Computer Simulation of Performance Response of a Digital Audio Tape System

A computer simulation of performance response of a digital audio tape (DAT) system. The objective of the paper is to design a discrete compensator that will improve the speed performance of the tape drive of a DAT system so that the heads follow the tracks on the tape. This will ensure fast response and accurate positioning of drive heads. In order to do this, a dynamic model of a typical motor/load system of a digital audio tape is obtained. A discrete time compensator is designed using MATLAB software considering a sampling time of 0.1 seconds. The designed controller is integrated into the motor/load loop. Computer simulation was performed for the system for two separate conditions – when the system is uncompensated and when it is compensated. The process parameter values were varied so that three different results were obtained for each of the condition considered. The result obtained show that the response performance compensated system for input a unit step was largely improved.