Mechatronics of systems with undetermined configurations

This work is submitted for the award of a PhD by published works. It deals with some of the efforts of the author over the last ten years in the field of Mechatronics. Mechatronics is a new area invented by the Japanese in the late 1970's, it consists of a synthesis of computers and electronics to improve mechanical systems. To control any mechanical event three fundamental features must be brought together: the sensors used to observe the process, the control software, including the control algorithm used and thirdly the actuator that provides the stimulus to achieve the end result. Simulation, which plays such an important part in the Mechatronics process, is used in both in continuous and discrete forms. The author has spent some considerable time developing skills in all these areas. The author was certainly the first at Middlesex to appreciate the new developments in Mechatronics and their significance for manufacturing. The author was one of the first mechanical engineers to recognise the significance of the new transputer chip. This was applied to the LQG optimal control of a cinefilm copying process. A 300% improvement in operating speed was achieved, together with tension control. To make more efficient use of robots they have to be made both faster and cheaper. The author found extremely low natural frequencies of vibration, ranging from 3 to 25 Hz. This limits the speed of response of existing robots. The vibration data was some of the earliest available in this field, certainly in the UK. Several schemes have been devised to control the flexible robot and maintain the required precision. Actuator technology is one area where mechatronic systems have been the subject of intense development. At Middlesex we have improved on the Aexator pneumatic muscle actuator, enabling it to be used with a precision of about 2 mm. New control challenges have been undertaken now in the field of machine tool chatter and the prevention of slip. A variety of novel and traditional control algorithms have been investigated in order to find out the best approach to solve this problem

Design and control of components-based integrated servo pneumatic drives

On-off traditional pneumatic drives are most widely used in industry offering low-cost, simple but flexible mechanical operation and relatively high power to weight ratio. For a period of decade from mid 1980's to 1990's, some initiatives were made to develop servo pneumatic drives for most sophisticated applications, employing purpose-designed control valves for pneumatic drives and low friction cylinders. However, it is found that the high cost and complex installation have discouraged the manufacturer from applying servo pneumatic drives to industrial usage, making them less favourable in comparison to their electric counterpart. This research aims to develop low-cost servo pneumatic drives which are capable of point-to-point positioning tasks, suitable for applications requiring intermediate performance characteristics. In achieving this objective, a strategy that involves the use of traditional on-off valve, simple control algorithm and distributed field-bus control networks has been adopted, namely, the design and control of Components-based Integrated Pneumatic Drives (CIPDs). Firstly, a new pneumatic actuator servo motion control strategy has been developed. With the new motion control strategy, the processes of positioning a payload can be achieved by opening the control valve only once. Hence, lowspeed on-off pneumatic control valves can be employed in keeping the cost low, a key attraction for employing pneumatic drives. The new servo motion control strategy also provides a way of controlling the load motion speed mechanically. Meanwhile, a new PD-based three-state closed-loop control algorithm also has been developed for the new control scheme. This control algorithm provides a way of adapting traditional PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) control theories for regulating pneumatic drives. Moreover, a deceleration control strategy has been developed so that both high-speed and accurate positioning control can be realised with low cost pneumatic drives. Secondly, the effects of system parameters on the transient response are studied. In assisting the analysis, a second order model is developed to encapsulate the velocity response characteristics of pneumatic drives to a step input signal. Stability analyses for both open loop and closed-loop control have also been carried out for the CIPDs with the newly developed motion control strategy. Thirdly, a distributed control strategy employing Lon Works has been devised and implemented, offering desirable attributes, high re-configurability, low cost and easy in installation and maintenance, etc to keep with the traditional strength for using pneumatic drives. By applying this technology, the CIPDs become standard components in "real" and "virtual" design environments. A remote service strategy for CIPDs using TCP/IP communication protocol has also been developed. Subsequently a range of experimental verifications has been carried out in the research. The experimental study of high-speed motion control indicates that the deceleration control strategy developed in the research can be an effective method in improving the behaviour of high speed CIPDs. The verification of open loop system behaviour of CIPDs shows that the model derived is largely indicative of the likely behaviour for the system considered, and the steady state velocity can be estimated using the Velocity Gain Kv. The evaluation made on a pneumatically driven pick-and-place machine has also confirmed that the system setup, including wiring, tuning, and system reconfiguration can be achieved in relative ease. This pilot study reveals the potential for employing CIPDs in building highly flexible cost effective manufacturing machines. It can thus be concluded that this research has developed successfully a new dimension and knowledge in both theoretical and practical terms in building low-cost servo pneumatic drives, which are capable of point-to-point positioning through employing traditional on-off pneumatic valves and actuators and through their integration with distributed control technology (LonWorks) by adopting a component-based design paradigm

New Approaches in Automation and Robotics

The book New Approaches in Automation and Robotics offers in 22 chapters a collection of recent developments in automation, robotics as well as control theory. It is dedicated to researchers in science and industry, students, and practicing engineers, who wish to update and enhance their knowledge on modern methods and innovative applications. The authors and editor of this book wish to motivate people, especially under-graduate students, to get involved with the interesting field of robotics and mechatronics. We hope that the ideas and concepts presented in this book are useful for your own work and could contribute to problem solving in similar applications as well. It is clear, however, that the wide area of automation and robotics can only be highlighted at several spots but not completely covered by a single book

Sliding Mode Control

The main objective of this monograph is to present a broad range of well worked out, recent application studies as well as theoretical contributions in the field of sliding mode control system analysis and design. The contributions presented here include new theoretical developments as well as successful applications of variable structure controllers primarily in the field of power electronics, electric drives and motion steering systems. They enrich the current state of the art, and motivate and encourage new ideas and solutions in the sliding mode control area

Robot Manipulators

Robot manipulators are developing more in the direction of industrial robots than of human workers. Recently, the applications of robot manipulators are spreading their focus, for example Da Vinci as a medical robot, ASIMO as a humanoid robot and so on. There are many research topics within the field of robot manipulators, e.g. motion planning, cooperation with a human, and fusion with external sensors like vision, haptic and force, etc. Moreover, these include both technical problems in the industry and theoretical problems in the academic fields. This book is a collection of papers presenting the latest research issues from around the world

MUSME 2011 4 th International Symposium on Multibody Systems and Mechatronics

El libro de actas recoge las aportaciones de los autores a través de los correspondientes artículos a la Dinámica de Sistemas Multicuerpo y la Mecatrónica (Musme). Estas disciplinas se han convertido en una importante herramienta para diseñar máquinas, analizar prototipos virtuales y realizar análisis CAD sobre complejos sistemas mecánicos articulados multicuerpo. La dinámica de sistemas multicuerpo comprende un gran número de aspectos que incluyen la mecánica, dinámica estructural, matemáticas aplicadas, métodos de control, ciencia de los ordenadores y mecatrónica. Los artículos recogidos en el libro de actas están relacionados con alguno de los siguientes tópicos del congreso: Análisis y síntesis de mecanismos ; Diseño de algoritmos para sistemas mecatrónicos ; Procedimientos de simulación y resultados ; Prototipos y rendimiento ; Robots y micromáquinas ; Validaciones experimentales ; Teoría de simulación mecatrónica ; Sistemas mecatrónicos ; Control de sistemas mecatrónicosUniversitat Politècnica de València (2011). MUSME 2011 4 th International Symposium on Multibody Systems and Mechatronics. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/13224Archivo delegad

Metaheuristics algorithms to identify nonlinear Hammerstein model: A decade survey

Metaheuristics have been acknowledged as an effective solution for many difficult issues related to optimization. The metaheuristics, especially swarm’s intelligence and evolutionary computing algorithms, have gained popularity within a short time over the past two decades. Various metaheuristics algorithms are being introduced on an annual basis and applications that are more new are gradually being discovered. This paper presents a survey for the years 2011-2021 on multiple metaheuristics algorithms, particularly swarm and evolutionary algorithms, to identify a nonlinear block-oriented model called the Hammerstein model, mainly because such model has garnered much interest amidst researchers to identify nonlinear systems. Besides introducing a complete survey on the various population-based algorithms to identify the Hammerstein model, this paper also investigated some empirically verified actual process plants results. As such, this article serves as a guideline on the fundamentals of identifying nonlinear block-oriented models for new practitioners, apart from presenting a comprehensive summary of cutting-edge trends within the context of this topic area