Dynamics and Control of Web Handling in Roll-to-Roll System With Driven Roller

In this research, the dynamics and control of web handling in roll-to-roll (R2R) systems using a driven roller are presented. The viscoelasticity effect for systems with and without the driven roller is analyzed to study web dynamics. To achieve high precision control performance, the driven roller is responsible for regulating web speed, while the winders regulate tension control. A tension feedback control is used as a cascade control to achieve a fast system response, and feedforward compensators are provided to account for changes in the winders’ radius. Control performances are verified under several scenarios using an experimental setup. The web tension is validated with errors of ±0.625%, ±1%, and ±1.25%, while the web speed is validated with errors of ±0.0007 m/s, ±0.002 m/s, and ±0.0008 m/s at speed levels of 0.01 m/s, 0.05 m/s, and 0.1 m/s, respectively. Furthermore, it is verified that the tension error in the desired linear tension profile change is around ±0.25 N at 0.01 m/s.