Mobile Paving System (MPS): A New Large Scale Freeform Fabrication Method

In the last decade, significant opportunities for automation have been identified in the area of construction. Soaring labor and material costs have driven multiple research efforts in construction automation. In this paper, we present a novel means for construction automation that involves the fusion of the rapid prototyping, controls and mechatronics technologies. The resultant autonomous construction mechanism has been designed for commercial applications. Mobile Paving System (MPS) is a new freeform fabrication process which is capable of rapidly producing variable profiles such as curbs and sidewalks out of materials like cement and asphalt. Path generation and guidance of the construction operation is controlled by a mobile robot. This article presents an overview of research and development efforts that are aimed at establishing the feasibility and the potential of the process.Mechanical Engineerin

Automated Space Processing Payloads Study. Volume 1: Executive Summary

An investigation is described which examined the extent to which the experiment hardware and operational requirements can be met by automatic control and material handling devices; payload and system concepts are defined which make extensive use of automation technology. Topics covered include experiment requirements and hardware data, capabilities and characteristics of industrial automation equipment and controls, payload grouping, automated payload conceptual design, space processing payload preliminary design, automated space processing payloads for early shuttle missions, and cost and scheduling

Automated Subsystem Control for Life Support System (ASCLSS)

The Automated Subsystem Control for Life Support Systems (ASCLSS) program has successfully developed and demonstrated a generic approach to the automation and control of space station subsystems. The automation system features a hierarchical and distributed real-time control architecture which places maximum controls authority at the lowest or process control level which enhances system autonomy. The ASCLSS demonstration system pioneered many automation and control concepts currently being considered in the space station data management system (DMS). Heavy emphasis is placed on controls hardware and software commonality implemented in accepted standards. The approach demonstrates successfully the application of real-time process and accountability with the subsystem or process developer. The ASCLSS system completely automates a space station subsystem (air revitalization group of the ASCLSS) which moves the crew/operator into a role of supervisory control authority. The ASCLSS program developed over 50 lessons learned which will aide future space station developers in the area of automation and controls.

Expanding Horizons with Chameleon: Team Missouri\u27s Innovative Home Automation System

Team Missouri\u27s 2009 Solar Decathlon entry featured a revolutionary home automation system, Chameleon, promoting both convenience and energy savings. This was accomplished using the typical controls of a convenience based automation system, while maintaining user set points, such as a home\u27s ambient temperature, in the most energy efficient manner. Environmental features of the system include controls for home heating, ventilation and air conditioning, lighting, windows, shades, appliances, indoor air quality, as well as indoor and outdoor irrigation. Further analysis and refinement to the prototype system displayed at the competition is also presented in this paper

An ‘on-demand’ Data Communication Architecture for Supplying Multiple Applications from a Single Data Source: An Industrial Application Case Study

A key aspect of automation is the manipulation of feedback sensor data for the automated control of particular process actuators. Often in practice this data can be reused for other applications, such as the live update of a graphical user interface, a fault detection application or a business intelligence process performance engine in real-time. In order for this data to be reused effectively, appropriate data communication architecture must be utilised to provide such functionality. This architecture must accommodate the dependencies of the system and sustain the required data transmission speed to ensure stability and data integrity. Such an architecture is presented in this paper, which shows how the data needs of multiple applications are satisfied from a single source of data. It shows how the flexibility of this architecture enables the integration of additional data sources as the data dependencies grow. This research is based on the development of a fully integrated automation system for the test of fuel controls used on civil transport aircraft engines

Automatic Control of a Closed Conduit Cutback Irrigation System

The total supply of water on the earth today is about the same as it was thousands of years ago. It is estimated that by the year 2020, 1,380 billion gallons of water will be used every day to satisfy the needs of 468 million people in the United States. Priorities will therefore have to be established to allocate the limited supply of water among the alternative users. One criterion, based on an economic analysis of the user, for making the allocation decision is presented by Reynolds. Unfortunately, agriculture has been awarded a rather low priority level as compared to municipal and domestic users. The largest single use of agricultural allocated water is for irrigation. It is estimated that by the year 2000, 150,000 million gallons of water per day will be used for irrigation purposes in the United States. It is estimated that 20 to 40% of the water applied by conventional means is lost due to runoff, evaporation, or deep percolation. One way to accomplish these goals is through the use of automation. Automation of surface irrigation systems, especially automation of cutback furrow irrigation systems, can optimize the use of water for irrigation. Even without automation, the cutback system employs two rates of flow which if properly timed can minimize the amount of runoff water. With automation the irrigation efficiency could be further improved. Garton states that not only is irrigation efficiency improved through automation, but the labor savings as a result of automation will pay the installation costs in less than the useful life of the system. Fishbach states that the three basic components of a well-designed automatic system are: (a) The Distribution System, (b) Electric Controls, and (c) The Telemetry System. The distribution system includes the water supply, the interconnecting valves and lines, and some type of outlet system to distribute the water on the land. The electric controls are responsible for adjusting and maintaining the rate of flow for ea.ch irrigation station, timing the irrigation of each station, and automatically sequencing the system after a predetermined time interval. The telemetry system measures and records the amount of moisture stored in the root zone of the field. The scope of this piper is to examine the part of the system which deals with electric controls. This thesis will investigate the use of automated flow control valves to program the application rates of water on the soil during an irrigation

Integrated Platform for Whole Building HVAC System Automation and Simulation

Integrated optimal control strategies can reduce the overall building HVAC system energy consumption as well as improved air quality resulting in improved health and cognitive function for the occupants. However, it is time consuming to quantitatively evaluate the design-intended building HVAC automation system performance before on-site deployment, because: 1) the building and HVAC system design specs are in 2D or 3D drawings that require significant efforts to develop the system steady state or dynamic models based on them; 2) the building HVAC control strategies are designed and implemented in building automation (BA) system that could not smoothly connect with the building HVAC system steady state or dynamic models for performance evaluation through close-loop simulation. This paper presents the tool chain of an integrated simulation platform for building HVAC system automation and simulation as well as its implementation in a real case. First, building information from a Revit BIM model is automatically parsed to an EnergyPlus building energy model. Second, the HVAC system model is quickly populated with a scalable HVAC system library in Dymola. Third, the HVAC controls are developed in WebCTRL, a building HVAC automation system by Automated Logic Corporation (ALC). Finally, both the building energy model and HVAC system model are wrapped up as Functional Mock-up Units (FMU) and connected with embedded simulator in WebCTRL to perform close-loop building automation system performance simulation. A real case study, a chiller plant system in a hotel building, is conducted to verify the scalability and benefit of the developed tool chain. The case study demonstrates the values in identifying both HVAC automation system design-intended control issues and improvement areas for integrated optimal controls. This platform enables testing of building HVAC control strategies before on-site deployment, which reduces the labor and time required for building HVAC control development-to-market process and ensure the delivering quality. Furthermore, this platform can be calibrated with metered real-time data from the specific building HVAC system and serve as its “digital twin” that empowers the system fault detection, diagnostics and predictive maintenance

Controls and Automation Research in Space Life Support

A highly controlled and automated life support system has long been a NASA goal. It is usually assumed that life support for future long duration missions will use physical/chemical recycling systems that substantially close the oxygen and water circulation loops. Such a tightly coupled life support system has been thought to require an overall supervisory control system to minimize crew operation and maintenance activities. The International Space Station (ISS) Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) was at first expected to have supervisory control and automation. After this was found infeasible during the design of the ISS ECLSS in the early 1990's, it was then expected that the ISS or future mission systems would be upgraded to meet the original expectations. Since then NASA has extensively researched life support system controls and automation. Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have gone through several cycles of enthusiasm and neglect before their recent great achievements, and NASA life support interest has similarly varied. Since the ISS ECLSS was launched, its on-board operational problems have led NASA to deemphasize system level controls and automation in favor of improving subsystem reliability and maintainability. Recent work has investigated supervisory control for a system similar to the ISS ECLSS. This paper reviews past planning and work on the supervisory control of closed, integrated physical/chemical life support systems similar to the ISS ECLSS and its precursors dating back to the 1960's

An integrated and modular digital modeling approach for the space station electrical power system development

An electrical power system for the Space Station was designed, developed and built. This system provides for electrical power generation, conditioning, storage, and distribution. The initial configuration uses photovoltaic power generation. The power system control is based on a hierarchical architecture to support the requirements of automation. In the preliminary design and technology development phase of the program, various modeling techniques and software tools were evaluated for the purpose of meeting the Space Station power system modeling requirements. Rocketdyne and LeRC jointly selected the EASY5 simulation software, developed by Boeing Computer Services, as a system level modeling tool. The application of the selected analytical modeling approach to represent the entire power system is described. Typical results of model predictions are also summarized. The equipment modeled includes solar arrays, dc to ac converters, resonant inverters, battery storage system, alternator, transmission line, switch gear, and system level microprocessor controls. During the advanced development phase of this program, several models were developed using this approach

К вопросу о контроле и автоматизации шахтных дегазационных систем

Розглянуті існуючі системи контролю та автоматизації шахтної газопровідної мережі, а також засобі контролю газодинамічних параметрів метано-повітряної суміші у дільничному дегазаційному трубопроводі.The existing system of control and automation of mine degassingnetwork, and controls the gasdynamic parameters of methane-air mixture in the precinct line degassing