Closed-loop alignment identification with adaptive probing signal design technique for web manufacturing or processing systems

1. A method comprising:

designing probing signals for testing an alignment of actuators in a web manufacturing or processing system with measurements of a web of material being manufactured or processed by the system; and

providing the probing signals during alignment testing to identify the alignment of the actuators with the measurements of the web;

wherein designing the probing signals comprises designing the probing signals in both a spatial domain and a dynamic domain associated with the web manufacturing or processing system; and

wherein designing the probing signals in the dynamic domain comprises generating noise signals based on an initial estimate of one or more magnitudes and one or more durations of the probing signals, filtering the noise signals based on a scan rate of the system, and generating base probing signals based on the filtered noise signals.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the spatial domain is directed across a width of the web; and

the dynamic domain is directed along a length of the web.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein designing the probing signals comprises determining how to deploy perturbations in the probing signals, the perturbations being deployed as any of one-sided bumps, two-sided bumps, or a combination of one-sided and two-sided bumps.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

designing the probing signals comprises determining how to deploy perturbations in the probing signals, the perturbations comprising positive bumps and negative bumps; and

the probing signals are designed so that a number of positive bumps at least approximately equals a number of negative bumps.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein designing the probing signals comprises:

attempting to locate at least one of a low-edge bump, a high-edge bump, and a middle bump in a base probing signal among the generated base probing signals; and

if at least one of the bumps cannot be located, adjusting a bump magnitude in the base probing signal.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein designing the probing signals comprises:

identifying a user-specified cluster type associated with the probing signals;

determining if a current actuator setpoint profile or an actuator physical constraint setup cannot accommodate the user-specified cluster type's probing signals; and

based on the determination, adjusting the cluster type and the one or more magnitudes of the probing signals.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein designing the probing signals comprises identifying locations, magnitudes, directions, and durations of perturbations in the probing signals automatically without user input.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the base probing signals comprise Pseudo-Random Binary Sequence (PRBS) signals.

9. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor configured to design probing signals for testing an alignment of actuators in a web manufacturing or processing system with measurements of a web of material being manufactured or processed by the system; and

at least one interface configured to provide the probing signals during alignment testing to identify the alignment of the actuators with the measurements of the web;

wherein the at least one processor is configured to design the probing signals in both a spatial domain and a dynamic domain associated with the web manufacturing or processing system; and

wherein the at least one processor is configured to design the probing signals in the dynamic domain by generating noise signals based on an initial estimate of one or more magnitudes and one or more durations of the probing signals, filtering the noise signals based on a scan rate of the system, and generating base probing signals based on the filtered noise signals.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to design the probing signals by determining how to deploy perturbations in the probing signals, the perturbations being deployed as any of one-sided bumps, two-sided bumps, or a combination of one-sided and two-sided bumps.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to design the probing signals by identifying locations, magnitudes, directions, and durations of perturbations in the probing signals automatically without user input.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to design the probing signals by:

attempting to locate at least one of a low-edge bump, a high-edge bump, and a middle bump in a base probing signal among the generated base probing signals; and

if at least one of the bumps cannot be located, adjusting a bump magnitude in the base probing signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to select subsets of actuators based on a shrinkage profile associated with the web manufacturing or processing system.

14. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the base probing signals comprise Pseudo-Random Binary Sequence (PRBS) signals.

15. A system comprising:

at least one processor configured to design probing signals for testing an alignment of actuators in a web manufacturing or processing system with measurements of a web of material being manufactured or processed by the web manufacturing or processing system; and

a signal generator configured to provide the probing signals during alignment testing to identify the alignment of the actuators with the measurements of the web;

wherein the at least one processor is configured to design the probing signals in both a spatial domain and a dynamic domain associated with the web manufacturing or processing system; and

wherein the at least one processor is configured to design the probing signals in the dynamic domain by generating noise signals based on an initial estimate of one or more magnitudes and one or more durations of the probing signals, filtering the noise signals based on a scan rate of the system, and generating base probing signals based on the filtered noise signals.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein:

the at least one processor is configured to design the probing signals by determining how to deploy perturbations in the probing signals; and

the signal generator is configured to deploy the perturbations as any of one-sided bumps, two-sided bumps, or a combination of one-sided and two-sided bumps.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to design the probing signals by:

attempting to locate at least one of a low-edge bump, a high-edge bump, and a middle bump in a base probing signal among the generated base probing signals; and

if at least one of the bumps cannot be located, adjusting a bump magnitude in the base probing signal.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the base probing signals comprise Pseudo-Random Binary Sequence (PRBS) signals.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein:

the spatial domain is directed across a width of the web; and

the dynamic domain is directed along a length of the web.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein designing the probing signals in the dynamic domain further comprises determining whether a variance ratio of the base probing signals satisfies a threshold value, the variance ratio being a ratio of auto-covariance of the base probing signals to a covariance between the base probing signals with different delays.