A distributive approach for position control of clamps in a reconfigurable assembly fixture: .

Abstract

International audienceHydraulic actuator is a type of clamp used in a reconfigurable assembly fixture for exact positioning and effective immobilisation of workpiece during the assembly process. However, due to their nonlinearity, there is a need to design a control system for their effective performance. This study presents a distributive approach to mathematical modelling and position control of multiple hydraulic actuators used as a clamping system in a reconfigurable assembly fixture. The electrohydraulic system is verified experimentally in order to observe the synchronisation of the hydraulic actuators. The mathematical model of the system is developed in the Simulink environment. A Simulink model of the system is developed from the mathematical model and simulated with a fuzzy-PID controller in order to obtain the response of all the actuators and other operating characteristics of the system. Simulation results are shown graphically in order to verify the theoretical development