An experimental study on modelling and identification of harmonic drive systems

Despite widespread industrial application of harmonic drives, mathematical representation of their dynamics has not been fully addressed. In this theoretical/experimental study of harmonic drive systems a systematic way to capture and rationalize the dynamics of the system is proposed. Simple and accurate models for compliance, hysteresis, and friction are given and the model parameters are estimated from experiments using least square approximation. A statistical measure of consistency is defined, by which the reliability of the estimated parameter for different operating condition, as well as the accuracy and integrity of the proposed model is quantified. The validity of the modelling scheme is evaluated on two different harmonic drives by comparing the experimental and simulation results.