To solve the problems of low transmission efficiency, poor synchronization and low-speed torque pulsation of emerging switched reluctance motor (SRM) in traditional multi-motor drive system of belt conveyor, a multi-motor cooperative control strategy based on optimized fuzzy PID and improved deviation coupling based on Whale Algorithm (WOA) is proposed. Firstly, an integrated switched reluctance semi-direct drive (SRSD) multi-motor system of SRM+built-in planetary gear reduction mechanism is designed; Secondly, a direct instantaneous torque control method based on WOA optimized fuzzy PID is proposed to improve the dynamic response and disturbance immunity of SRM by dynamically adjusting the PID parameters. The simulation results show that compared with the traditional PID and fuzzy PID control, the WOA optimized strategy reduces the speed overshoot to 0.33% and the starting current to 20% under no-load condition; Furthermore, according to the demands of multi-motor cooperative control, a new control structure with improved deviation coupling is designed by introducing synchronous compensation coefficient and acceleration compensation mechanism. The simulation shows that the maximum speed difference of the three motors decreases from 4r/min to 3r/min; Finally, a validation test was carried out on the semi-direct-drive test platform with two rollers and three motors of the belt conveyor, and the maximum speed difference between the three motors in the no-load and load tests of the drive system with the new control strategy was 3.8 r/min and 3.4 r/min respectively. The synchronous control effect of the designed strategy was verified. The research shows that this strategy can significantly improve the starting characteristics, synchronization performance and disturbance immunity of the belt conveyor, and can provide a new technical solution for the efficient, green and intelligent driving of the mine heavy transport equipment.