Fractional Order Modeling and Control: Development of Analog Strategies for Plasma Position Control of the Stor-1M Tokamak

This work revolves around the use of fractional order calculus in control science. Techniques such as fractional order universal adaptive stabilization (FO-UAS), and the fascinating results of their application to real-world systems, are presented initially. A major portion of this work deals with fractional order modeling and control of real-life systems like heat flow, fan and plate, and coupled tank systems. The fractional order models and controllers are not only simulated, they are also emulated using analog hardware. The main aim of all the above experimentation is to develop a fractional order controller for plasma position control of the Saskatchewan torus-1, modified (STOR-1M) tokamak at the Utah State University (USU) campus. A new method for plasma position estimation has been formulated. The results of hardware emulation of plasma position and its control are also presented. This work performs a small scale test measuring controller performance, so that it serves as a platform for future research efforts leading to real-life implementation of a plasma position controller for the tokamak

Robust forward invariant sets for nonlinear systems

The process of quantifying the robustness of a given nonlinear system is not necessarily trivial. If the dynamics of the system in question are not sufficiently involved, then a tight estimate of a bound on system performance may be obtained. As the dynamics of the system concerned become more and more involved, it is often found that using the results existing in the literature provides a very conservative bound on system performance. Therefore, the motivation for this work is to develop a general method to obtain a less conservative estimate of a bound on system performance, compared to the results already available in literature. The scope of this work is limited to two dimensions at present. Note that working in a two dimensional space does not necessarily make the objective easily achievable. This is because quantifying the robustness of a general nonlinear system perturbed by disturbances can very easily become intractable, even on a space with dimension as low as two. The primary contribution of this work is a computational algorithm, the points generated by which are conjectured to lie on the boundary of the smallest robust forward invariant set for a given nonlinear system. A well known path-planning algorithm, available in existing literature, is leveraged to make the algorithm developed computationally efficient. If the system dynamics are not accurately known, then the above computed approximation of an invariant set may cease to be invariant over the given finite time interval for which the computed set is expected to be invariant. Therefore, the secondary contribution of this work is an algorithm monitoring a computed approximation of an invariant set. It is shown that for a certain type of systems, this secondary monitoring algorithm can be used to detect that a computed approximation of an invariant set is about to cease to be invariant, even if the primary algorithm computed the set based on an unsophisticated dynamical model of a system under consideration. The work related to computing approximations of invariant sets is tested mainly with the curve tracking problem in two dimensions. The algorithm monitoring whether a computed approximation of an invariant set is about to cease to be invariant is inspired by work related to detecting Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery terminal voltage collapse detection.Ph.D

Using Small Capacity Fuel Cells Onboard Drones for Battery Cooling: An Experimental Study

Recently, quadrotor-based drones have attracted a lot of attention because of their versatility, which makes them an ideal medium for a variety of applications, e.g., personal photography, surveillance, and the delivery of lightweight packages. The flight duration of a drone is limited by its battery capacity. Increasing the payload capacity of a drone requires more current to be supplied by the battery onboard a drone. Elevated currents through a Li-ion battery can increase the battery temperature, thus posing a significant risk of fire or explosion. Li-ion batteries are suited for drone applications, due to their high energy density. There have been attempts to use hydrogen fuel cells onboard drones. Fuel cell stacks and fuel tank assemblies can have a high energy to weight ratio. So, they may be able to power long duration drone flights, but such fuel cell stacks and associated systems, are usually extremely expensive. Hence, this work proposes the novel use of a less expensive, low capacity, metal hydride fuel stick-powered fuel cell stack as an auxiliary power supply onboard a drone. A primary advantage of this is that the fuel sticks can be used to cool the batteries, and a side effect is that this slightly reduces the burden on the onboard Li-ion battery and provides a small increment in flight time. This work presents the results of an experimental study which shows the primary effect (i.e., decrease in battery temperature) and the secondary side effect (i.e., a small increment in flight time) obtained by using a fuel cell stack. In this work, a metal hydride fuel stick powered hydrogen fuel cell is used along with a Li-ion battery onboard a drone

Real Time Li-Ion Battery Bank Parameters Estimation via Universal Adaptive Stabilization

This paper proposes an accurate and efficient Universal Adaptive Stabilizer (UAS) based online parameters estimation technique for a 400 V Li-ion battery bank. The battery open circuit voltage, parameters modeling the transient response, and series resistance are all estimated in a single real-time test. In contrast to earlier UAS based work on individual battery packs, this work does not require prior offline experimentation or any post-processing. Real time fast convergence of parameters' estimates with minimal experimental effort enables update of battery parameters during run-time. The proposed strategy is mathematically validated and its performance is demonstrated on a 400 V, 6.6 Ah Li-ion battery bank powering an induction motor driven prototype electric vehicle (EV) traction system

Purely Analog Fractional Order PI Control Using Discrete Fractional Capacitors (Fractors): Synthesis and Experiments

This paper presents the results of experiments related to analog fractional order PI control of a coupled tank system. A custom circuit board has been built to perform analog PID/FOPID control. Specialized circuit elements called ‘Fractors’ [1] are used to perform fractional order integration/differentiation of the error signals. The design of the board, subsequent experimentation and its comparison to similar digital control techniques have been presented. The benefits of purely analog control when dealing with non-linearities are also discussed. Further, methods of approximating a particular fractional order α* with any number of practically available orders α1 , α2 , ....αn has also been presented. The conclusion of this work examines the need for purely analog control as opposed to widespread digital methods and also lays down definite directions for future work

Using Small Capacity Fuel Cells Onboard Drones for Battery Cooling: An Experimental Study

Recently, quadrotor-based drones have attracted a lot of attention because of their versatility, which makes them an ideal medium for a variety of applications, e.g., personal photography, surveillance, and the delivery of lightweight packages. The flight duration of a drone is limited by its battery capacity. Increasing the payload capacity of a drone requires more current to be supplied by the battery onboard a drone. Elevated currents through a Li-ion battery can increase the battery temperature, thus posing a significant risk of fire or explosion. Li-ion batteries are suited for drone applications, due to their high energy density. There have been attempts to use hydrogen fuel cells onboard drones. Fuel cell stacks and fuel tank assemblies can have a high energy to weight ratio. So, they may be able to power long duration drone flights, but such fuel cell stacks and associated systems, are usually extremely expensive. Hence, this work proposes the novel use of a less expensive, low capacity, metal hydride fuel stick-powered fuel cell stack as an auxiliary power supply onboard a drone. A primary advantage of this is that the fuel sticks can be used to cool the batteries, and a side effect is that this slightly reduces the burden on the onboard Li-ion battery and provides a small increment in flight time. This work presents the results of an experimental study which shows the primary effect (i.e., decrease in battery temperature) and the secondary side effect (i.e., a small increment in flight time) obtained by using a fuel cell stack. In this work, a metal hydride fuel stick powered hydrogen fuel cell is used along with a Li-ion battery onboard a drone