Control Engineering

Control of an Inverted Pendulum Using an Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite Actuator

by Maarja Kruusmaa

A. Hunt, Z. Chen, X. Tan, M. Kruusmaa. Control of an Inverted Pendulum Using an Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite Actuator, In Proc. of 2010 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics.

Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) are electroactive materials that bend under an applied electric field. Existing... more Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) are electroactive materials that bend under an applied electric field. Existing work has typically dealt with the control of IPMC actuators themselves. In this paper we investigate the stabilization of an inverted pendulum on a cart using an IPMC actuator. Different from the traditional setting of cart- pendulum systems, we require that the voltage on the IPMC actuator stay close to zero, to prolong the actuator life and reduce power consumption. A state-space model is developed for the system, based on which an LQR controller together with an observer is designed. The proposed control scheme is able to stabilize the inverted pendulum for the entire duration of the experiment (five minutes). These results indicate that IPMC actuators hold potential for more sophisticated control applications.

A flexible software for real-time control in nuclear fusion experiments

by Gianmaria De Tommasi

published in 'Control Engineering Practice', 2006

JETRT is a software framework particularly suited for implementation of both real-time control and data acquisition... more JETRT is a software framework particularly suited for implementation of both real-time control and data acquisition systems. It is especially designed to work in a complex experimental environment such as the JET nuclear fusion facility. This new architecture maximizes the software reusability. The project-specific algorithm is compiled into a separate software component, in order to achieve a separation from the plant interface code. JETRT provides a set of tools to perform most of the validation phase on a Windows running desktop PC. Thanks to these design choices, both the development costs and the commissioning time have been reduced and even non-specialist programmers can easily contribute to the deployment of a new real-time system.

Damping Injection by Reset Control

by Alejandro Fernández Villaverde

C. Raimúndez, A. Barreiro, A. Fernández Villaverde (2012) ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, 134(2):024504 (5 pages)

This paper presents a method for using reset control as an alternative way of obtaining dissipation for a class of... more This paper presents a method for using reset control as an alternative way of obtaining dissipation for a class of port-Hamiltonian systems. One advantage of this approach is the simplicity of its implementation, which requires only a velocity observer. Another advantage is its robustness to modeling uncertainties, since it can be calculated independently of the plant structure. A gantry crane is selected as case study, yielding simulation and experimental results that show the good performance of this technique.

Two-port synthesis for retrofit design of electric ship control surface actuation systems

by Jonathan LeSage

This paper presents an approach for using two-port circuit synthesis methods as a basis for designing actuator... more This paper presents an approach for using two-port circuit synthesis methods as a basis for designing actuator subsystems. The development of this methodology is generally motivated by problems in retrofit design, where technology reinsertion is required to replace legacy systems, or for early stage design in new mechatronic systems. The particular problem of electric ship control surface actuation is used as an example application. A procedure that integrates two-port network synthesis methods with a model-basis conveyed using bond graphs is presented and applied to the problem of synthesizing a candidate actuation system for a submarine control surface. Studying the control surface actuator problem shows that a synthesis method is capable of providing insight into balancing passive compensation with actuation (active elements). The ability to partition active and passive system elements suggests promise in developing a means for integrating passive energy storage with actuation subsystems.

Neural Network based Feedback Error Controller for Helicopter

by Ranjan Ganguli

Performance Sensitivity of Helicopter Global and Local Optimal Harmonic Vibration Controller

by Ranjan Ganguli

Design of a Stability Augmentation System for a Helicopter using LQR Control and ADS-33 Handling Quality Specifications

by Ranjan Ganguli

ROBUST FUZZY CONTROLLER DEVELOPMENT FOR A PEM FUEL CELL SYSTEM

by Kary Thanapalan

Co-authored with Liu.G.P., Williams.J.G., Rees.D.
Published in International Journal of Advanced Mechatronic Systems, Vol.1, No.3, 2009, pp 223-230, ISSN: 1756-8420, DOI: 10.1504/IJAMechS.2009.023205

A polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell system model that is suitable for control study is presented in this... more A polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell system model that is suitable for control study is presented in this paper. The PEM mathematical model is then used for the controller development to improve system performance. Within the university research facilities, there is available a PEM fuel cell test station (PEM-FCT), so the PEM-FCT is used for the modelling and controller study. A fuzzy set-point weighted PID controller is designed to improve the performance of the fuel cell system. The underlying idea of our controller design is to use a fuzzy based system to support the operation of a PID controller. The new control strategy is implemented on a PC based computer model of the FCT system and simulated. The results indicate that the control strategy has improved the system performance significantly. Thus, the new control strategy is implemented on PEM-FCT. Comparison made between the simulation model response and experimental results from the real FCT system using the same controller which shows performance enhancements, compared with the existing closed loop controller based on stoichiometry value updates to the flow controllers.

Autonomous Control System for Satellite Formation Flying

by Kary Thanapalan

Co-authored with Veres.S.,
Published in the IEE Digests on Autonomous agents in Control, 2005, pp 85 -91.

Recently there has been an increase of interest in the concept of satellite formation flying due to the efficiency... more Recently there has been an increase of interest in the concept of satellite formation flying due to the efficiency gains that can be obtained from using a large number of small crafts instead of one large one. In formation flying it is required that the satellites should fly in specified positions relative to the others and
with specified attitudes. For this specific motion pattern it is necessary to design control algorithms which are efficient and easy to implement on board. A cluster of satellites needs to operate autonomously to fulfil the control requirements of a mission without human intervention. An agent based control system is proposed to address the problem. The proposed software architecture allows each satellite to monitor the movements of the other satellites and to communicate and cooperate with others to maintain performance. The collaborative autonomous control system is able to reconfigure sensor and actuator functionality in face of degradation or malfunction. The control architecture is analysed for reliability and logical consistency

Fault Tolerant Controller Design to Ensure Operational Safety in Satellite Formation Flying

by Kary Thanapalan

Co-authored with Veres.S., Rogers.E., Gabriel.S
Published in the IEEE Conf. on Decision and Control, San Diego, CA, USA, 2006

The paper addresses the problem of fault tolerant
control design that has the same effect as implicit control... more The paper addresses the problem of fault tolerant
control design that has the same effect as implicit control
system reconfiguration for satellite formation flying to increase
operational safety as it is important for successful missions.
Actuator and sensor degradation can be detrimental for formation
precision in terms of satellite relative positions and attitudes.
In this paper model reference adaptive control (MRAS)
and quaternion based adaptive attitude control (QAAC) is
proposed as alternatives to fault determination and isolation.
The adaptive systems approach is simpler as it avoids explicit
modelling, decision making and control redesign. Redundancy
based solution is used to protect against sensor deficiencies.
Simulations illustrate the efficiency of the adaptive systems
implemented for the control of the position and attitude of a
single craft.

An Algebraic Approach for the MIMO Control of Small Scale Helicopter

by Agus Budiyono

Presented at the ICIUS2007, Bali, October 24-26, 2007. Revised version published as chapter in Intelligent Unmanned Systems: Theory and Applications. Studies in Computational Intelligence (SCI) series, Springer-Verlag, April, 2009

The control of small-scale helicopter is a MIMO problem. To use the classical control approach to formally solve a... more The control of small-scale helicopter is a MIMO problem. To use the classical control approach to formally solve a MIMO problem, one needs to come up with multidimensional Root Locus diagram to tune the control parameters. The problem with the required dimension of the RL diagram for MIMO design has forced the design procedure of classical approach to be conducted in cascaded multi-loop SISO system starting from the innermost loop outward. To implement this control approach for a helicopter, a pitch and roll attitude control system is often subordinated to a, respectively, longitudinal and lateral velocity control system in a nested architecture. The requirement for this technique to work is that the inner attitude control loop must have a higher bandwidth than the outer velocity control loop which is not the case for high performance mini helicopter. To address the above problems, an algebraic design approach is proposed in this work. The designed control using s-CDM approach is demonstrated for hovering control of small-scale helicopter simultaneously subjected to plant parameter uncertainties and wind disturbances.

Disturbance observer based control for nonlinear MAGLEV suspension system

by Argyrios Zolotas

Robust control of nonlinear MAGLEV suspension system with mismatched uncertainties via DOBC approach

by Argyrios Zolotas

Advanced control strategies for tilting trains

by Argyrios Zolotas

A Chemical Process Expert System for Real Time Operation

by Dimitrios VENTZAS

IASTED International Symposium Applied Informatics, Grindelwald, Switzerland, february 17-19, 1987

A knowledge intensive "shallow" Expert System designed for Process Control normally requiring human operator... more A knowledge intensive "shallow" Expert System designed for Process Control normally requiring human operator expertise is described. The inference engine of the system, that part of the Expert System that selects data and rules to immitate the human expert's decision making process is supported by forward chaining reasoning methods.

Microcomputer Based Simulation of the Intelligent Integrator

by Dimitrios VENTZAS

IEEE-IES, Industrial Electronic Society, AEI, Italian Electrical & Electronics Association, μCSM'86, International Workshop on Microprocessor Control of Small Motors, University di padova, Facolta di Ingegneria, Instituto di Elettrotecnica e di Elettronica, Padova, Italy, July 14 &15

The intelligent integrator is an improved version of the classical controllers. This paper presents a... more The intelligent integrator is an improved version of the classical controllers. This paper presents a microcomputer-based version of such an antireset windup controller, its closed loop simluation and an example with a dc motor. Optimal selection of the parameters of this antireset windup element is achieved. Applications of piecewise linear or nonlinear elements perform better than conventional intelligent integrators. The controller's software structure is presented; non-linear system's stability analysis was a tool for the system's performance evaluation.

Bit Slice Microcomputer Design in Distributed Control Systems

by Dimitrios VENTZAS

IASTED International Symposium Computers and Their Applications for Development, Taormina, Italy, September 3-5, 1986

Distributed Control Systems tend to dominate in modern process industries due to safety, reliability, availability and... more Distributed Control Systems tend to dominate in modern process industries due to safety, reliability, availability and redndancy reasons. DCS have to perform complicated control functions. This paper describes the use of microprogrammed structures in LSI architectures and bit-slice computers for process control.

A Refinerys Distributed Process Control System

by Dimitrios VENTZAS

IASTED International Symposium Computers and their Applications for Development, Taormina, Iatly, Septenber 2-5, 1985

The paper describes the design philosophy taken into consideration for a refinery's distributed process control... more The paper describes the design philosophy taken into consideration for a refinery's distributed process control system. It ensures reliability, availability and maintenability. The entire DPCS incudes 9 control centers. The architecture of the field control station is discussed. The memory copy and data transfer ensures smooth transfer to the back-up controller. Redundancy is enhanced by customer additional requirements, such as communication bus redundancy, operational grouping and duplication of displays. The signals interface to the DPCS and the man-machine interface are presented. Industrial environment realistic problems are incuded.

Remote Control of Water Pumping Stations

by Dimitrios VENTZAS

published in Proccedings, IASTED International Symposium on Modelling, Identification and Control, Grindelawlad, Switzerland, February 17-20, 1987

This paper describes the architecture of a distributed and hierarchical system for remote control of a water supply... more This paper describes the architecture of a distributed and hierarchical system for remote control of a water supply network in the Athens - Peraus district, Greece. The aim of the project was to achieve effctive operational control in the short and long term, continuous monitoring of the water supply network, centralised control, expandability and optimized operation.

Automatic Train Control Systems

by Dimitrios VENTZAS

IASTED International Symposium Applied Control and Identification, Los Angeles California, December 10--12 1986

The railways, so far, have installed Automatic Train Control (ATC) due to tha cost of luck of understanding of gradual... more The railways, so far, have installed Automatic Train Control (ATC) due to tha cost of luck of understanding of gradual build-up options; ATC's signalling demands do not match with existing old systems. This paper compares different ATC systems depending on the train speed detection and comparison with pretedermined limits. ATCS parameters are presented and special refer to the conditions of the Greek Railway network is made. ATC systems are not recommended for low speeds. Their main parameters in system selection are the number and position of points with speed limitation, train type definition, proportion of braking and braking distances or braking curves.