. PID controller
l=1 s=1 ∂ b̂j
j = 1, 2, . . . , nb . (23) A typical discrete-time PID controller can be expressed
as [8,11],
According to Eq. (17), the update law of the weights ĉk , âi and −
b̂j can be calculated as u(k) = KP (k) · e(k) + KI (k) · e(k) + KD (k) · 1e(k) (27)
KP (k)Ts
∂ ŷ(k) where u(k) is the control effort at time k; KP (k), KI (k) =
ĉl (k + 1) = ĉl (k) + ηI · ê(k) , l = 1, 2, . . . , p (24) Ti
∂ ĉl and KD (k) =
KP (k)Td
are proportional, integral and derivative
Ts
∂ ŷ(k) gains, respectively; Ts represents the sampling time; Ti and Td
âi (k + 1) = âi (k) + ηI · ê(k) , i = 1, 2, . . . , na (25) represent the integral and derivative constants, respectively; e(k)
∂ âi
is the tracking error defined as e(k) = yd (k) − y(k), and 1e(k) =
∂ ŷ(k) e(k) − e(k − 1); yd (k) is the desired plant output, y(k) is the actual
b̂j (k + 1) = b̂j (k) + ηI · ê(k) , j = 1, 2, . . . , nb (26)
∂ b̂j plant output.
592 J. Peng, R. Dubay / ISA Transactions 50 (2011) 588–598

The PID controller Eq. (27) can also be expressed in the Using a BP training algorithm, the weights adaptation laws for
following incremental form, the output and hidden layers are derived as
3 ∂ JC (k)
Kj (k + 1) = Kj (k) − ηC · , j = 1, 2, 3
−
1u(k) = u(k) − u(k − 1) = Ki (k) · ei (k) (28) ∂ Kj (k)
(37)
i=1
∂ JC (k)
where Ki (k) for i = 1, 2, 3 are the parameters of PID controller; vij (k + 1) = vij (k) − ηC · , i, j = 1 , 2 , 3 (38)
e1 (k) = e(k)− e(k − 1), e2 (k) = e(k) and e3 (k) = e(k)− 2e(k − 1)+ ∂vij (k)
e(k−2). In general, if the parameters Ki (k) are chosen to be optimal, where the respective partial derivatives in Eqs. (37) and (38) are
a satisfied tracking performance could be obtained. However, it is shown in Eqs. (34) and (35).
difficult to select these parameters due to the plant nonlinearity. In The proposed approach can be used to control the DC
this paper, a neural network is used to formulate the PID controller, motor system with dead-zone (in this work) as well as other
the weights in which are corresponding with the parameters of PID nonlinearities such as backlash, hysteresis and saturation and
controller, so that the parameters Ki (k) can be updated through others. In addition, our approach can also be applied for identifying
online training of the neural network. and controlling other electrical and mechanical systems with any
invertible, unknown and nonlinear functions.
4.2. PID-type neural network (PIDNN)
5. Convergence analysis
As shown in Fig. 4, the PIDNN acts as a controller, the output of
the first layer net j and the output of the network 1u(k) are given In the training procedures of WNN and PIDNN, the update rules
as of Eqs. (24)–(26) and Eqs. (37)–(38) require a proper choice of
3
− training rates η. Too small η guarantees convergence but with slow
net j = vij · ei (k) (29) training speed. However, if η is too big, the training algorithm
i =1 becomes unstable. In this section, the approach on selecting
3 properly η is developed.
−
u(k) = u(k − 1) + 1u(k) = u(k − 1) + Kj (k) · h(net j ) (30) A discrete-type Lyapunov function can be given as [36,37],
j =1
1
V (k) = e2 (k). (39)
where vij for i = 1, 2, 3 and j = 1, 2, 3 are the weights between the 2
input layer and the hidden layer, and h(·) is a nonlinear activation
Therefore, the change of the Lyapunov function can be obtained
function of hidden layer, which can be selected as
as
1 − e−net j 1V (k) = V (k + 1) − V (k)
h(net j ) = . (31)
1 + e−net j 1 2
e (k + 1) − e2 (k)

Thus, the derivative of Eq. (31) is,
=
2
1e(k)
[ ]
1
h′ (net j ) =(1 − h(net j ))2 . (32) = 1e(k) e(k) + . (40)
2 2
The training algorithm can now be formulated in order to make The error difference can be represented as
the PIDNN adaptive.
∂ e(k)
 T
e(k + 1) = e(k) + 1e(k) = e(k) + · 1W . (41)
4.3. Training algorithm ∂W
For the adaptive PIDNN controller, its weights are updated Eqs. (40) and (41) will be used in the following convergence
along the negative gradient of a given error function as follows, analyses of the WNN and the PIDNN. It is necessary to perform
this analysis since convergence may be too slow or unstable, if the
1 1 learning rate η is not properly chosen. In this paper, a procedure
JC (k) = e2 (k) = (yd (k) − y(k))2 . (33)
2 2 for selecting the proper learning rate η will be addressed.
The gradients of JC (k) with respect to weights Kj (k) and vij can be
evaluated as 5.1. Convergence of WNN
∂ JC (k) ∂ y(k) ∂ y(k)
= −e(k) = −e(k) h(net j ) (34) From the update rule of Eq. (17), we have,
∂ Kj (k) ∂ Kj (k) ∂ u(k)
∂ ê(k) ∂ ŷ(k)
∂ JC (k) ∂ y(k) ∂ y(k) 1WI = −ηI · ê(k) · = ηI · ê(k) · . (42)
= −e(k) = −e(k) Kj (k)h′ (net j )ei (k). (35) ∂ WI ∂ WI
∂vij (k) ∂vij (k) ∂ u(k)
The following theorem 1 [37] is revisited on selecting ηI
∂ y(k)
In Eqs. (34) and (35), ∂ u(k) denotes the sensitivity of the properly as the neural network in this paper is different.
plant output with respect to its input. The sensitivity cannot be
calculated directly from the output of the nonlinear system since Theorem 1. Let ηI be the training rate for the weights of WNN and
the precise mathematical model is usually unknown in many βI ,max be defined as βI ,max = maxk ‖βI (k)‖, where βI (k) = ∂∂ŷW(kI) and
practical system. In general, since the WNN was trained (off-line ‖ · ‖ is the usual Euclidean norm. Then, the convergence is guaranteed
or online), there is ŷ(k) ∼
= y(k). Therefore, the system sensitivity if ηI is chosen as
can be calculated as
2
∂ y(k) ∼ ∂ ŷ(k) ∂ ŷ(k) ∂ x̂(k) 0 < ηI < . (43)
yu (k) = = = · . (36) βI2,max
∂ u(k) ∂ u(k) ∂ x̂(k) ∂ u(k)
 J. Peng, R. Dubay / ISA Transactions 50 (2011) 588–598 593

Proof. From Eqs. (39)–(41), 1V (k) can be represented as Since Eq. (50) is similar as Eq. (45), the only difference is that yu (k)
needs to be incorporated in PIDNN. From Eq. (36), we can obtain
1ê(k)
[ ]
1V (k) = 1ê(k) ê(k) + the limit on yu (k) as
2
 ∂ ŷ(k) ∂ x̂(k) 
 
δmax = ‖yu (k)‖max = 
T
∂ ê(k) ∂ ŷ(k)
  · 
= ηI ê(k) ∂ x̂(k) ∂ u(k) max
∂ WI ∂ WI
 ∂ ŷ(k) 
 ·  ∂ x̂(k) 
   
   
1 ∂ ê(k)
 T
∂ ŷ(k) ≤ ∂ x̂(k)   ∂ u(k)  (51)
· ê(k) + ηI ê(k) . (44) max max
2 ∂ WI ∂ WI
where δmax is the limit
 on  sensitivity function and it is estimated
 ∂ x̂(k) 
Since ê(k) = y(k) − ŷ(k), = ∂ ê(k)
∂ WI
− ∂∂ŷW(kI) . Substituting these in the from Eq. (19) and  ∂ u(k) . Similar as the proof of Theorem 1, we
last term of Eq. (44), we have, can conclude that Eq. (48) can guarantee the convergence of the
training algorithm of PIDNN. And, the optimal training rate is ηC∗ =
 ∂ ŷ(k) 2 1 2 2  ∂ ŷ(k) 4
   
1
1V (k) = −ηI ê2 (k)   + η ê (k)  , which is the upper half of the limit in Eq. (48). Note that
 ∂W  . (45) δmax βC ,max
2 2

 ∂W  2
I
I I
∂ x̂(k)
∂ u(k)
can be similarly calculated as Eq. (21). 
∂ ŷ(k)
Define βI ,max = maxk ‖βI (k)‖ where βI (k) = ∂ W , we obtain,
From the above analyses, the proper learning rate η can be
I

1 determined in order to obtain a compromise between fast and

1V (k) = − ‖βI (k)‖ ηI 2 − ηI ‖βI (k)‖
2 2
ê (k)
2
 
2 stable convergence of the learning procedure.
1
≤ − ‖βI (k)‖2 ηI 2 − ηI βI2,max ê2 (k).
 
(46)
2 6. Experimental results
Since the fact V (k) > 0 for all time k, the convergence of
training algorithm means 1V (k) < 0. From Eq. (46), it implies that The implementation procedure of the proposed adaptive PIDNN
Eq. (43) is satisfied. It should be noted that optimal convergence controller for the DC motor system with DZC is itemized as follows:
via maximum training rate corresponds to ηI∗ = 21 , which is Step 1. Select the input–output variables of WNN (u(k) and ŷ(k))
βI ,max
the upper half of the limit in Eq. (43).  and PIDNN (e(k) and u(k));
Step 2. Select the structures (the number of neurons in hidden
5.2. Convergence of PIDNN layer) of the two neural networks;
Step 3. Practically excite the DC motor system in order to obtain a
From the update law of Eqs. (37)–(38), sufficient number of open-loop training datasets, note that
it is not necessary to conduct exhaustive testing;
∂ e(k)
1WC = −ηC · e(k) · Step 4. Model the DC motor system using WNN as in Eqs. (13)–(14),
∂ WC and off-line train the WNN using the experimental training
∂ u(k) datasets according to Eqs. (24)–(26) to obtain the weights
= ηC · e(k) · yu (k) · (47) âi , b̂j and ĉl ;
∂ WC
Step 5. Calculate the error function JI in Eq. (15). If JI is less than a
where WC includes the weights vij and Kj for i, j = 1, 2, 3.
limiting value within a given number of training iterations,
The following Theorem 2 is also revisited on selecting ηC
it means that the model can be accepted and proceed to
properly.
Step 6, otherwise go to Step 2 to reselect the number of
neurons in hidden layer of WNN;
Theorem 2. Let ηC be the training rate for the weights of PIDNN and
Step 6. Establish the adaptive PIDNN controller as in Fig. 4. Note
βC ,max be defined as βC ,max = maxk ‖βC (k)‖ where βC (k) = ∂∂uW(kC) ,
that the PIDNN serves as a feedforward controller and the
and δmax = maxk ‖yu (k)‖. Then the convergence is guaranteed if ηC WNN as the system identifier;
is chosen as
Step 7. Using the initial values of the WNN’s weights âi , b̂j , ĉl from
2 off-line training, select an initial set of PIDNN’s weights
0 < ηC < . (48)
2 β2
δmax vij , Kj (arbitrarily chosen in [−1, 1]), and an appropriate
C ,max
training rate.
Proof. From Eqs. (39)–(41), 1V (k) can be represented as Above items 1–7 are the preparatory steps required to
[
1e(k)
] implement the adaptive PIDNN and the online WNN identifier for
1V (k) = 1e(k) e(k) + the DC motor system to be placed into closed-loop control. The
2
following steps itemize closed-loop control.
∂ e(k) ∂ u(k)
 T
= · ηC · e(k) · (a) Compute the output of WNN ŷ using Eqs. (13)–(14).
∂ WC ∂ WC (b) Update the weights âi , b̂j , ĉl of WNN using Eqs. (24)–(26).
(c) Compute the sensitivity yu (k) using Eq. (36) to calculate the
 
∂ e(k) ∂ u(k)
 T
1
· e(k) + · ηC · e(k) · . (49) gradients of JC in Eqs. (34) and (35).
2 ∂ WC ∂ WC (d) Sample the reference yd (k) and plant output y(k), compute the
∂ e(k) ∂ u(k) control signal u(k) using Eq. (30).
Since e(k) = yd (k) − y(k), ∂ W = −yu (k) ∂ W , Substituting these
C C (e) Update PIDNN’s weights vij and Kj using Eqs. (37)–(38), go to
in Eq. (49), we have, step (a).
 ∂ u(k) 2 1 2 2  ∂ u(k) 4
   
The experimental test was performed on a Honeywell 22VM51-
1V (k) = −ηC e (k) (k) 
2  y2u  + ηC e (k) 
  . (50)
∂ WC  2 ∂ WC  020-5 torque motor with an external inertial load. The factory
594 J. Peng, R. Dubay / ISA Transactions 50 (2011) 588–598

Fig. 5. WNN DC model identification, plant output y (dotted curve) and WNN output ŷ (solid curve).

Table 1 to Step 6, the parameters in Eqs. (13) and (14) are selected to
Specifications of the Honeywell 22VM51-020-5 DC Motor. na = 3, nb = 2 and p = 3. After 19 iterations of training, the
Motor Characteristics Parameters Values Units stop condition (JI < 0.01) is met. Fig. 5 shows the DC motor
Rated voltage (DC) – 24 V system identified results, where the WNN can identify the plant
Rated current (RMS) – 2.2 A output. Fig. 6 shows a portion of the system response at very low
Rated torque – 9.18 × 10−2 N·m speeds in order to emphasize the DZC. It is clear that the WNN can
Rated speed – 2225 RPM identify the dead-zone better than the Wiener model using the RLS
Back EMF constant Ke 0.0374 V · s/rad method.
Torque constant Km 0.0374 N · m/A
Terminal resistance Ra 3.6 Ω Test 2 (closed loop)—Controller performance.
Rotor inductance La 6.0 × 10−4 H The adaptive PIDNN control with WNN identification is
Viscous damping coefficient Bm 6.74 × 10−6 N·m·s/rad used to practically control the DC model with dead-zone. The
Rotor inertia Jm 3.18 × 10−6 kg · m2 setpoints are generated by a sinusoidal function yd (k) =
200 sin(2π kTs /40) (RPM). Figs. 7 and 8 show the first loop control
and the sixth loop results, respectively. We can see that the
controller can achieve a good performance and the motor dead-
specifications of the DC motor are shown in Table 1. The torque
zone gets smaller over these loops. This is because in the first
motor was controlled by a PC with a National Instruments 16-bit
loop the weights of PIDNN are set to be random within [−1, 1]. In
data acquisition (DAQ) board using a C-based program. The DAQ
addition, since the WNN was trained off-line, it does not identify
board receives the transducer output (DC voltage), which provided
the dead-zone online well as yet. During the off-line procedure,
the rotational speed of the DC motor system. The motor receives
only limited datasets were used for training. In online control, the
an analog control signal from the DAQ board which is generated
datasets have more data points available for WNN identifier every
by the software algorithm [38]. In the experimental setup, the
timestep. After six loops, the weights of PIDNN are at updated
main control algorithm is implemented at a Ts = 10 ms sampling
values that provide good control of the plant. The overall result is
rate.
the WNN identifying the dead-zone accurately so as to facilitate
continuous improvement of the PIDNN controller. A PID controller
Test 1 (open loop)—WNN for DC model identification.
using Ziegler–Nichols method [39] was used to control the DC
To test the identification performance of WNN for the DC motor system with DZC with results in Fig. 9. It is shown that the
motor with dead-zone, an open-loop test is performed with a PID controller can achieve a relatively good performance however,
sinusoidal function u(k) = 3.0 sin(2π kTs /10) V. In order to test the dead-zone region is not compensated or minimized as the
the ability of identifying the dead-zone, one cycle dataset (1000 PID controller gains are fixed during the entire control procedure.
pairs of data) are used to train the WNN. The initial parameters In general, this would be the case for any fixed-type control
∂ ŷ(k)
in Eqs. (24)–(26) are set to be ŷ(k) = 0, x̂(k) = 0, ∂ â = scheme.
i
∂ y(k) ∂ ŷ(k) From Figs. 7–9, it can be seen that the voltage has oscillations
0, = 0 and ∂ ĉl
= 0 as k ≤ 0. The initial values of the
∂ b̂j within ±0.2 V which is not a significant problem in the control.
weights âi , b̂j and ĉl are all selected within [−1, 1] randomly. This noise is due to the rotational speed tachogenerator sensor
The training rate is selected as η = 0.2. Choosing the objective which has an inherent 3% ripple. The noise can be reduced
error function JI < 0.01 and the maximum number of iterations by a filter [40], while all the results are unfiltered in this
be 50, and according to the step-by-step procedure from Step 1 paper.
 J. Peng, R. Dubay / ISA Transactions 50 (2011) 588–598 595

Fig. 6. WNN dead-zone identification, plant output y (dotted ‘◦’ curve), Wiener model using RLS (dash ‘’ curve) and WNN output ŷ (solid ‘∗’ curve).

Fig. 7. PIDNN control results (first loop), setpoints yd (dotted) and PIDNN y (solid).

Test 3 (closed loop)—Comparison to PID control.
Additional testing was performed to demonstrate the perfor-
mance of the proposed adaptive PIDNN controller. A square wave
setpoint profile is used corresponding to ±100 (RPM). The closed-
loop responses are shown in Fig. 10 for the proposed adaptive
PIDNN and PID controllers. The figures illustrate that the DC mo-
tor system controlled by the PIDNN controller has a better track-
ing performance than using the PID controller. The corresponding
control efforts are illustrated in Fig. 11. For evaluating the track-
ing performance of the two controllers, the rise time, settling time,
overshoot, integral of the absolute error (IAE) and integral of square
error (ISE) performance indices are used to make the compar-
isons [41]. From Table 2, the performance indices indicated that
both controllers have similar rise time with significant improve-
ments using the PIDNN controller for the settling time and over-
shoot. The IAE and ISE values are relatively similar to each other
for both schemes.
7. Conclusion
In this study, two neural networks are used to develop an iden-
tification and control methodology. An adaptive PIDNN control
596 J. Peng, R. Dubay / ISA Transactions 50 (2011) 588–598

Fig. 8. PIDNN control results (sixth loop), setpoints yd (dotted) and PIDNN y (solid).

Fig. 9. PID control results, setpoints (dotted) and PID (solid).

Table 2
Comparison of performance of controllers.
Controller Rise time (s) Settling time (s) (5%) Overshoot (%) IAE ISE

PID 0.1748 1.3871 38.04 7.3046 538.3936

PIDNN 0.1790 0.2585 <1.0 5.1384 509.4561

method based on WNN is derived for a DC motor system with of the motor system is minimized during closed loop in compar-
DZC. In the control scheme, the WNN acts as a forward identifier ison to a fixed PID scheme. This combination provides an effective
which provides the DC motor system dynamic behavior in realtime solution of enhancing the control performance of traditional PID
to facilitate adaptive control of the system. As a result, the DZC controllers.
 J. Peng, R. Dubay / ISA Transactions 50 (2011) 588–598 597

Fig. 10. Setpoint tracking of the PIDNN and PID control systems.

Fig. 11. Control effort of the PIDNN and PID control systems.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the funding received
from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
Canada to conduct this research investigation.
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