Active control vibration of circular and rectangular plate with Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT) Method

The load frequency control (LFC) problem has been one of the major subjects in electric power system design and operation. LFC is becoming much more significant today in accordance with increasing size, changing structure and complexity in interconnected power systems. Practice LFC systems use simple proportional-integral (PI) controllers, but parameters of PI controllers are usually tuned based on the trial-and-error approaches and they are incapable to obtain good dynamic performance under a wide range of operating conditions. For this problem, in this paper quantitative feedback theory (QFT) method is used for LFC problem. A multi-area electric power system with a wide range of parametric uncertainties is given to illustrate proposed method. To show effectiveness of proposed method, a classical PI type controller optimized by genetic algorithms (GA) is designed to compare with QFT controller. The simulation results visibly show the validity of QFT method in comparison with traditional method. Key words: Multi-area electric power system, electric power system load frequency control, robust control, quantitative feedback theory method.

One of the most critical problems in all practical systems is the presence of uncertainties, internal and external disturbances, as well as disturbing noise, which makes the control of the system a challenging task. Another challenge with the physical systems is the possibility of cyber-attacks that the system’s cyber security against them is a critical issue. The systems related to oil and gas industries may also be subjected to cyber-attacks. The subsets of these industries can be mentioned to the oil and gas transmission industry, where ships have a critical role. This paper uses the Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT) method to design a robust controller for the ship course system, aiming towards desired trajectory tracking. The proposed controller is robust against all uncertainties, internal and external disturbances, noise, and various possible Deception, Stealth, and Denial-of-Service (DOS) attacks. The robust controller for the ship system is designed using the QFT method and the QFTCT toolbox in MATLAB software. Numerical simulations are performed in MATLAB/Simulink for two case studies with disturbances and attacks involving intermittent sinusoidal and random behavior to demonstrate the proposed controller.

This paper presents the design of a robust proportional integral and derivative (PID) controller for a first-order lag with pure delay (FOLPD) model using particle swarm optimization (PSO)-enabled automated quantitative feedback theory (QFT). The plant model considered here can be approximated as a first-order system with a non-minimum phase (NMP) zero. Synthesis of controller for the FOLPD model via manual graphical technique involved in the QFT method is always a challenging and cumbersome task, because an NMP system stabilizes by a small gain. In this paper, a proposal is being presented to automate the loop-shaping phase in the QFT design method to synthesize a robust controller that can undertake the exact amount of plant uncertainty even in the presence of larger uncertainties than those assumed initially and can ensure a proper trade-off between robust stability and tracking performance specifications over the entire range of design frequencies. In this paper,s the PSO technique has been employed to tune the controller automatically,which can significantly reduce the computational effort compared with manual graphical techniques. It has also been demonstrated that this methodology not only automates loop shaping but also improves design quality and, most usefully, improves performance with optimally tuned PID controller in quantitative manner.

Performance robustness has been an important issue in control and it has been increasingly recognised as an area of significance in many design applications. This issue has particular importance among the engineering community because it offers a solution to control system design problems for plant and processes that cannot be described by a single linear time-invariant model. The aim of this paper is to describe one of the methods available for robust control system design called Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT) and discuss its application to engineering problems. QFT is a powerful design technique based on multi degree-of-freedom use of feedback. The basic building block of a multi-degree-of-freedom system is a two-degree-of-freedom system in which two controllers are present, one inside the feedback loop, used to reduce closed-loop uncertainty, and the other prior to the loop, used to shape the input in order to achieve the required output. To show the power of the method, the application to an aero engine described by a non-linear model, linearised at five operating conditions, is discussed. A comparison of the QFT method is also made with the H-infinity method. It is shown that the H-infinity formulation of the QFT problem can produce a more conservative solution than the QFT method.

An online delay estimation algorithm is adopted for the adaptive Smith predictor in the networked control systems (NCS) design under the significant delay time. However, the Smith predictor is sensitive to parameter uncertainties within the system model and time delay. The quantitative feedback theory (QFT) controller is suitable to cope with parameter uncertainties of the Smith predictor in this paper; moreover, a template expressed in phase and gain for the QFT design has been constructed by considering the bounded variations with the time delay and the external loading. Therefore, the adaptive Smith predictor control scheme with QFT controller provides better tolerance to parameter uncertainties. Both simulation and experimental results on AC servo motor with both the hybrid controller area network (CAN) bus and the Ethernet network have proven the feasibility and improved performance of the proposed NCS.

Chapter 4 - Vibration of Plates

On quantitative feedback design for robust position control of hydraulic actuators

CHAPTER 5 - Vibrations of Plates and Shells

We propose a simple optimisation algorithm for designing fixed-structure controllers for highly-uncertain plants. The method can be used to automate the loop-shaping step of the quantitative feedback theory (QFT) design procedure and guarantees robust stability and performance to the feedback loop for all parameters in the plant's uncertainty set. To avoid over-designing the system, the algorithm can be used to minimise either the asymptotic gain or the cross-over frequency of the open-loop system. Some preliminary results of this work have appeared in Zolotas et al. (1999).

This paper proposes a robust controller for semi-active suspension system with actuator dynamics using the quantitative feedback theory. It solves the vehicle vibration attenuation problem using the novel cascade approach. The proposed cascade quantitative feedback theory control approach consists of the inner and outer loop. The damping force tracking of the magneto-rheological damper is chosen as the inner loop, while the outer loop is for the vibration attenuation. The inner loop is added to the control structure to enhance damping force tracking capabilities. The damping force of the magneto-rheological damper depends on the many factors, such as the complex and nonlinear (hysteresis) dynamics and operating temperature. The actuator (magneto-rheological damper) dynamics is well approximated by a first-order model with an uncertain time constant which captures the essential dynamics. The simulation case study is conducted on a realistic quarter car suspension system to show the effectiveness of the proposed cascade control method. The proposed method is found to deliver superior performances, in terms of ride comfort and road holding, over the skyhook, [Formula: see text] control, and single-loop quantitative feedback theory control under the bump, sine, and random road disturbances.

Loop shaping is the principle step for synthesising the quantitative feedback theory (QFT) based robust controllers. The controller assures performance robustness in the presence of plant uncertainties. This paper explores a template and bounds free approach for the automated synthesis of low order fixed structure QFT controller for a highly uncertain pneumatic servo actuator system. In this work, the loop-shaping problem has been posed as a multi-objective optimisation problem and solved using the multi-objective variant of the genetic algorithm. At the end of the design process, a set of Pareto optimal solutions (POS) are obtained, to aid the decision maker in choosing an ideal solution from the POS, use of level diagrams has been explored. The simulation of the results and time and frequency domain analysis has been carried out using MATLAB and the results obtained clearly unveil that the designed QFT controller offers robust behaviour over a range of plant's parametric uncertainty.

In the present paper, a non-diagonal multi-input multi-output (MIMO) Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT) controller design methodology is applied to control the lateral and yaw motions of a car equipped with four-wheel steering. The overall objective is to track the sideslip angle and yaw-rate with the aim of achieving satisfactory performance specifications for the vehicle lateral dynamics, regarding the rejection of external disturbances on yaw rate and sideslip angle, minimizing the interaction as much as possible and taking into account the model uncertainty.

This paper utilizes the quantitative feedback theory (QFT) to design a robust controller for adaptive cutting feedrate control. The proposed algorithm could dynamically change the feedrate according to the spindle current which is highly related to the measured cutting force. The QFT controller could provide the constant cutting force even under different cutting condition. Hence, the machining efficiency could be improved under the robust control. Numerical simulations are conducted to validate the performance of the proposed robust cutting feedrate control algorithm (RFC).

Automated synthesis of multivariable QFT controller using interval constraint satisfaction technique

Automated Synthesis of Fixed Structure QFT Controller using Interval Constraint Satisfaction Techniques