This research proposes a new system for controlling yarn tension in the winding operation based on active disturbance-rejection control (ADRC) technology, which controls and minimizes the fluctuation of tension during winding. The mechanical structure of the winding machine was analyzed to clarify the main factors affecting the yarn tension. Proportional–integral–derivative (PID) control is the most common control method of the winding machine. In order to compare the control effects of ADRC and PID control, the mathematical model of the yarn-tension control system was established on the MATLAB platform by means of system identification. Through the simulation on this model, the results showed that under the action of disturbance, the overshoot of the yarn tension controlled by the active disturbance-rejection controller was smaller, the adjustment time was shorter, and the steady-state error was smaller. An experimental platform was built to test the control effect of the controller under different parameters, thereby verifying the performance and stability of the active disturbance-rejection controller. The results showed that the controller had good performance and stability.

When the direct cabling machine produces cord, the active yarn feeder is usually used to control the balloon shape to reduce the energy consumption in the process of twisting. In order to rationally allocate the resources in the production workshop of direct cabling machine, the work proposed a prediction method of energy-consumption reduction for direct cabling machines based on balloon theory. The energy consumption of direct cabling machine with different balloon configuration parameters can be obtained. The prediction method consists of three main steps: (1) Analyze yarn force under the high velocity based on yarn balloon kinematics. (2) Take the energy consumed by the direct cabling machine corresponding to a balloon shape as the energy consumption benchmark. (3) Compare balloon shapes that need to be predicted with the referenced balloon shape to obtain the energy consumption prediction in a ratio. A mathematical balloon model was established on the MATLAB platform to test the influences of different working conditions on the prediction method. The simulation results showed that the influences of the yarn linear density, twist, and spindle speed on the method could be neglected. An experimental platform was built to test the energy consumption of the direct cabling machine under different working conditions and verify the rationality of the method. The results showed that the difference between the predicted energy consumption and the experimental results is acceptable.