Drivetrain design optimization for electrically actuated systems via mixed integer programing

The proposed paper presents a method to optimally select components of a drivetrain for an electrically actuated machine. A simple mathematical model of the machine is established and inequality constraints which determine the choice of drivetrain components are formulated. Elements to be picked (namely, a motor, a gearbox, and a drive) are taken from a discrete set of data provided in the catalogs of industrial motors and drives manufacturers. By solving an optimization problem, a combination of components which both satisfy design requirements and minimize the total drivetrain cost is selected. The operation of the selected drivetrain is verified against the motor loadability curves. In a…