Set point weighted modified Smith predictor for integrating and double integrating processes with time delay

A simple method of designing the controllers for a modified form of Smith predictor is proposed for integrating and double integrating processes with time delay. The modified Smith predictor has two controllers, namely, a set point tracking controller and a load disturbance rejection controller for obtaining good set point tracking and load disturbance rejection, respectively. The set point tracking controller is designed using the classical direct synthesis method based on the process model without considering the time delay. The disturbance rejection controller is considered as a proportional-derivative (PD) controller and is designed using optimal gain and phase margin approaches. Set point weighting is considered for reducing undesirable overshoots and settling times in the modified Smith predictor. Guidelines are provided for selection of the desired closed loop tuning parameter in the direct synthesis method and the set point weighting parameter. The method gives significant load disturbance rejection performances. Illustrative examples are considered to show the performances of the proposed method. A significant improvement in control performance is obtained when compared to recently reported methods.     

Robust control for a biaxial servo with time delay system based on adaptive tuning technique

A robust control method for synchronizing a biaxial servo system motion is proposed in this paper. A new network based cross-coupled control and adaptive tuning techniques are used together to cancel out the skew error. The conventional fixed gain PID cross-coupled controller (CCC) is replaced with the adaptive cross-coupled controller (ACCC) in the proposed control scheme to maintain biaxial servo system synchronization motion. Adaptive-tuning PID (APID) position and velocity controllers provide the necessary control actions to maintain synchronization while following a variable command trajectory. A delay-time compensator (DTC) with an adaptive controller was augmented to set the time delay element, effectively moving it outside the closed loop, enhancing the stability of the robust controlled system. This scheme provides strong robustness with respect to uncertain dynamics and disturbances. The simulation and experimental results reveal that the proposed control structure adapts to a wide range of operating conditions and provides promising results under parameter variations and load changes.     

Improving performance using cascade control and a Smith predictor

Many investigations have been done on tuning proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers in single-input single-output (SISO) systems. However, only a few investigations have been carried out on tuning PID controllers in cascade control systems. In this paper, a new approach, namely the use of a Smith predictor in the outer loop of a cascade control system, is investigated. The method can be used in temperature control problems where the secondary part of the process (the inner loop) may have a negligible delay while the primary loop (the outer loop) has a time-delay. Two different approaches, including an autotuning method, to find the controller parameters are proposed. It is shown by some examples that the proposed structure as expected can provide better performance than conventional cascade control, a Smith predictor scheme or single feedback control system.     

Dual-user nonlinear teleoperation subjected to varying time delay and bounded inputs

A novel trilateral control architecture for Dual-master/Single-slave teleoperation system with taking account of saturation in actuators, nonlinear dynamics for telemanipulators and bounded varying time delay which affects the transmitted signals in the communication channels, is proposed in this paper. In this research, we will address the stability and desired position coordination problem of trilateral teleoperation system by extension of (nP+D) controller that is used for Single-master/Single-slave teleoperation system. Our proposed controller is weighted summation of nonlinear Proportional plus Damping (nP+D) controller that incorporate gravity compensation and the weights are specified by the dominance factor, which determines the supremacy of each user over the slave robot and over the other user. The asymptotic stability of closed loop dynamics is studied using Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional under conditions on the controller parameters, the actuator saturation characteristics and the maximum values of varying time delays. It is shown that these controllers satisfy the desired position coordination problem in free motion condition. To show the effectiveness of the proposed method, a number of simulations have been conducted on a varying time delay Dual-master/Single-slave teleoperation system using 3-DOF planar robots for each telemanipulator subjected to actuator saturation.     

Tuning of an optimal fuzzy PID controller with stochastic algorithms for networked control systems with random time delay

An optimal PID and an optimal fuzzy PID have been tuned by minimizing the Integral of Time multiplied Absolute Error (ITAE) and squared controller output for a networked control system (NCS). The tuning is attempted for a higher order and a time delay system using two stochastic algorithms viz. the Genetic Algorithm (GA) and two variants of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and the closed loop performances are compared. The paper shows that random variation in network delay can be handled efficiently with fuzzy logic based PID controllers over conventional PID controllers.     

Sliding mode current control of a NOCULL converter based on hysteresis modulation method in a wide range of operating conditions

This study presents a novel control scheme for voltage regulation of a negative output cascade ultra-lift Luo converter (NOCULLC). Due to the complicated high order model of the converter, its performance is degraded against large load variations, input voltage changes and parametric uncertainties. In order to enhance the converter behavior, a PI compensator and a sliding mode current controller are combined to control the fourth order NOCULLC worked in a wide range of operating conditions. Because of the non-minimum phase structure of the converter, the output voltage of the converter is indirectly regulated by enforcing the input inductor current to track its reference signal. The sliding mode current controller improves the dynamic and static performances of the converter by minimizing the inrush current of the input inductor of the converter and also, the PI controller eliminates the steady state error of the output voltage of the converter. The closed loop system stability is demonstrated by using sliding mode theory. Furthermore, this paper proposes a systematic procedure to compute the gains of the controller based on the stability constraints which guarantees robustness of the developed controller. The experimental results show the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed controller against parametric variations and uncertainties of the converter. Also, a comprehensive comparison of the general aspects of the properties between the developed method and other existed controllers is provided.     

A new design method for PI–PD control of unstable processes with dead time

PID controllers are still widely practiced in the industrial systems. In the literature, many publications can be found considering PID controller design for unstable processes. However, owing to the structural limitations of PID controllers, generally, good closed loop performance cannot be achieved with a PID for controlling unstable processes and usually a step response with a high overshoot and oscillation is obtained. On the other hand, PI–PD controllers are proved to give very satisfactory closed loop performances for unstable processes. The paper presents a simple design method to tune parameters of a PI–PD controller for the control of the unstable processes with time delay. The proposed method is based on plotting the stability boundary locus, which is a locus dependent on the parameters of the controller and frequency, in the parameter plane. The method uses a new concept named centroid of the convex stability region. Simulation examples and an experimental application are given to illustrate the superiority of the proposed method over some existing ones.     

A simple method of tuning parallel cascade controllers for unstable FOPTD systems

A simple method is proposed to design parallel cascade controllers for open loop unstable processes. A proportional (P)controller is considered for the secondary loop and a proportional integral (PI) controller is considered for the primary loop (P/PI control configuration). Coefficients of the corresponding powers of s (Laplace variable), in the numerator is matched with the coefficients of the corresponding powers of s in the denominator of a closed loop transfer function for a servo problem. Three simulation case studies are considered in this paper. The first case involves a stable secondary loop process and an unstable primary process, the second case involves both unstable primary and secondary processes and the third one, a simulation application to a nonlinear bioreactor model equations. For comparison purposes, P/PI controller design is also carried out by improved simultaneous relay autotuning method, synthesis method and minimizing ISE criterion method. It is found that the proposed method gives a better performance. Robust stability analysis using the complimentary sensitivity function is carried out. The present method is found to be more robust.     

Design and implementation of a new fuzzy PID controller for networked control systems

This paper presents a practical network platform to design and implement a networked-based cascade control system linking a Smar Foundation Fieldbus (FF) controller (DFI-302) and a Siemens programmable logic controller (PLC-S7-315-2DP) through Industrial Ethernet to a laboratory pilot plant. In the presented network configuration, the Smar OPC tag browser and Siemens WinCC OPC Channel provide the communicating interface between the two controllers. The paper investigates the performance of a PID controller implemented in two different possible configurations of FF function block (FB) and networked control system (NCS) via a remote Siemens PLC. In the FB control system implementation, the desired set-point is provided by the Siemens Human-Machine Interface (HMI) software (i.e, WinCC) via an Ethernet Modbus link. While, in the NCS implementation, the cascade loop is realized in remote Siemens PLC station and the final element set-point is sent to the Smar FF station via Ethernet bus. A new fuzzy PID control strategy is then proposed to improve the control performances of the networked-based control systems due to an induced transmission delay degradation effect. The proposed strategy utilizes an innovative idea based on sectionalizing the error signal of the step response into three different functional zones. The supporting philosophy behind these three functional zones is to decompose the desired control objectives in terms of rising time, settling time and steady-state error measures maintained by an appropriate PID-type controller in each zone. Then, fuzzy membership factors are defined to configure the control signal on the basis of the fuzzy weighted PID outputs of all three zones. The obtained results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy PID control scheme in improving the performances of the implemented NCS for different transportation delays.     

μ理论在柔顺力控制中的应用

研究μ理论在柔顺力控制系统中的应用。为模拟空间对接强制校正阶段的推出和拉近过程,提出基于6自由度并联机器人位置内环的柔顺力控制策略。描述基于位置内环的柔顺力控制系统串级控制结构,阐述用经典控制策略实现柔顺力控制的方法。综合考虑参数变化、模型变动和外来干扰等不确定性,利用μ综合控制理论设计鲁棒力控制器。给出鲁棒力控制系统回路中加权函数的详细选取方法和鲁棒力控制器的设计过程。通过μ分析比较鲁棒力控制器和经典力控制器的鲁棒稳定性和鲁棒性能。通过鲁棒力控制器和经典力控制器进行柔顺力控制试验,结果表明了所设计鲁棒力控制器的有效性和优越性。     

Calculation and tuning of controllers for nonlinear systems with different-rate processes

A method for calculating the parameters of controllers for nonlinear nonstationary dynamic systems is proposed. The structure of the controller is a generalization of the structure of proportional-integral and proportional-integral-differential controllers. The method is applicable to unstable nonlinear systems with incomplete information on the plant model. The method is based on the deliberate formation of different-rate processes in a control system in which the stability of fast processes is provided by choosing the controller parameters, and the slow processes formed correspond to the reference model of the desired behavior of a nonlinear system. An example of the results of numerical simulation is given.     

Sensitivity analysis of systems with a cascade compensator embedded in a Smith predictor to dead-time variation

This paper considers the use of a cascade compensator embedded in a Smith predictor in the forward path of a system being designed, which is an effective way to solve two problems: providing the desired process performance in the system and placing the dead-time element outside the closed loop so that it only increases the transient time by the value of the time delay and does not affect the overshoot value. It is shown that the Smith predictor should be used with caution because, being based on an additive signal compensation scheme, it may be not robust and may require accurate knowledge of the time-delay value for robust implementation. The problem of sensitivity analysis of the system to dead-time variation is stated and solved.     

Resonant control of an atomic force microscope micro-cantilever for active Q control

Active Q control may be used to modify the effective quality (Q) factor of an atomic force microscope (AFM) micro-cantilever when operating in tapping mode. The control system uses velocity feedback to obtain an effective cantilever Q factor to achieve optimal scan speed and image resolution for the imaging environment and sample type. Time delay of the cantilever displacement signal is the most common method of cantilever velocity estimation. Spill-over effects from unmodeled dynamics may degrade the closed loop system performance, possibly resulting in system instability, when time delay velocity estimation is used. A resonant controller is proposed in this work as an alternate method of velocity estimation. This new controller has guaranteed closed loop stability, is easy to tune, and may be fitted into existing commercial AFMs with minimal modification. Images of a calibration grating are obtained using this controller to demonstrate its effectiveness.     

Acceleration tracking control combining adaptive control and off-line compensators for six-degree-of-freedom electro-hydraulic shaking tables

An electro-hydraulic shaking table (EHST) is an essential experimental facility to simulate in real-time actual vibration situations. An adaptive controller combined with off-line compensators is proposed to improve the acceleration frequency bandwidth and tracking accuracy of a six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) EHST. A servo controller has been employed to implement acceleration closed-loop and coordinate control of the 6-DOF EHST. A recursive extended least-squares algorithm is employed to identify acceleration closed-loop transfer functions and a zero-phase-error tracking controller is used to design off-line inverse model compensators using the identified transfer functions. However, the off-line compensators cannot compensate in real-time varying dynamics of the 6-DOF EHST; so an online adaptive controller with a least-mean-squares (LMS) algorithm based on a delay compensator is employed. The proposed controller combines advantages of the off-line compensators and the online adaptive controller, which guarantees both a fast rate of convergence of the LMS algorithm and high-fidelity acceleration tracking accuracy of the 6-DOF EHST. Some experimental studies have been conducted on a 6-DOF EHST and experimental results show that acceleration tracking control performances, including the rate of convergence of the LMS algorithm and acceleration tracking accuracy, have been improved compared to a conventional three-variable controller and adaptive controllers.     

Modified Smith predictor based cascade control of unstable time delay processes

An improved cascade control structure with a modified Smith predictor is proposed for controlling open-loop unstable time delay processes. The proposed structure has three controllers of which one is meant for servo response and the other two are for regulatory responses. An analytical design method is derived for the two disturbance rejection controllers by proposing the desired closed-loop complementary sensitivity functions. These two closed-loop controllers are considered in the form of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller cascaded with a second order lead/lag filter. The direct synthesis method is used to design the setpoint tracking controller. By virtue of the enhanced structure, the proposed control scheme decouples the servo response from the regulatory response in case of nominal systems i.e., the setpoint tracking controller and the disturbance rejection controller can be tuned independently. Internal stability of the proposed cascade structure is analyzed. Kharitonov's theorem is used for the robustness analysis. The disturbance rejection capability of the proposed scheme is superior as compared to existing methods. Examples are also included to illustrate the simplicity and usefulness of the proposed method.     

视觉导航智能车辆横向运动的自适应预瞄控制

车道保持系统中车辆横向运动控制应模拟驾驶员的横向操纵行为,驾驶员根据前方道路曲率及车辆速度适时调节预瞄距离,以获得理想的路径跟踪性能。首先,以车辆二自由度动力学模型及车辆道路几何位置关系为基础,建立车-路横向动力学模型。其次,基于单点预瞄最优曲率模型设计侧向加速度PD跟踪控制器,联立车-路横向动力学模型构建横向控制闭环系统,分析预瞄距离、车速、道路曲率的变化对系统响应的影响。最后,设计模糊控制器对预瞄距离进行模糊选择以提高车辆横向控制精度和减小侧向加速度,采用遗传算法对模糊规则进行优化以使横向控制系统性能达到最优。试验表明,相对固定预瞄控制方法,自适应预瞄减小了车辆侧向加速度,且道路跟踪的方向偏差和距离偏差均得到减小。     

相位补偿器的软件设计与实现

在控制过程中,如果控制系统是一个高阶的系统(高于1阶)．那么系统会由于相位延时造成不稳定.为了解决这一问题．就需要在控制回路中加入相位补偿器来对相位进行补偿。在本文中将介绍一种相位补偿器快速设计的方法．它通过对相位补偿系数的预估．利用MATLAB辅助快速地设计出满足实际控制需要的相位补偿器.     

A novel auto-tuning method for fractional order PI/PD controllers

Fractional order PID controllers benefit from an increasing amount of interest from the research community due to their proven advantages. The classical tuning approach for these controllers is based on specifying a certain gain crossover frequency, a phase margin and a robustness to gain variations. To tune the fractional order controllers, the modulus, phase and phase slope of the process at the imposed gain crossover frequency are required. Usually these values are obtained from a mathematical model of the process, e.g. a transfer function. In the absence of such model, an auto-tuning method that is able to estimate these values is a valuable alternative. Auto-tuning methods are among the least discussed design methods for fractional order PID controllers. This paper proposes a novel approach for the auto-tuning of fractional order controllers. The method is based on a simple experiment that is able to determine the modulus, phase and phase slope of the process required in the computation of the controller parameters. The proposed design technique is simple and efficient in ensuring the robustness of the closed loop system. Several simulation examples are presented, including the control of processes exhibiting integer and fractional order dynamics.     

On the modeling and composite control of flexible parallel mechanism

One of the key problems in high speed motion control of a flexible parallel mechanism (PM) is to damp out the mechanical vibration arising from high inertial force acting on the linkages and other components. In this paper, the dynamic equations of a 2 degree-of-freedom (DOF) planar PM with flexible links are established by taking the singular perturbation approach (SPA). Thus the model of the mechanism can be separated into slow time-scale and fast time-scale subsystems. Based on the feedback linearization theory and input shaping technique, the large range rigid motion controller and the flexible link vibration controller can be designed separately. A composite control with the two separate controllers can then be applied in the PM to achieve the desired fast and accurate positioning.