Advanced Control and Estimation Concepts, and New Hardware Topologies for Future Mobility

According to the National Research Council, the use of embedded systems throughout society could well overtake previous milestones in the information revolution. Mechatronics is the synergistic combination of electronic, mechanical engineering, controls, software and systems engineering in the design of processes and products. Mechatronic systems put “intelligence” into physical systems. Embedded sensors/actuators/processors are integral parts of mechatronic systems. The implementation of mechatronic systems is consistently on the rise. However, manufacturers are working hard to reduce the implementation cost of these systems while trying avoid compromising product quality. One way of addressing these conflicting objectives is through new automatic control methods, virtual sensing/estimation, and new innovative hardware topologies

Robust and Decentralized Control of Web Winding Systems

This research addresses the velocity and tension regulation problems in web handling, including those found in the single element of an accumulator and those in the large-scale system settings. A continuous web winding system is a complex large-scale interconnected dynamics system with numerous tension zones to transport the web while processing it. A major challenge in controlling such systems is the unexpected disturbances that propagate through the system and affect both tension and velocity loops along the way. To solve this problem, a unique active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) strategy is proposed. Simulation results show remarkable disturbance rejection capability of the proposed control scheme in coping with large dynamic variations commonly seen in web winding systems. Another complication in web winding system stems from its large-scale and interconnected dynamics which makes control design difficult. This motivates the research in formulating a novel robust decentralized control strategy. The key idea in the proposed approach is that nonlinearities and interactions between adjunct subsystems are regarded as perturbations, to be estimated by an augmented state observer and rejected in the control loop, therefore making the local control design extremely simple. The proposed decentralized control strategy was implemented on a 3-tension-zone web winding processing line. Simulation results show that the proposed control method leads to much better tension and velocity regulation quality than the existing controller common in industry. Finally, this research tackles the challenging problem of stability analysis. Although ADRC has demonstrated the validity and advantage in many applications, the rigorous stability study has not been fully addressed previously. To this end, stability characterization of ADRC is carried out in this work. The closed-loop system is first reformulated, resulting in a form that allows the application of the well established singular perturbation method. Based on the decom

Robust and Decentralized Control of Web Winding Systems

This research addresses the velocity and tension regulation problems in web handling, including those found in the single element of an accumulator and those in the large-scale system settings. A continuous web winding system is a complex large-scale interconnected dynamics system with numerous tension zones to transport the web while processing it. A major challenge in controlling such systems is the unexpected disturbances that propagate through the system and affect both tension and velocity loops along the way. To solve this problem, a unique active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) strategy is proposed. Simulation results show remarkable disturbance rejection capability of the proposed control scheme in coping with large dynamic variations commonly seen in web winding systems. Another complication in web winding system stems from its large-scale and interconnected dynamics which makes control design difficult. This motivates the research in formulating a novel robust decentralized control strategy. The key idea in the proposed approach is that nonlinearities and interactions between adjunct subsystems are regarded as perturbations, to be estimated by an augmented state observer and rejected in the control loop, therefore making the local control design extremely simple. The proposed decentralized control strategy was implemented on a 3-tension-zone web winding processing line. Simulation results show that the proposed control method leads to much better tension and velocity regulation quality than the existing controller common in industry. Finally, this research tackles the challenging problem of stability analysis. Although ADRC has demonstrated the validity and advantage in many applications, the rigorous stability study has not been fully addressed previously. To this end, stability characterization of ADRC is carried out in this work. The closed-loop system is first reformulated, resulting in a form that allows the application of the well established singular perturbation method. Based on the decom

Design and validation of an unmanned surface vehicle simulation mode

In this paper we present a multiphysics simulation model of Halcyon, an autonomous unmanned surface vehicle (USV). The simulation model presented in this paper has been developed to rapidly progress the design, development and validation of Halcyon's autonomy management system, particularly in challenging sea conditions. Using simulation for this purpose enables extensive testing across the full environmental operating envelope of the vessel, hence greatly reducing the need for real-world sea-trials. The simulator is comprised of a novel and comprehensive sea-surface wave environment model, a six degree of freedom nonlinear unified seakeeping and manoeuvring boat dynamics model, an actuation dynamics model, an autopilot and an interface with an autonomy management system. Results are presented that show good agreement between real-world and simulated sea-trials data

Cache Conscious Data Layouting for In-Memory Databases

Many applications with manually implemented data management exhibit a data storage pattern in which semantically related data items are stored closer in memory than unrelated data items. The strong sematic relationship between these data items commonly induces contemporary accesses to them. This is called the principle of data locality and has been recognized by hardware vendors. It is commonly exploited to improve the performance of hardware. General Purpose Database Management Systems (DBMSs), whose main goal is to simplify optimal data storage and processing, generally fall short of this claim because the usage pattern of the stored data cannot be anticipated when designing the system. The current interest in column oriented databases indicates that one strategy does not fit all applications. A DBMS that automatically adapts it’s storage strategy to the workload of the database promises a significant performance increase by maximizing the benefit of hardware optimizations that are based on the principle of data locality. This thesis gives an overview of optimizations that are based on the principle of data locality and the effect they have on the data access performance of applications. Based on the findings, a model is introduced that allows an estimation of the costs of data accesses based on the arrangement of the data in the main memory. This model is evaluated through a series of experiments and incorporated into an automatic layouting component for a DBMS. This layouting component allows the calculation of an analytically optimal storage layout. The performance benefits brought by this component are evaluated in an application benchmark

On-line automatic controller tuning using Bayesian optimisation - a bulk tailings treatment plant case study

The automatic tuning problem of multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) controllers is considered within the framework of Bayesian optimisation and applied in simulation to a bulk tailings treatment process. The aim is to develop a model free, on-line, automatic tuner which can optimise the performance of a given controller to the task at hand. The automatic tuning procedure can be conducted during commissioning, when poor controller performance is observed or when the process has changed. Simulations indicate that the method is able to locate the optimal tuning parameters for the bulk tailings treatment process as compared to a de-coupled controller developed from a model of the process. The parameters were obtained from an objective function which was balanced and weighted according to the response required.https://www.journals.elsevier.com/ifac-papersonlineElectrical, Electronic and Computer Engineerin

Industrial and Technological Applications of Power Electronics Systems

The Special Issue "Industrial and Technological Applications of Power Electronics Systems" focuses on: - new strategies of control for electric machines, including sensorless control and fault diagnosis; - existing and emerging industrial applications of GaN and SiC-based converters; - modern methods for electromagnetic compatibility. The book covers topics such as control systems, fault diagnosis, converters, inverters, and electromagnetic interference in power electronics systems. The Special Issue includes 19 scientific papers by industry experts and worldwide professors in the area of electrical engineering

ESSE 2017. Proceedings of the International Conference on Environmental Science and Sustainable Energy

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical-, biological-, and information sciences to study and solve environmental problems. ESSE - The International Conference on Environmental Science and Sustainable Energy provides a platform for experts, professionals, and researchers to share updated information and stimulate the communication with each other. In 2017 it was held in Suzhou, China June 23-25, 2017

Advances in Condition Monitoring, Optimization and Control for Complex Industrial Processes

The book documents 25 papers collected from the Special Issue “Advances in Condition Monitoring, Optimization and Control for Complex Industrial Processes”, highlighting recent research trends in complex industrial processes. The book aims to stimulate the research field and be of benefit to readers from both academic institutes and industrial sectors

Autonomous Navigation of Quadrotor Swarms

RÉSUMÉ La mise sur le marché de composants toujours plus performants et compétitifs en termes de coût, ainsi que le développement rapide des technologies de commande et de navigation en robotique, nous ont amenés à envisager le contrôle d’un large essaim de quadrirotors. Di-verses solutions impliquant des drones existent déjà pour différentes applications: inventaire forestier, gestion du littoral, suivi du trafic, etc. Parmi celles-ci, la recherche et le sauvetage en situation d’urgence représentent à nos yeux la possibilité la plus intéressante et constitue, de fait, la première motivation de notre travail. Par conséquent, une large revue de littérature sur la question est fournie. Ce travail se concentre sur le contrôle de l’essaim lui-même, et non sur l’application finale. Tout d’abord, un modèle mathématique de la dynamique du quadrirotor est présenté et plusieurs lois de commande numérique sont synthétisées. Ces dernières implémentent les modes de fonctionnement nécessaires aux algorithmes de navigation, à savoir : commande en vitesse, commande en position et commande en suivi. Ensuite, deux solutions originales et complémentaires de contrôle d’essaim sont proposées. D’une part, un algorithme d’essaimage pour la navigation extérieure est développé. Contrairement à la plupart des travaux trouvés dans la littérature, la solution proposée ici gère non seulement le maintien, mais aussi l’initialisation de la formation. Plus spécifiquement, un modèle de formation hexagonale est introduit. Ensuite, les places en formation sont attribuées de façon optimale à l’aide de l’algorithme hongrois. Enfin, les agents se déplacent jusqu’à la place qui leur est assignée tout en évitant les autres agents avec un algorithme de navigation inspiré du Artificial Potential Field. De plus, cette solution tient compte de contraintes de conception réalistes et a été intégrée avec succès dans un logiciel embarqué de quadrotor déjà existant et opérationnel. Les résultats de simulations Software-In-The-Loop sont fournis. D’autre part, une solution d’essaimage pour la navigation intérieure est étudiée. L’algorithme proposé implémente un certain nombre de comportements individuels simples, de sorte qu’un grand essaim peut suivre un meneur dans des environnements encombrés en se fiant uniquement aux informations locales. Des simulations préliminaires sont effectuées et les résultats montrent qu’il serait possible de faire fonctionner, conformément au besoin étudié, un essaim de cent quadrirotors avec l’algorithme proposé. En particulier, l’essaim est capable de suivre le meneur, de maintenir la connectivité, d’éviter les collisions entre agents, d’éviter les obstacles et même de se faufiler dans des espaces étroits.----------ABSTRACT The ever-growing hardware capabilities and the rapid development of robotic control and navigation technologies have led us to consider the control of an entire swarm of quadrotors. Drone-based solutions have been developed for different applications: forest inventory, coastal management, traÿc monitoring, etc... Among these, the Search And Rescue application represents for us a very promising field of application and constitutes the first motivation of our work. As a result, a wide literature review on the matter is provided. Nevertheless, this work focuses on the swarm control itself, and not on the end user application. First, a mathematical model of the quadrotor dynamics is presented and several digital control laws are designed. The latter provide operating modes useful for the navigation algorithms, namely: velocity control, position control and tracking control. Then, two original and complimentary swarming solutions are proposed. On the one hand, a swarming algorithm for outdoor navigation is developed. Unlike most of the works reviewed in the literature, our solution handles not only the maintenance but also the initialization of the formation. More specifically, an hexagonal formation pattern is intro-duced. Then, positions are optimally assigned using the Hungarian algorithm. Finally, the agents move to their assigned position while avoiding collisions with the other fleet members thanks to a navigation algorithm inspired from Artificial Potential Field. In addition, this solution accounts for realistic design constraints and was successfully integrated into already existing quadrotor onboard software. Software-In-The-Loop simulation results are provided. On the other hand, a swarming solution for indoor navigation is investigated. The proposed algorithm enforces a certain set of expected individual simple behaviors such that a large swarm can follow a leader through cluttered environments relying only on local information. Preliminary simulations are run and the results show that it is possible to operate a swarm of a hundred quadrotors with the proposed algorithm. In particular, the swarm is able to follow the leader, maintain connectivity, avoid collisions with the other agents, avoid obstacles, and even squeeze to pass through narrow spaces