Cross-Coupled PID Control for Dual DC Motors: Simulation and Experimental Evaluation under Dynamic Loads

Riky Dwi Puriyanto (Universitas Ahmad Dahlan)
Haris Imam Karim Fathurrahman (Universitas Ahmad Dahlan)
Efa Wakhidatus Solikhah (Universitas Ahmad Dahlan)

Control Systems and Optimization Letters
Vol 4, No 2 (2026)

Synchronization control of multiple DC motors is essential in various industrial applications, including dual-drive systems, gantry mechanisms, and autonomous mobile platforms, where synchronization errors may degrade positioning accuracy and mechanical reliability. Conventional independent PID controllers are unable to compensate for asymmetric disturbances occurring between motors, resulting in synchronization deviations under varying load conditions. This study proposes a Cross-Coupled Control Proportional–Integral–Derivative (CCC-PID) controller integrated with a Kalman Filter to improve synchronization accuracy and disturbance rejection in a dual DC motor system. First, mathematical models of two DC motors were identified using the MATLAB System Identification Toolbox, yielding second-order transfer functions with Best Fit accuracies of 93.11% and 92.78%, respectively. The identified models were employed for controller design and simulation, followed by real-time implementation on a hardware platform. Controller performance was evaluated using the maximum synchronization error (|ε|_max), synchronization recovery time (t_sync), Integral of Time-weighted Absolute Synchronization Error (ITASE), and Tracking-to-Synchronization Ratio (ρ_sync). Simulation results demonstrate that increasing the cross-coupling gain significantly enhances synchronization performance, reducing |ε|_max from 14.44 RPM to 0.34 RPM and ITASE from 7.81 to 0.11. Under dynamic load disturbances, the proposed CCC-PID reduced the maximum synchronization error by 49.8%, decreased ITASE by 86.6%, and shortened the synchronization recovery time from 0.90 s to 0.06 s compared with the conventional PID controller. Experimental validation further confirmed reliable synchronization under static loads of 100–400 g and dynamic loading conditions, while the Kalman Filter effectively suppressed encoder measurement noise, producing smoother RPM feedback and more stable control actions. These results demonstrate that the proposed CCC-PID with Kalman Filter provides accurate synchronization, fast disturbance recovery, and robust operation, making it a practical solution for high-performance dual DC motor synchronization systems.