The accurate control of a positioning system that exhibits scalar hysteresis requires a control strategy that incorporates compensation for the hysteresis. One approach is to develop a compensator based on an inverse hysteresis operator. This method uses an open loop control in which the inverse operation adjusts the actuator input to compensate for the hysteresis in the system. When this is accomplished, the composite operation produces a linear relationship between a reference input and the system output. The difficulty of this method lies in developing an accurate model of the hysteresis for which an inverse operator can be obtained.

In this work, a system with hysteresis is modeled by a generic model based on a Preisach type operator. First, it is shown that the operator has an inverse and that both have approximations that are convergent. Then, simulation and experimental data are used to demonstrate the ability of the operator to accurately model a hysteresis relationship. This lays the foundation for then demonstrating the concept of inverse compensation.