3,414 research outputs found
Interdisciplinary design methodology for systems of mechatronic systems focus on highly dynamic environmental applications
This paper discusses a series of research challenges in the design of systems of mechatronic systems. A focus is given to environmental mechatronic applications within the chain “Renewable energy production - Smart grids - Electric vehicles”. For the considered mechatronic systems, the main design targets are formulated, the relations to state and parameter estimation, disturbance observation and rejection as well as control algorithms are highlighted. Finally, the study introduces an interdisciplinary design approach based on the intersectoral transfer of knowledge and collaborative experimental activities
Cascaded control for balancing an inverted pendulum on a flying quadrotor
SUMMARYThis paper is focused on the flying inverted pendulum problem, i.e., how to balance a pendulum on a flying quadrotor. After analyzing the system dynamics, a three loop cascade control strategy is proposed based on active disturbance rejection control (ADRC). Both the pendulum balancing and the trajectory tracking of the flying quadrotor are implemented by using the proposed control strategy. A simulation platform of 3D mechanical systems is deployed to verify the control performance and robustness of the proposed strategy, including a comparison with a Linear Quadratic Controller (LQR). Finally, a real quadrotor is flying with a pendulum to demonstrate the proposed method that can keep the system at equilibrium and show strong robustness against disturbances.</jats:p
Modified active disturbance rejection control for time-delay systems
Industrial processes are typically nonlinear, time-varying and uncertain, to which active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) has been shown to be an effective solution. The control design becomes even more challenging in the presence of time delay. In this paper, a novel modification of ADRC is proposed so that good disturbance rejection is achieved while maintaining system stability. The proposed design is shown to be more effective than the standard ADRC design for time-delay systems and is also a unified solution for stable, critical stable and unstable systems with time delay. Simulation and test results show the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed design. Linear matrix inequality (LMI) based stability analysis is provided as well
Modified active disturbance rejection control for time-delay systems
Industrial processes are typically nonlinear, time-varying and uncertain, to which active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) has been shown to be an effective solution. The control design becomes even more challenging in the presence of time delay. In this paper, a novel modification of ADRC is proposed so that good disturbance rejection is achieved while maintaining system stability. The proposed design is shown to be more effective than the standard ADRC design for time-delay systems and is also a unified solution for stable, critical stable and unstable systems with time delay. Simulation and test results show the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed design. Linear matrix inequality (LMI) based stability analysis is provided as well
Design and application of advanced disturbance rejection control for small fixed-wing UAVs
Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have seen continual growth in both research and
commercial applications. Attractive features such as their small size, light weight and
low cost are a strong driver of this growth. However, these factors also bring about some
drawbacks. The light weight and small size means that small UAVs are far more susceptible
to performance degradation from factors such as wind gusts. Due to the generally low
cost, available sensors are somewhat limited in both quality and available measurements.
For example, it is very unlikely that angle of attack is sensed by a small UAV. These
aircraft are usually constructed by the end user, so a tangible amount of variation will
exist between different aircraft of the same type. Depending on application, additional
variation between flights from factors such as battery placement or additional sensors may
exist. This makes the application of optimal model based control methods difficult.
Research literature on the topic of small UAV control is very rich in regard to high
level control, such as path planning in wind. A common assumption in such literature
is the existence of a low level control method which is able to track demanded aircraft
attitudes to complete a task. Design of such controllers in the presence of significant wind
or modelling errors (factors collectively addressed as lumped disturbances herein) is rarely
considered.
Disturbance Observer Based Control (DOBC) is a means of improving the robustness
of a baseline feedback control scheme in the presence of lumped disturbances. The method
allows for the rejection of the influence of unmeasurable disturbances much more quickly
than traditional integral control, while also enabling recovery of nominal feedback con-
trol performance. The separation principle of DOBC allows for the design of a nominal
feedback controller, which does not need to be robust against disturbances. A DOBC
augmentation can then be applied to ensure this nominal performance is maintained even
in the presence of disturbances. This method offers highly attractive properties for control
design, and has seen a large rise in popularity in recent years.
Current literature on this subject is very often conducted purely in simulation. Ad-
ditionally, very advanced versions of DOBC control are now being researched. To make
the method attractive to small UAV operators, it would be beneficial if a simple DOBC
design could be used to realise the benefits of this method, as it would be more accessible
and applicable by many.
This thesis investigates the application of a linear state space disturbance observer to
low level flight control of a small UAV, along with developments of the method needed
to achieve good performance in flight testing. Had this work been conducted purely in
simulation, it is likely many of the difficulties encountered would not have been addressed
or discovered.
This thesis presents four main contributions. An anti-windup method has been devel-
oped which is able to alleviate the effect of control saturation on the disturbance observer
dynamics. An observer is designed which explicitly considers actuator dynamics. This
development was shown to enable faster observer estimation dynamics, yielding better
disturbance rejection performance. During initial flight testing, a significant aeroelastic
oscillation mode was discovered. This issue was studied in detail theoretically, with a pro-
posed solution developed and applied. The solution was able to fully alleviate the effect in
flight. Finally, design and development of an over-actuated DOBC method is presented.
A method for design of DOBC for over actuated systems was developed and studied. The
majority of results in this thesis are demonstrated with flight test data
A Simulation and Experimental Study of Active Disturbance Rejection for Industrial Pressure Control
The quality of control loop is very important in hydraulic machineries, where pressure must be accurately regulated in the presence of various disturbances. Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control has dominated the industry for a long time and it is by far the most popular general purpose controller for pressure control. The purpose of this study is to conduct a simulation and experimental study comparing PID with an emerging new technology, namely active disturbance rejection control (ADRC). For the purpose of this study, an experimental testbed similar to those used in industry settings is used; its mathematic model is derived and used in the simulation study. A linearized model is also derived for the purpose of PID tuning, where various methods such as the standard Ziegler-Nichols method, the pole-placement and the trial-and-error method are tested. As for the tuning of ADRC, a method is proposed to determine the critical gain parameter, which is the only plant parameter needed. All the simulation and experimental tests are designed based on the practical scenarios, so that the controller tuning, the tracking performance, the disturbance rejection capability and the energy consumption can be studied meaningfully for future industrial applications. Initial results indicate that, with the same bandwidth, ADRC can be used in a wider range of set point tracking than PID. Furthermore, ADRC is easy to tune and has clear advantages over PID in terms of disturbance rejection and energy saving in all simulation and experiment results. In summary, results of this study indicates that ADRC, as a general purpose controller, is a viable solution for pressure control applications, and an alternative to PID
Magnetic Actuators and Suspension for Space Vibration Control
The research on microgravity vibration isolation performed at the University of Virginia is summarized. This research on microgravity vibration isolation was focused in three areas: (1) the development of new actuators for use in microgravity isolation; (2) the design of controllers for multiple-degree-of-freedom active isolation; and (3) the construction of a single-degree-of-freedom test rig with umbilicals. Described are the design and testing of a large stroke linear actuator; the conceptual design and analysis of a redundant coarse-fine six-degree-of-freedom actuator; an investigation of the control issues of active microgravity isolation; a methodology for the design of multiple-degree-of-freedom isolation control systems using modern control theory; and the design and testing of a single-degree-of-freedom test rig with umbilicals
Practical Solutions to the Non-Minimum Phase and Vibration Problems Under the Disturbance Rejection Paradigm
This dissertation tackles two kinds of control problems under the disturbance rejection paradigm (DRP): 1) the general problem of non-minimum phase (NMP) systems, such as systems with right half plane (RHP) zeros and those with time delay 2) the specific problem of vibration, a prevailing problem facing practicing engineers in the real world of industrial control. It is shown that the DRP brings to the table a refreshingly novel way of thinking in tackling the persistently challenging problems in control. In particular, the problem of NMP has confounded researchers for decades in trying to find a satisfactory solution that is both rigorous and practical. The active disturbance rejection control (ADRC), originated from DRP, provides a potential solution. Even more intriguingly, the DRP provides a new framework to tackle the ubiquitous problem of vibration, whether it is found in the resonant modes in industrial motion control with compliant load, which is almost always the case, or in the microphonics of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities in high energy particle accelerators. That is, whether the vibration is caused by the environment or by the characteristics of process dynamics, DRP provides a single framework under which the problem is better understood and resolved. New solutions are tested and validated in both simulations and experiments, demonstrating the superiority of the new design over the previous ones. For systems with time delay, the stability characteristic of the proposed solution is analyze
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