Volume 22, Issue 4 pp. 388-401
Research Article

A two-degree-of-freedom time-optimal solution for hard disk drive servo problems

Shaohua Hu

Shaohua Hu

ImaCor LLC, 50 Charles Lindberg Blvd, Suite 200, Uniondale, NY 11553, U.S.A.

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Zhiqiang Gao

Corresponding Author

Zhiqiang Gao

Center for Advanced Control Technologies, Fenn College of Engineering, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115, U.S.A.

Center for Advanced Control Technologies, Fenn College of Engineering, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this author
First published: 05 September 2007
Citations: 3

Abstract

This paper deals with the hard disk drive (HDD) servo problems. A novel discrete time-optimal control solution is proposed in a two-degree-of-freedom (2DOF) structure, employing both the feedback and feedforward controllers. The time-optimal feedback controller, derived from a simple, double integral plant model, shows remarkable robustness and disturbance rejection in the presence of resonant modes, measurement noises and position and torque disturbances. It eliminates the needs for two separate controllers for track-seeking and track-following operations. The proposed feedforward controller in this 2DOF structure proves to be quite beneficial in reducing the seek time. It also allows the feedback controller to be tuned more aggressively, which helps to improve the quality of track following. The proposed control scheme offers a novel basic control structure for HDD servo, upon which numerous further improvements can be made. It is successfully tested in simulation on an industrial 13.0-kTPI HDD. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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