Electrical power steering with two controllers and closed-loop integral action

A method for operating a motor control system that includes two or more controllers, the method comprising:

• computing, by a first arbitration module associated with a first controller, a first arbitrated input signal based on a first input signal directed to the first controller, and a second input signal directed to a second controller;
• generating, by the first controller, a first control output using the first arbitrated input signal;
• computing, by a second arbitration module associated with the second controller, a second arbitrated input signal based on the first input signal directed to the first controller, and the second input signal directed to the second controller, wherein the first arbitration signal is computed by subtracting an offset from the first input signal, and the offset is computed based on a difference between the first input signal and the second input signal;
• and
• generating, by the second controller, a second control output using the second arbitrated input signal.

An electric power steering system comprising:

• a first motor configured to generate a first assist torque;
• a second motor configured to generate a second assist torque;
• a first controller to generate a first control output for the first motor using a closed-loop control loop to generate the first assist torque;
• a second controller to generate a second control output for the second motor using a closed-loop control loop to generate the second assist torque;
• a first arbitration module associated with the first controller, the first arbitration module configured to generate a first arbitrated input signal based on a first input signal directed to the first controller, and a second input signal directed to the second controller, the first arbitrated input signal used by the first controller to generate the first control output;
• and
• a second arbitration module associated with the second controller, the second arbitration module configured to generate a second arbitrated input signal based on the first input signal directed to the first controller, and the second input signal directed to the second controller, the second arbitrated input signal used by the second controller to generate a second control output, wherein computing the first arbitrated signal comprises subtracting a first offset from the first input signal, the first offset being computed by subtracting the second input signal from the first input signal.