Fault Diagnosis in a Networked Control System under Communication Constraints: A Quadrotor Application

This paper considers the problem of attitude sensor fault diagnosis in a quadrotor helicopter. The proposed approach is composed of two stages. The first one is the modelling of the system attitude dynamics taking into account the induced communication constraints. Then a robust fault detection and evaluation scheme is proposed using a post-filter designed under a particular design objective. This approach is compared with previous results based on the standard Kalman filter and gives better results for sensor fault diagnosis

Fault tolerance in networked control systems under intermittent observations

This paper presents an approach to fault tolerant control based on the sensor masking principle in the case of wireless networked control systems. With wireless transmission, packet losses act as sensor faults. In the presence of such faults, the faulty measurements corrupt directly the behaviour of closed-loop systems. Since the controller aims at cancelling the error between the measurement and its reference input, the real outputs will, in such a networked control system, deviate from the desired value and may drive the system to its physical limitations or even to instability. The proposed method facilitates fault compensation based on an interacting multiple model approach developed in the framework of channel errors or network congestion equivalent to multiple sensors failures. The interacting multiple model method involved in a networked control system provides simultaneously detection and isolation of on-line packet losses, and also performs a suitable state estimation. Based on particular knowledge of packet losses, sensor fault-tolerant controls are obtained by computing a new control law using fault-free estimation of the faulty element to avoid intermittent observations that might develop into failures and to minimize the effects on system performance and safety

Fault Tolerant Control Schemes for Wireless Networked Control Systems with an Integrated Scheduler

In recent years, the wireless networked control systems (W-NCSs) has gained increasing popularity in industrial processes. To guarantee the system control performance, fault tolerant control (FTC) strategies have been proposed especially to deal with the malfunction in sensors, actuators or other system components. For the real-time requirement in industrial systems, the FTC performances of W-NCSs not only depend on the developed control algorithms but also on the network protocols at the medium access control (MAC) layer. These protocols, in form of schedulers, determine the transmission orders of messages and play significant roles in the control performances of W-NCSs. Under these circumstances, it is challenging but promising to investigate FTC schemes for W-NCSs with an integrated scheduler. This thesis is devoted to the development of FTC strategies for W-NCSs with an integrated scheduler. In the first part of this thesis, the procedures of integrating a scheduler into W-NCSs are introduced. Due to the requirement for deterministic transmission behaviors via the wireless network, the time division multiple access (TDMA) mechanism is adopted in W-NCSs. The TDMA-based scheduler is taken as a dynamic system and formulated into a periodic system. After that, with the integration of the scheduler, the W-NCSs are modeled as discrete linear time periodic (LTP) systems. The second part of this thesis focuses on the developments of FTC schemes for the integrated LTP systems. Two types of faults, i.e., additive faults (AFs) and multiplicative faults (MFs), are considered in our work. Specifically, a group of fault tolerant controllers are constructed for the AFs case, and seek to ensure that the outputs of LTP systems satisfy a set of H_infty performance indices. On the other hand, a lifting technology and an adaptive observer are applied to handle the situation of MFs. Due to the distribution of W-NCSs and the limitation of communication bandwidth, theorems are presented to solve the structure-restriction problem in the gains of observers and controllers. Finally, the derived FTC approaches are verified on an advanced experimental WiNC (wireless networked control) platform. Following the structure-restricted gains, the FTC strategies are realized with shared and unshared information (i.e., residual signals and state estimates), respectively. The results indicate that the system with shared information has achieved better FTC performances. In den letzten Jahren, haben die drahtlos vernetzten Steuerungssystemen (W-NCSs) sich zunehmender Beliebtheit in industriellen Prozessen gewonnen. Um die Systemsteuerleistung zu gewährleisten, sind die fehlertoleranten Regelung (FTC) Strategien vorgeschlagen worden, um vor allem mit der Fehlfunktion in Sensoren, Aktoren oder andere Systemkomponenten umzugehen. Für die Echtzeitanforderung in industriellen Systemen, hängen die FTC-Leistungen der W-NCSs nicht nur von den entwickelten Regleralgorithmen sondern auch von den Netzwerkprotokollen auf dem Medium Access Control (MAC)-Layer ab. Diese Protokolle, in Form von Schedulers, bestimmen die Reihenfolge der Übertragung der Nachrichten und spielen eine bedeutende Rolle in den Steuerleistungen von W-NCSs. Unter diesen Umständen ist es herausfordernd aber vielversprechend um FTC Regelungen für W-NCSs mit einem integrierten Scheduler zu untersuchen. Diese Arbeit widmet sich auf die Entwicklung von FTC Strategien für W-NCSs mit einem integrierten Scheduler. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit werden die Verfahren der Integration einen Scheduler in W-NCSs eingeführt. Aufgrund der Anforderung deterministisches Übertragungsverhalten über das drahtlose Netzwerk zu gewährleisten, wird der Time-Division-Multiple-Access (TDMA) Mechanismus gewählt. Der TDMA-basierte Scheduler ist als ein dynamisches System betrachtet und als ein Periodisches system formuliert. Danach, mit der Integration des Schedulers, werden die W-NCSs als diskrete Linear Time Periodic (LTP)-Systeme modelliert. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die Entwicklung der FTC Regelungen für die integrierten LTP-Systeme. Zwei Arten von Fehlern, d.h., additive Fehlern (AFs) und multiplikativen Fehlern (MFs), sind in unserer Arbeit berücksichtigt. Für LTP-Systeme mit AFs wird ein Satz von fehlertoleranten Reglern entworfen, dass die Ausganggröße eine Reihe von H_infty-Leistungsindizes erfüllen werden. Auf der anderen Seite, werden ein Hebetechnik und eine adaptive Beobachter angewendet, um den Fall von MFs zu behandeln. Aufgrund der Verbreitung der W-NCSs und gleichzeitiger Begrenzung der Kommunikationsbandbreite werden Theoreme vorgestellt, um das Problem der Strukturbeschränkung in den Beobachter- bzw. Reglermatrizen zu lösen. Abschließend werden die hergeleiteten FTC-Ansätze auf einem fortgeschrittenen WiNC (drahtlos vernetzten Regelung) Plattform überprüft. Nach den Beobachter- bzw. Reglermatrizen sind die FTC-strategien mit vollständig geteilter oder nicht geteilter Informationen (d.h., Residuum Signale und Schätzungen der Zustandsgrößen) realisiert worden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das System mit vollständig geteilten Informationen bessere FTC-Leistungen erzielt hat

Fault tolerance in networked control systems under intermittent observations

International audienceThis paper presents an approach to fault tolerant control based on the sensor masking principle in the case of wireless networked control systems. With wireless transmission, packet losses act as sensor faults. In the presence of such faults, the faulty measurements corrupt directly the behaviour of closed-loop systems. Since the controller aims at cancelling the error between the measurement and its reference input, the real outputs will, in such a networked control system, deviate from the desired value and may drive the system to its physical limitations or even to instability. The proposed method facilitates fault compensation based on an interacting multiple model approach developed in the framework of channel errors or network congestion equivalent to multiple sensors failures. The interacting multiple model method involved in a networked control system provides simultaneously detection and isolation of on-line packet losses, and also performs a suitable state estimation. Based on particular knowledge of packet losses, sensor fault-tolerant controls are obtained by computing a new control law using fault-free estimation of the faulty element to avoid intermittent observations that might develop into failures and to minimize the effects on system performance and safety

Methodologies for hybrid systems diagnosis based on the hybrid automaton framework

Hybrid systems play an important role in the modeling of complex systems since they take into account the interaction between both continuous dynamics and discrete events. Complex systems are subject to changes in the dynamics due to several factors such as nonlinearities, changes in the parameters, disturbances, faults, discrete events and controller actions among others. These facts lead to the need to develop a diagnostic system for hybrid systems improving the diagnostic precision. Hybrid systems allow to combine the classic fault detection and isolation approaches and a diagnoser based on discrete event models. Hence, a design methodology and implementation architecture for diagnosers in the framework of hybrid systems is proposed. The design methodology is based on the hybrid automaton model that represents the system behavior by means of the interaction of continuous dynamics and discrete events. The architecture is composed of modules which carry out mode recognition and diagnostic tasks interacting each other, since the diagnosis module adapts accordingly to the current hybrid system mode. The mode recognition task involves detecting and identifying a mode change by determining the set of residuals that are consistent with the current hybrid system mode. On the other hand, the diagnostic task involves detecting and isolating two type of faults: structural and non-structural faults. In the first case, structural faults are represented by a dynamic model as in the case of nominal modes. Hence they are identified by consistency checking through the set of residuals. In the second case, non-structural faults do not change the structure of the model, therefore, they are identified by a proper residual pattern. %the set of of residuals that can explain this inconsistency. Discernibility is the main property used in hybrid systems diagnosis. Through the concept of discernibility it is possible to predict whether modes changes (faulty or nominal) in the hybrid model can be detected and isolated properly. This concept can be applied in practice, evaluating a set of mathematical properties derived from residual expressions, which can be obtained from input-output models or parity space equations. General properties are derived to evaluate the discernibility between modes in the hybrid automaton model. The diagnoser is built through propagation algorithms developed for discrete models represented by automata. The automaton employed to build the diagnoser for a hybrid system is named behaviour automaton. It gathers all information provided by discernibility properties between modes and observable events in the system, increasing the system diagnosability. % in the system. Diagnosis for hybrid systems can be divided in two stages: offline and online. Moreover, it can be carried out twofold: in a non-incremental and an incremental form. In the non-incremental form, algorithms are executed taking into account global models, unlike incremental form that leads to building the useful parts of the diagnoser, only developing the branches that are needed to explain the occurrence of incoming events. The resulting diagnoser adapts to the system operational life and it is much less demanding in terms of memory storage than building the full diagnoser offline. The methodology is validated by the application to a case study based on a representative part of the Barcelona sewer network by means of a tool implemented in Matlab