Tuning while running

Can I, or should I change tuning numbers while running? The axis makes a move about every 2 seconds. Just wondering about the timing when downloading and the next move. Will it cause the axis to stop or miss a move.

I have changed gains “on the fly” but if you don’t have to it’s probably safer not to. I would say the biggest issue is that there is a human in the process (you) and there is a chance that you will mean to do something like change 2.02 to 2.03 but you will accidentally type 2.3 and depending on the system, that could be not very good. Of course, you can do this anyway but trying to change the gains between 2 second moves means you will always be on edge. I would much rather set things up so that I had a little time to type in the numbers, download them and then look at them again before initiating a move.

It is safe to change the gains on-the-fly but the problem I have with auto tuning is that the excitation of the system during a normal move may not provide enough information for the system identification part to work. The excitation used during the auto tuning procedure looks like a M or W depending on which way you are going. The combination of constant velocities and ramps provides enough information for the system identification part of the auto tuning.