Control of Mechatronic Systems. Patrick O. J. Kaltjob

      Preface

The control of mechatronic systems and electrical-driven processes aims to provide tools to ensure their operating performance in terms of productivity, optimization, reliability, safety, continuous operations and even stability. This is usually achieved through hybrid control paradigms using digital or analog tools. Nowadays, digital tools are widely considered to implement control systems as they offer numerous advantages including their ability: (i) to ease the control system implementation; (ii) to design complex and built-in intelligent information processing combining multiple functions for control, fault detection and diagnostic, monitoring and planning decisions; (iii) to integrate logic and continuous control algorithms as well as supervision programs into hybrid control strategies; (iv) to enhance the synchronization of input and output process operations; (v) to coordinate control actions among geographically distributed systems and processes and (iv) to achieve reliable and optimal operating conditions.

      The digital control system architecture usually consists of the integration of the following functional units: a data processing and computing unit, an electrical-driven actuating unit, a measuring and detecting unit, a data acquisition (DAQ) and transmitting unit and a signal conditioning unit. The data processing and computing unit can be implemented through devices such as microcontroller (μC), programmable logic controller (PLC) with a control function, digital signal processing (DSP)a and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).

      The design of efficient control systems requires the mathematical modeling of mechatronic systems and process dynamics. This can be achieved in accordance with the operating characteristics (discrete and continuous) and objectives as well as technological constraints of the related instrumentation (signal conversion, transmission, conditioning, measurement, actuation etc.). However, in most of the current engineering literature on the design of digital control systems, the mathematical foundation of discrete time and discrete event systems is usually presented separately from the technological constraints of control instrumentation. For example, the operating time delay models or signal to noise ratio from digital device interfaces are not usually considered. Hence, the theoretical control algorithms proposed have limited practical applicability.

      Challenges in the development of a practical design approach for the control of mechatronic systems and electrical-driven processes are: (i) to size and select control instrumentation in accordance with controlled system design objectives; (ii) to develop accordingly the mathematical discrete hybrid model capturing their continuous and discrete event behavioristic characteristics and (iii) to integrate the control systems with respect to technological constraints and operational characterization (discrete and continuous) (e.g. time delays, signal to noise ratios etc.).

      This book intends to revisit the design concept for the control of mechatronic systems and electrical-driven processes along with the selection of control instrumentation. By reviewing the theory on discrete-time and discrete event systems as well as various elements of control instrumentation, it offers an integrated approach for: (i) the modeling and the analysis of mechatronic systems dynamics and electrical-driven process operations; (ii) the selection of actuating, sensing and conversion devices and (iii) the design of various controllers for single to multiple function electrical-driven products (mechatronic systems) and processes. Furthermore, it covers some design applications from several engineering disciplines (mechanical, manufacturing, chemical, electrical, computer, biomedical) through real-life digital control system design problems (e.g. a driverless vehicle, newborn incubator, elevator motion) and industrial process control case studies (e.g. a power grid, wind generator, crude oil distillation, brewery bottle filling, beer fermentation).

      Through this book, the reader should gain methods for: (i) model formulation, analysis and auditing of single to multiple function electrical-driven products and processes; (ii) model-driven design of software and hardware required for digital control instrumentation; (iii) sizing and selection of electrical-driven actuating systems (including electric motors) along with their commonly used electro-transmission elements and binary actuators; (iv) selection and calibration of devices for process variable measurement and computer interfaces and (v) modeling, operating and integrating a wide variety of sensors and actuators. Hence, the textbook is organized into eight chapters.