Digital Control Systems Tuning with Using Continuous Synthesis Methods

The insertion of communication networks in closed-loop of digital control systems makes the system synthesis and analysis complex. In this paper, we consider the combination of classical reliability, risk and safety evaluation with typical control system through digital networked control systems. The main purpose is to study the influence of transmission delays and packet dropouts on the reliability of digital networked control systems by using a modified statistical method-Monte Carlo simulation. The behaviors of two types of fault are modelled by different statistical distribution. The control strategies we apply for digital control systems are Proportion Integration Differentiation control strategies, generated by Genetic Algorithm. In terms of a realistic system model, we evaluate and compare the influences on the reliability of digital networked control systems with different control strategies from quantitative aspect. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness and correctness of the approach.

Recently, the Plant Input Mapping (PIM) method was proposed as a digital-redesign (or an emulation) approach in digital control system design. This method guarantees stability of a redesigned digital control system for a wide range of sampling periods. In this paper the PIM method is applied to the design of a digital model-matching flight control system. In the model-matching control system design a plant must have no unstable zeros. However, unstable zeros appear for small sampling periods in a step invariance model of a continuous-time (CT) plant with the relative degree greater than two, even if the CT plant has no unstable zeros. Hence, in such a case, the direct-digital approach cannot be applied to the design of a digital model-matching control system. By contrast, the digital-redesign approach such as the Tustin's method or the PIM method is free from the problem. Simulation results for an unstable VTOL aircraft show that the proposed method gives better performance than the conventional design methods.

Real-time programming has always been one of the most challenging programming disciplines. Real-time programming requires comprehensive command of sequential programming, concurrency, and, of course, time. Real-time programming has many application domains. In this chapter, however, we structure our discussion around digital control systems for the following two reasons. Firstly, digital control systems represent a large portion of real-time software in a diverse set of industries. Examples include automotive power train control systems, aircraft flight control systems, electrical drive systems in paper mills, or process control systems in power plants and refineries. Many of these systems distribute their components over networks with significant communication delays. Therefore, we also discuss networked real-time programming (Section 7). The second reason is pedagogical. Digital control is defined by a set of abstractions that are real-time programmable and mathematically tractable in the context of the dynamics of physio-chemical processes. The abstractions clearly define what application engineers (control engineers) expect of real-time programming. These abstractions therefore constitute a precise definition of the real-time programming problem (Section 2). Control engineers design in difference equations and often use modeling tools such as Simulink to simulate and validate their control models. The part of Simulink most commonly used to specify digital control, i.e., discrete-time with the discrete fixed-step solver and mode:auto, is well-explained by the so-called synchronous semantics [7, 38]. The key abstraction, we call the synchronous abstraction, is that any computation and component interaction happens instantaneously in zero time or with a delay that is exactly the same at each invocation. For example, if a controller computes every 20 msec, either the controller is assumed to read its inputs, compute its control, and write the corresponding outputs instantaneously at the beginning of each period in zero time, or to read its inputs instantaneously at the beginning of the period, compute during the period, and write the corresponding output exactly 20 msec (one period) later. In control parlance, these are the causal and strictly causal cases, respectively. Systems of difference equations can directly be expressed and structured in this model. The inclusion of strictly causal components (components with delays of a period or more) is typically required to break feedback loops and to account for the unavoidable computation or communication delays that will be present in the real control system. Real-time programmers design in interrupt handlers, device drivers, and schedulers, which are concepts on levels of abstraction that are obviously unrelated to difference equations. The result is a conceptual and technical disconnect between control model and real-time code that bedevils many control building projects. The control engineer specifies a Simulink design the real-time programmer finds unimplementable. The realtime programmer then fills in gaps to produce an implementation the control engineer finds uncontrollable. The process of interaction as the two iterate to produce a correct design is prolonged by the different backgrounds of control engineers and real-time programmers. This gap explains many of today’s problems in real-time software design for digital control such as high validation and maintainance overhead as well as limited potential for reusability and scalability.

A digital closed-loop control system with all digital phase locked loop (ADPLL) is designed and optimized, in order to improve the bias stability and transient response of the gyroscope. The nonlinear mathematical models for the closed-loop amplitude and phase control system are established. The linearization method is applied to analyze the nonlinear models. The control parameters of the drive loop are optimized. The experimental results show that the phase deviation between the demodulation reference signal of the drive loop and the sense signal is less than 0.25° in the temperature range from-40°C to 60°C, within 0.15° of the variation. At room temperature, the overshoot amount of the gyroscope control system is 4.5% with setting time of 0.12s. The bias stability is 1.45°h. Compared to the analog control scheme, the digital control system has advantages of short setting time, small overshoot, short phase locked time, large locked range, high phase precision, etc.

Considering characteristics of nuclear power plant digital instrumentation and control system, challenges of reliability assessment of digital instrumentation and control system are pointed out. As for its dynamic behavior and multi-states failure mode, limitation of traditional methods, research status and applicability of dynamic flowgraph methodology and other advance dynamic reliability assessment approach were introduced and compered. It's concluded that Dynamic flowgraph methodology maybe the dominant one in future after simplify its model procedure and reduction computational cost of its deductive analysis.

Beginning with process controls in the mid fifties, digital control systems have seldom met all the claimed advantages and in many cases have been outright failures. Airborne digital computers have just begun to appear in the commercial jet transport market after several years of experimental and military development. The success of these systems in meeting user expectations has not been overwhelming, which leads to the question: Why change from known analog flight control technology to digital? This paper examines that question by reviewing the state of the art in analog flight control system technology and evaluating this against current airline problems. A realistic means of evaluating claimed advantages for new technology is thus established. The advertised solutions of digital technology to analog problems are examined and, in some cases, debunked. However, consideration of the real problems and the capabilities of digital systems leads to the conclusion that there is a real payoff. Evidence from background studies at Boeing is offered to support this conclusion. A description of the digital flight control system electronics (FCSE) development program for the new Boeing 7×7 airplane is also provided. This program is currently in progress, and its specific objective is to assure that the real payoff is achieved for the subsequent production system.

With the development of modern automatic control technology, digital control technology has advanced technology and inherent advantages compared with traditional analog control technology. Therefore, the use of digital instrument and control system has become an inevitable trend of global nuclear power construction. Nuclear power embedded real-time operating system is an important part of digital instrument and control system in nuclear power plant. It is responsible for managing the hardware resources of the whole system and providing operation environment for application software. Its safety directly affects the safety of instrument and control system. This paper studies the application of embedded information technology in the safety of nuclear power plant, and puts forward a safety related scheme of embedded information system. The scheme fully considers the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information in the digital instrument and control system of nuclear power plant. The application results show that the scheme can meet the information security requirements of nuclear power instrument and control system, and has reference and guiding significance for the research and development of nuclear power embedded real-time operating system.

The DC-DC converters at the Advanced Photo Source at Argonne National Laboratory are over 15 years old. An upgrade to digital control system is being evaluated to resolve the aging and obsolescence issues. These converters supply power to electromagnets that are used to guide high energy beams. Thus a highly accurate control system is required for the DC-DC converters. This paper describes the design and evaluation of a digital control system to regulate the output current. The digital control system is proposed to replace the current analog control system thereby resolving the aging and obsolescence issues. A digital controller is first designed based on the small signal model of the converter. Experimental data of the output current is analyzed. The complete control system is then simulated and results are evaluated.

This paper focus on the digital control system for bearingless permanent magnet rotor motors. The bearingless permanent magnet synchronous motor (BPMSM) is an innovational type of motor, as bearingless motors have all advantages of magnetic bearings, they play an important role in solving difficult problems of special electric drives in life science, chemical processing industry, semiconductor manufacturing industry, foodstuff processing industry, and so on. In the paper, based on the basic working principle of BPMSM, the mathematics models of the radial forces and rotation part on BPMSM are deduced by adopting rotor magnetic field oriented control (FOC) strategy. A digital vector control system according to the demand of decoupling is designed and presented using DSP technique. An experimental platform of digital control system is developed to meet the need, The experiment results have shown that the steady suspension of the rotor is realized and the speed of the rotor can be continuously adjusted within the range of 0-3000 r/min.

Chapter 9 - Open-Loop Control for Digital Power Electronics

A digital control system has been developed to control the frequency of an alternator operating at variable speeds. The power line frequency or a crystal controlled oscillator can be used as the reference frequency. The alternator output has a ±0.2 percent tolerance to the reference signal after the frequency control system was added. The frequency control of the alternator was accomplished by switching windings in the alternator field. The method is applicable to wind-powered alternators where the speed is variable and a constant 60 Hz output is desired.

A novel approach for software reliability analysis of digital instrumentation and control systems in nuclear power plants

A frame-based technique, including physical frame, logical frame, and cognitive frame, was adopted to perform digital I&C failure events derivation and analysis for generic ABWR. The physical frame was structured with a modified PCTran-ABWR plant simulation code, which was extended and enhanced on the feedwater system, recirculation system, and steam line system. The logical model is structured with MATLAB, which was incorporated into PCTran-ABWR to improve the pressure control system, feedwater control system, recirculation control system, and automated power regulation control system. As a result, the software failure of these digital control systems can be properly simulated and analyzed. The cognitive frame was simulated by the operator awareness status in the scenarios. Moreover, via an internal characteristics tuning technique, the modified PCTran-ABWR can precisely reflect the characteristics of the power-core flow. Hence, in addition to the transient plots, the analysis results can then be demonstrated on the power-core flow map. A number of postulated I&C system software failure events were derived to achieve the dynamic analyses. The basis for event derivation includes the published classification for software anomalies, the digital I&C design data for ABWR, chapter 15 accident analysis of generic SAR, and the reported NPP I&C software failure events. The case study of this research includes (1) the software CMF analysis for the major digital control systems; and (2) postulated ABWR digital I&C software failure events derivation from the actual happening of non-ABWR digital I&C software failure events, which were reported to LER of USNRC or IRS of IAEA. These events were analyzed by PCTran-ABWR. Conflicts among plant status, computer status, and human cognitive status are successfully identified. The operator might not easily recognize the abnormal condition, because the computer status seems to progress normally. However, a well trained operator can become aware of the abnormal condition with the inconsistent physical parameters; and then can take early corrective actions to avoid the system hazard. This paper also discusses the advantage of Simulation-based method, which can investigate more in-depth dynamic behavior of digital I&C system than other approaches. Some unanticipated interactions can be observed by this method.

A digital control system is probably the best technical solution to the problem of automatic control of the Virgo interferometric antenna for gravitational wave detection, provided that very critical specifications concerning residual noise introduced by the digital system in the measurement band are met. For this purpose, a model of the digital system has been developed and tested to quantify the main sources and levels of noise. Experimental measurements, obtained using a prototype of the automatic control system, and theoretical analysis of the performances of the digital control loops have demonstrated the feasibility of a digital control system.

DC-DC converters are used at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory to power electromagnets. The electromagnets guide the photon beams, therefore the control system of the DC-DC converters should be highly accurate to provide minimum spatial spread of the beam. Currently the converters have all been regulated by analog control systems. An upgrade to digital control system is being evaluated to resolve the aging and obsolescence issues. This paper describes the design and evaluation of a digital control system to regulate the output current and reduce noise coupled in the system. A digital controller is first designed based on the small signal model of the converter. Experimental data of the output current is analyzed. Digital filters are then designed to reduce the noise in the output current. The complete control system is then simulated and results are evaluated. Wide Band Gap (WBG) power devices enable the development of smaller and more durable power converters with higher performance and less power consumptions than traditional silicon devices. Performance of the digital controlled DC-DC converters using WBG power switching devices including silicon carbide (SiC) power MOSFETs and gallium nitride (GaN) power transistorswill be evaluated, in comparison with the converters using traditional silicon power switching devices.