Energy-aware MPC co-design for DC-DC converters

In this paper, we propose an integrated controller design methodology for the implementation of an energy-aware explicit model predictive control (MPC) algorithms, illustrat- ing the method on a DC-DC converter model. The power consumption of control algorithms is becoming increasingly important for low-power embedded systems, especially where complex digital control techniques, like MPC, are used. For DC-DC converters, digital control provides better regulation, but also higher energy consumption compared to standard analog methods. To overcome the limitation in energy efficiency, instead of addressing the problem by implementing sub-optimal MPC schemes, the closed-loop performance and the control algorithm power consumption are minimized in a joint cost function, allowing us to keep the controller power efficiency closer to an analog approach while maintaining closed-loop op- timality. A case study for an implementation in reconfigurable hardware shows how a designer can optimally trade closed-loop performance with hardware implementation performance

Sliding modes in electrical drives and motion control

In this paper application of Sliding Mode Control (SMC) to electrical drives and motion control systems is discussed. It is shown that in these applications simplicity in implementation makes concepts of SMC a very attractive design alternative. Application in electrical drives control is discussed for supply via different topologies of the supply converters. Motion control is discussed for single degree of freedom motion control systems as an extension of the control of mechanical coordinates in electrical drives. Extension to multi-body systems is discussed very briefly

Algorithm for Optimal Mode Scheduling in Switched Systems

This paper considers the problem of computing the schedule of modes in a switched dynamical system, that minimizes a cost functional defined on the trajectory of the system's continuous state variable. A recent approach to such optimal control problems consists of algorithms that alternate between computing the optimal switching times between modes in a given sequence, and updating the mode-sequence by inserting to it a finite number of new modes. These algorithms have an inherent inefficiency due to their sparse update of the mode-sequences, while spending most of the computing times on optimizing with respect to the switching times for a given mode-sequence. This paper proposes an algorithm that operates directly in the schedule space without resorting to the timing optimization problem. It is based on the Armijo step size along certain Gateaux derivatives of the performance functional, thereby avoiding some of the computational difficulties associated with discrete scheduling parameters. Its convergence to local minima as well as its rate of convergence are proved, and a simulation example on a nonlinear system exhibits quite a fast convergence

Hybrid LQG-Neural Controller for Inverted Pendulum System

The paper presents a hybrid system controller, incorporating a neural and an LQG controller. The neural controller has been optimized by genetic algorithms directly on the inverted pendulum system. The failure free optimization process stipulated a relatively small region of the asymptotic stability of the neural controller, which is concentrated around the regulation point. The presented hybrid controller combines benefits of a genetically optimized neural controller and an LQG controller in a single system controller. High quality of the regulation process is achieved through utilization of the neural controller, while stability of the system during transient processes and a wide range of operation are assured through application of the LQG controller. The hybrid controller has been validated by applying it to a simulation model of an inherently unstable system of inverted pendulum

Fast Optimal Energy Management with Engine On/Off Decisions for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

In this paper we demonstrate a novel alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) algorithm for the solution of the hybrid vehicle energy management problem considering both power split and engine on/off decisions. The solution of a convex relaxation of the problem is used to initialize the optimization, which is necessarily nonconvex, and whilst only local convergence can be guaranteed, it is demonstrated that the algorithm will terminate with the optimal power split for the given engine switching sequence. The algorithm is compared in simulation against a charge-depleting/charge-sustaining (CDCS) strategy and dynamic programming (DP) using real world driver behaviour data, and it is demonstrated that the algorithm achieves 90\% of the fuel savings obtained using DP with a 3000-fold reduction in computational time

Noisy Gradient Descent Bit-Flip Decoding for LDPC Codes

A modified Gradient Descent Bit Flipping (GDBF) algorithm is proposed for decoding Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes on the binary-input additive white Gaussian noise channel. The new algorithm, called Noisy GDBF (NGDBF), introduces a random perturbation into each symbol metric at each iteration. The noise perturbation allows the algorithm to escape from undesirable local maxima, resulting in improved performance. A combination of heuristic improvements to the algorithm are proposed and evaluated. When the proposed heuristics are applied, NGDBF performs better than any previously reported GDBF variant, and comes within 0.5 dB of the belief propagation algorithm for several tested codes. Unlike other previous GDBF algorithms that provide an escape from local maxima, the proposed algorithm uses only local, fully parallelizable operations and does not require computing a global objective function or a sort over symbol metrics, making it highly efficient in comparison. The proposed NGDBF algorithm requires channel state information which must be obtained from a signal to noise ratio (SNR) estimator. Architectural details are presented for implementing the NGDBF algorithm. Complexity analysis and optimizations are also discussed.Comment: 16 pages, 22 figures, 2 table

Design and control of laser micromachining workstation

The production process of miniature devices and microsystems requires the utilization of non-conventional micromachining techniques. In the past few decades laser micromachining has became micro-manufacturing technique of choice for many industrial and research applications. This paper discusses the design of motion control system for a laser micromachining workstation with particulars about automatic focusing and control of work platform used in the workstation. The automatic focusing is solved in a sliding mode optimization framework and preview controller is used to control the motion platform. Experimental results of both motion control and actual laser micromachining are presented