Modelling and fast position control of a new unwinding–winding mechanism design

This paper concerns a very specific unwinding–winding system. It is used to study radioactive nuclei produced by various low energy beam appliances. Due to the short lifetime of the species considered, they have to be moved very fast from the collection point to the measuring station. To ensure the high displacement speed, a new combined dancer–accumulator mechanism has been developed. This paper focuses on the development of a non-linear model of the roll-to-roll system including the two dancer–accumulator mechanisms. Then the obtained simulation results are compared with measurements. Once the system model is validated, a new control strategy is proposed and discussed.