The production of textiles has undergone a considerable transformation, progressing from its primitive origins in hand-weaving to the implementation of contemporary automated systems. Weaving yarn into fabric is a crucial process in the textile industry that requires meticulous attention to output quality products, particularly in the tension control section. The efficiency of the tension controller in relation to the yarn tension significantly affects the quality of the resulting fabric, as proper tension control leads to strong, uniform, and aesthetically pleasing fabric, while poor tension control can cause defects and yarn breakage, leading to production downtime and increased costs. Maintaining the desired yarn tension during textile production is crucial, although it poses several problems, such as the continuous diameter change of the unwinder and rewinder sections leading to system change. Another problem faced by the industrial operation is maintaining proper tension on the yarn while changing the roll-to-roll operation velocity. In this paper, an optimized method for controlling yarn tension through the cascade control of tension and position, incorporating feedback controllers, feedforward, and disturbance observers, has been proposed to make the system more robust and suitable for industrial use. In addition, an optimum signal processor has been designed to obtain sensor data with reduced noise and minimal phase difference.

Roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing processes demand precise control of web or yarn velocity and tension, alongside robust mechanisms for handling system failures. This paper presents an integrated approach combining high-performance control with reliable fault detection for an experimental R2R system. A model-based cascade control strategy is designed, incorporating system identification, radius compensation for varying roll diameters, and a Kalman filter to mitigate load sensor noise, ensuring accurate regulation of yarn velocity and tension under normal operating conditions. In parallel, a data-driven fault detection layer uses Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) models, trained offline on healthy operating data, to predict yarn tension and motor speeds. During operation, discrepancies between measured and GPR-predicted values that exceed predefined thresholds trigger an immediate shutdown of the system, preventing material loss and equipment damage. Experimental trials demonstrate tension regulation within ±0.02 N and velocity errors below ±5 rad/s across varying roll diameters, while yarn-break and motor-fault scenarios are detected within a single sampling interval (<100 milliseconds) with zero false alarms. This study validates the integrated system’s capability to enhance both the operational precision and resilience of R2R processes against critical failures.