Method and apparatus for control of drive systems for cycle based processes

An apparatus for controlling operation of a processing machine, comprising:

• a computer having a central processing unit, a user interface configured for receiving user input commands comprising selected velocity data defining at least in part a desired velocity versus time profile of a moving point of interest of the processing machine to be controlled, and a data storage device in which is stored the user input commands and a target displacement value for the moving point of interest, the target displacement value representing the actual physical displacement of the point of interest on the machine;
• an integrator configured to integrate the desired velocity versus time profile to quantify a derived displacement value for the moving point of interest;
• and
• a comparator implemented by the computer system to compare the target displacement value with the derived displacement value of the point of interest, the comparator configured to output a scaling factor calculated by the computer system and further configured to scale the velocity profile to realize the target displacement value when integrated over a time domain of interest.

A method for controlling a plurality of machine drive systems usable for performing cycle based processes, comprising the steps of:

• providing at least one working element and a motor drive coupled to the element, the drive configured to move the working element responsive to receiving an enabling input from a characterizing velocity versus time profile for performing a cycle-based process;
• providing a computer-implemented control system, including a processor, memory, a graphical user interface, and a computer aided design software program configured with a software-based interface program operable to display a velocity profile characterizing velocity versus time for the working element pursuant to the drive;
• characterizing a desired velocity profile in the memory for a desired point on the working element corresponding to operation of the motor drive;
• integrating the characterized velocity profile over a desired period of time to characterize a derived displacement value;
• providing a target displacement value for the desired point of interest;
• comparing the target displacement value with the derived displacement value to obtain a scaling coefficient sized to scale the derived displacement to realize the target displacement;
• and
• applying the scaling factor to the desired velocity profile such that when integrated, the velocity profile provides the actual displacement.