Unified Data-Driven Feedforward, Feedback, and Reference Co-Design Framework for Transient Performance Optimization

High performance demands on accuracy and system throughput are common in many industrial applications, making well-designed control laws and reference trajectories essential. Yet, while system performance depends on the joint effects of feedforward control, feedback control, and the design of the reference, these different elements of the control system are typically designed sequentially rather than simultaneously. Such a sequential design approach potentially leads to a loss in obtainable performance. In this work, we present a novel unified data-driven co-design framework for feedforward, feedback, and/or reference design. This framework aims at minimizing the duration of the transient phase in setpoint control: the time required to execute a point-to-point task and reach a desired level of accuracy. The efficacy of the proposed approach in minimizing this duration is demonstrated in a case study of an industrial wire bonder system, in which reductions of up to 54 % in the duration of the transient phase were obtained compared to the current industrial state-of-practice.