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To address vehicle drivetrain vibrations that cause discomfort and poor drivability, this study proposes a new active damping strategy with simple backlash compensation based on the simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA) with norm-limited update vector. First, an experimental device developed for a simplified drivetrain mechanism is demonstrated. A mechanism for reproducing both the contact mode and the backlash mode is included in the device. For the contact mode, a model-based H 2 controller is employed as the baseline damping strategy. Further, to mitigate the backlash effect, a simple algorithm based on mode-switching-based compensation is used with the H 2 controller. In particular, for the critical controller parameters, this article presents a systematic design approach to search for their optimal values. The key parameters, which are needed for the backlash and contact mode controllers, are simultaneously auto-tuned using norm-limited update vector-based SPSA, which ensures the stability in the iterative tuning. The novelty of this study is that both the backlash mode controller and the contact mode controller are simultaneously optimized by the improved version of SPSA, thus realizing a comprehensive auto-tuning design of an active drivetrain damping system. Finally, the active controller is experimentally verified using the actual test device. Comparative studies show that the proposed approach significantly reduces drivetrain vibrations and is robust against fluctuations in the backlash. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A model-free vibration control strategy is examined. • New parameter tuning technique is constructed for the model-free controller. • The proposed tuning method is more efficient than a previous one. • The effectiveness of the present method is verified by experiments. In active vibration control, controller tuning is necessary to obtain a sufficient damping performance. This study presents an efficient tuning technique for model-free vibration controller based on a virtual controlled object (VCO). A model-free vibration control system is constructed by using an actuator model and the VCO. A reference controlled object (RCO), which is a designer-defined single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) structure, is used to tune the VCO-controller offline. A novel parameter tuning technique based on the RCO and the simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA) is proposed considering the difference in scale of the tuning parameters. The proposed tuning scheme automatically determines the tuning parameter of the controller without manual trial-and-errors such as experiments with actual plants and is much faster than previous methods. Therefore, the proposed method significantly enhances the practicability of the VCO-based model-free vibration suppression, bridging the gap between the basic study of the VCO-method and its implementation. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by applying it to the VCO-based H 2 controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A model-free vibration control strategy is considered. • An online self-tuning scheme is combined with the model-free controller. • The proposed controller is free from controlled object models. • The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated by simulations. This study presents a simple active vibration controller with a self-tuning mechanism free from a mathematical model of an actual controlled object. First, a virtual controlled object (VCO), which is defined as a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system, is inserted between an actuator model and an actual controlled object. Traditional model-based control theories are applied to a two-degree-of-freedom (2DOF) system composed of the actuator and the VCO instead of a model of the actual controlled object to realize a model-free vibration controller. Then a self-tuning method based on the simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA) is introduced to the VCO-based model-free controller to obtain sufficient damping performances for various controlled objects. The model-free controller design is easily achieved because the traditional model-based control theory can be applied to the 2DOF system composed of the actuator and the VCO. Moreover, the proposed self-tuning mechanism provides sufficient vibration suppression effects for various controlled objects without manual controller tunings. Simulation studies compare the damping performance of the VCO-based model-free adaptive control scheme with that of the conventional approach. The simulations employ five controlled objects with different structures and characteristics, including time-varying properties. The proposed control scheme provides better damping effects than the conventional method for all controlled objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A model-free vibration control strategy is considered. • A parameter tuning procedure is constructed for the model-free controller. • The proposed parameter tuning method is free from manual trial-and-error works. • The effectiveness of the present method is demonstrated by experiments. A parameter tuning technique without manual trial-and-error procedures is proposed for a controller in a model-free vibration control system based on a virtual controlled object (VCO), which is defined as a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system. The model-free control system is constructed by inserting a VCO between the actuator and the actual controlled object. A reference controlled object (RCO), which is also expressed as an SDOF system, is defined for the configured model-free control system. Then the loss function, which is calculated using the RCO vibration control simulation results, is used to evaluate the vibration suppression performance. The simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA) adjusts the controller tuning parameters to minimize the loss function. The SPSA- and RCO-based tuning procedures automatically tune the model-free controller without manual trial-and-error procedures. Simulations and experiments demonstrate that a model-free linear quadratic regulator designed by the proposed approach provides sufficient vibration reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]