Thesis (M.E.) - Dept. of Electrical Engineering, University of Adelaide, 1979. / Typescript (photocopy).

This work represents the research project to obtain the degree of Master of Sciences in Electrical Engineering, specializing in Systems Engineering, at the Escola Politécnica of the Universidade de São Paulo, in São Paulo, Brazil. The main objective of the project is to design the mirror nanopositioning controller of the state-of-the-art Fabry-Pérot interferometer to be installed in the Brazilian Tunable Filter Imager (BTFI) on the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope in Chile. A three-input-three-output multivariable prototype of the Fabry-Pérot system is comprised of three high-range Amplified Piezoelectric Actuators (APA) of 360 m stroke and three 400 m range capacitive measurement systems. A characterization of the instrumentation of the system, which consists of capacitive sensors and capacitance-to-voltage converters, piezoelectric actuators, power drivers of the piezoelectric actuators and data acquisition system was done as part of the identification and study of the system. With the characterization of the system, a sixth-order complete system model was built on top of a second-order piezoelectric actuator parametric model, required for the design of the controllers. Subsequently, the scientific specifications were translated to a control problem and the design of a robust controller was made following the Linear Quadratic Gaussian/Loop Transfer Recovery (LQG/LTR) method. Also a Proportional-Integral controller tuned using a genetic algorithm was designed to be used as benchmark. Finally the built controllers were validated in the real system. Results show that both controllers achieve the performance requirements of following reference signals and having null steady-state error. However, the robust controller is by far the best suited for the Fabry- Pérot instrument in terms of performance and stability because of its higher bandwidth and robustness to modeling errors. / Este trabalho apresenta o projeto de pesquisa para obtenção do título de Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica, área de concentração de engenharia de sistemas, da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo. O objetivo principal deste projeto foi desenvolver um controlador de nanoposicionamento para o interferômetro de Fabry-Pérot que será instalado no instrumento BTFI (Brazilian Tunable Filter Imager), no telescópio SOAR (Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope), no Chile. O interferômetro de Fabry-Pérot é um sistema multivariável de três entradas e três saídas composto por três atuadores piezoelétricos de 370 m de deslocamento, e três sistemas capacitivos de medida de distância de 400 m de faixa de medição. A caracterização da instrumentação do sistema, que consiste em sensores capacitivos, conversores de capacitância para tensão, atuadores piezoelétricos, drivers de potência para os atuadores piezoelétricos e sistemas de aquisição de dados, fez parte do estudo e da identificação do sistema. Após a caracterização da instrumentação, foi desenvolvido um modelo físico de sexta ordem para o sistema completo, partindo do modelo de segunda ordem dos atuadores piezoelétricos. Este modelo é necessário para o projeto dos controladores. Subsequentemente, as especificações científicas foram traduzidas em um problema de controle e o projeto do controlador robusto foi feito seguindo a técnica LQG/LTR (Linear Quadratic Gaussian/Loop Transfer Recovery). Um controlador Proporcional-Integral (PI) também foi desenvolvido e sintonizado usando um algoritmo genético, para funcionar como ponto de comparação. Finalmente, os controladores desenvolvidos foram validados no sistema real. Com os resultados concluiu-se que ambos controladores atingiram as especificações de desempenho no que diz respeito a seguir sinais de referência com erro nulo no estado estacionário. Pôde-se concluir ainda que o controlador robusto mostrou-se mais adaptado ao instrumento Fabry- Pérot em termos de desempenho e estabilidade, pois, comparado ao PI, é um controlador com maior largura de banda e robustez aos erros de modelamento.

This work represents the research project to obtain the degree of Master of Sciences in Electrical Engineering, specializing in Systems Engineering, at the Escola Politécnica of the Universidade de São Paulo, in São Paulo, Brazil. The main objective of the project is to design the mirror nanopositioning controller of the state-of-the-art Fabry-Pérot interferometer to be installed in the Brazilian Tunable Filter Imager (BTFI) on the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope in Chile. A three-input-three-output multivariable prototype of the Fabry-Pérot system is comprised of three high-range Amplified Piezoelectric Actuators (APA) of 360 m stroke and three 400 m range capacitive measurement systems. A characterization of the instrumentation of the system, which consists of capacitive sensors and capacitance-to-voltage converters, piezoelectric actuators, power drivers of the piezoelectric actuators and data acquisition system was done as part of the identification and study of the system. With the characterization of the system, a sixth-order complete system model was built on top of a second-order piezoelectric actuator parametric model, required for the design of the controllers. Subsequently, the scientific specifications were translated to a control problem and the design of a robust controller was made following the Linear Quadratic Gaussian/Loop Transfer Recovery (LQG/LTR) method. Also a Proportional-Integral controller tuned using a genetic algorithm was designed to be used as benchmark. Finally the built controllers were validated in the real system. Results show that both controllers achieve the performance requirements of following reference signals and having null steady-state error. However, the robust controller is by far the best suited for the Fabry- Pérot instrument in terms of performance and stability because of its higher bandwidth and robustness to modeling errors. / Este trabalho apresenta o projeto de pesquisa para obtenção do título de Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica, área de concentração de engenharia de sistemas, da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo. O objetivo principal deste projeto foi desenvolver um controlador de nanoposicionamento para o interferômetro de Fabry-Pérot que será instalado no instrumento BTFI (Brazilian Tunable Filter Imager), no telescópio SOAR (Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope), no Chile. O interferômetro de Fabry-Pérot é um sistema multivariável de três entradas e três saídas composto por três atuadores piezoelétricos de 370 m de deslocamento, e três sistemas capacitivos de medida de distância de 400 m de faixa de medição. A caracterização da instrumentação do sistema, que consiste em sensores capacitivos, conversores de capacitância para tensão, atuadores piezoelétricos, drivers de potência para os atuadores piezoelétricos e sistemas de aquisição de dados, fez parte do estudo e da identificação do sistema. Após a caracterização da instrumentação, foi desenvolvido um modelo físico de sexta ordem para o sistema completo, partindo do modelo de segunda ordem dos atuadores piezoelétricos. Este modelo é necessário para o projeto dos controladores. Subsequentemente, as especificações científicas foram traduzidas em um problema de controle e o projeto do controlador robusto foi feito seguindo a técnica LQG/LTR (Linear Quadratic Gaussian/Loop Transfer Recovery). Um controlador Proporcional-Integral (PI) também foi desenvolvido e sintonizado usando um algoritmo genético, para funcionar como ponto de comparação. Finalmente, os controladores desenvolvidos foram validados no sistema real. Com os resultados concluiu-se que ambos controladores atingiram as especificações de desempenho no que diz respeito a seguir sinais de referência com erro nulo no estado estacionário. Pôde-se concluir ainda que o controlador robusto mostrou-se mais adaptado ao instrumento Fabry- Pérot em termos de desempenho e estabilidade, pois, comparado ao PI, é um controlador com maior largura de banda e robustez aos erros de modelamento.

Concurrent engineering is an imperative concept in the world of product development. With the globalisation of industry, the market has been demanding higher quality products at lower costs, delivered at faster pace. With most companies today accepting the concurrent engineering approach as a formula for product development success, this approach is becoming ever more popular and dominating over the slower sequential product development method. Fast changes in technology, forced design cycle time reduction, emergence of new information technology and methodologies, as well as other aspects such as organisational and behavioural basis caused the sequential design process to progress into a concurrent engineering approach. The basic concept behind the concurrent engineering approach is that all parts of the design, manufacture, production, management, finance, and marketing of the product are usually involved in the early stages of a product’s design cycle, enabling faster product development through extensive use of simulation. Its key approach is to get the right data for the right person at the right time. There are forces that govern changes in the product development, and these forces must be steered towards prompt response to competition and higher productivity in order for companies to exist and successfully expand in the global market place. Concurrent engineering is made up of four key dimensions, one of them the communication infrastructure dimension, which is the focus of this study. This study defines the information infrastructure dimension, and some of the tools and technologies that support communication and collaboration. It then discusses how to employ the concurrent engineering approach from a communication infrastructure dimension point of view, starting with assessing the current product development process and eventually envisioning the path to take to a successful concurrent engineering environment. Communication infrastructure technologies and tools can be seen as central to a company’s implementation of concurrent engineering, as shown in the case studies covered in this work.

Concurrent engineering is an imperative concept in the world of product development. With the globalisation of industry, the market has been demanding higher quality products at lower costs, delivered at faster pace. With most companies today accepting the concurrent engineering approach as a formula for product development success, this approach is becoming ever more popular and dominating over the slower sequential product development method. Fast changes in technology, forced design cycle time reduction, emergence of new information technology and methodologies, as well as other aspects such as organisational and behavioural basis caused the sequential design process to progress into a concurrent engineering approach. The basic concept behind the concurrent engineering approach is that all parts of the design, manufacture, production, management, finance, and marketing of the product are usually involved in the early stages of a product’s design cycle, enabling faster product development through extensive use of simulation. Its key approach is to get the right data for the right person at the right time. There are forces that govern changes in the product development, and these forces must be steered towards prompt response to competition and higher productivity in order for companies to exist and successfully expand in the global market place. Concurrent engineering is made up of four key dimensions, one of them the communication infrastructure dimension, which is the focus of this study. This study defines the information infrastructure dimension, and some of the tools and technologies that support communication and collaboration. It then discusses how to employ the concurrent engineering approach from a communication infrastructure dimension point of view, starting with assessing the current product development process and eventually envisioning the path to take to a successful concurrent engineering environment. Communication infrastructure technologies and tools can be seen as central to a company’s implementation of concurrent engineering, as shown in the case studies covered in this work.

Concurrent engineering is an imperative concept in the world of product development. With the globalisation of industry, the market has been demanding higher quality products at lower costs, delivered at faster pace. With most companies today accepting the concurrent engineering approach as a formula for product development success, this approach is becoming ever more popular and dominating over the slower sequential product development method. Fast changes in technology, forced design cycle time reduction, emergence of new information technology and methodologies, as well as other aspects such as organisational and behavioural basis caused the sequential design process to progress into a concurrent engineering approach. The basic concept behind the concurrent engineering approach is that all parts of the design, manufacture, production, management, finance, and marketing of the product are usually involved in the early stages of a product’s design cycle, enabling faster product development through extensive use of simulation. Its key approach is to get the right data for the right person at the right time. There are forces that govern changes in the product development, and these forces must be steered towards prompt response to competition and higher productivity in order for companies to exist and successfully expand in the global market place. Concurrent engineering is made up of four key dimensions, one of them the communication infrastructure dimension, which is the focus of this study. This study defines the information infrastructure dimension, and some of the tools and technologies that support communication and collaboration. It then discusses how to employ the concurrent engineering approach from a communication infrastructure dimension point of view, starting with assessing the current product development process and eventually envisioning the path to take to a successful concurrent engineering environment. Communication infrastructure technologies and tools can be seen as central to a company’s implementation of concurrent engineering, as shown in the case studies covered in this work.

Concurrent engineering is an imperative concept in the world of product development. With the globalisation of industry, the market has been demanding higher quality products at lower costs, delivered at faster pace. With most companies today accepting the concurrent engineering approach as a formula for product development success, this approach is becoming ever more popular and dominating over the slower sequential product development method. Fast changes in technology, forced design cycle time reduction, emergence of new information technology and methodologies, as well as other aspects such as organisational and behavioural basis caused the sequential design process to progress into a concurrent engineering approach. The basic concept behind the concurrent engineering approach is that all parts of the design, manufacture, production, management, finance, and marketing of the product are usually involved in the early stages of a product’s design cycle, enabling faster product development through extensive use of simulation. Its key approach is to get the right data for the right person at the right time. There are forces that govern changes in the product development, and these forces must be steered towards prompt response to competition and higher productivity in order for companies to exist and successfully expand in the global market place. Concurrent engineering is made up of four key dimensions, one of them the communication infrastructure dimension, which is the focus of this study. This study defines the information infrastructure dimension, and some of the tools and technologies that support communication and collaboration. It then discusses how to employ the concurrent engineering approach from a communication infrastructure dimension point of view, starting with assessing the current product development process and eventually envisioning the path to take to a successful concurrent engineering environment. Communication infrastructure technologies and tools can be seen as central to a company’s implementation of concurrent engineering, as shown in the case studies covered in this work.

Concurrent engineering is an imperative concept in the world of product development. With the globalisation of industry, the market has been demanding higher quality products at lower costs, delivered at faster pace. With most companies today accepting the concurrent engineering approach as a formula for product development success, this approach is becoming ever more popular and dominating over the slower sequential product development method. Fast changes in technology, forced design cycle time reduction, emergence of new information technology and methodologies, as well as other aspects such as organisational and behavioural basis caused the sequential design process to progress into a concurrent engineering approach. The basic concept behind the concurrent engineering approach is that all parts of the design, manufacture, production, management, finance, and marketing of the product are usually involved in the early stages of a product’s design cycle, enabling faster product development through extensive use of simulation. Its key approach is to get the right data for the right person at the right time. There are forces that govern changes in the product development, and these forces must be steered towards prompt response to competition and higher productivity in order for companies to exist and successfully expand in the global market place. Concurrent engineering is made up of four key dimensions, one of them the communication infrastructure dimension, which is the focus of this study. This study defines the information infrastructure dimension, and some of the tools and technologies that support communication and collaboration. It then discusses how to employ the concurrent engineering approach from a communication infrastructure dimension point of view, starting with assessing the current product development process and eventually envisioning the path to take to a successful concurrent engineering environment. Communication infrastructure technologies and tools can be seen as central to a company’s implementation of concurrent engineering, as shown in the case studies covered in this work.

Concurrent engineering is an imperative concept in the world of product development. With the globalisation of industry, the market has been demanding higher quality products at lower costs, delivered at faster pace. With most companies today accepting the concurrent engineering approach as a formula for product development success, this approach is becoming ever more popular and dominating over the slower sequential product development method. Fast changes in technology, forced design cycle time reduction, emergence of new information technology and methodologies, as well as other aspects such as organisational and behavioural basis caused the sequential design process to progress into a concurrent engineering approach. The basic concept behind the concurrent engineering approach is that all parts of the design, manufacture, production, management, finance, and marketing of the product are usually involved in the early stages of a product’s design cycle, enabling faster product development through extensive use of simulation. Its key approach is to get the right data for the right person at the right time. There are forces that govern changes in the product development, and these forces must be steered towards prompt response to competition and higher productivity in order for companies to exist and successfully expand in the global market place. Concurrent engineering is made up of four key dimensions, one of them the communication infrastructure dimension, which is the focus of this study. This study defines the information infrastructure dimension, and some of the tools and technologies that support communication and collaboration. It then discusses how to employ the concurrent engineering approach from a communication infrastructure dimension point of view, starting with assessing the current product development process and eventually envisioning the path to take to a successful concurrent engineering environment. Communication infrastructure technologies and tools can be seen as central to a company’s implementation of concurrent engineering, as shown in the case studies covered in this work.

Concurrent engineering is an imperative concept in the world of product development. With the globalisation of industry, the market has been demanding higher quality products at lower costs, delivered at faster pace. With most companies today accepting the concurrent engineering approach as a formula for product development success, this approach is becoming ever more popular and dominating over the slower sequential product development method. Fast changes in technology, forced design cycle time reduction, emergence of new information technology and methodologies, as well as other aspects such as organisational and behavioural basis caused the sequential design process to progress into a concurrent engineering approach. The basic concept behind the concurrent engineering approach is that all parts of the design, manufacture, production, management, finance, and marketing of the product are usually involved in the early stages of a product’s design cycle, enabling faster product development through extensive use of simulation. Its key approach is to get the right data for the right person at the right time. There are forces that govern changes in the product development, and these forces must be steered towards prompt response to competition and higher productivity in order for companies to exist and successfully expand in the global market place. Concurrent engineering is made up of four key dimensions, one of them the communication infrastructure dimension, which is the focus of this study. This study defines the information infrastructure dimension, and some of the tools and technologies that support communication and collaboration. It then discusses how to employ the concurrent engineering approach from a communication infrastructure dimension point of view, starting with assessing the current product development process and eventually envisioning the path to take to a successful concurrent engineering environment. Communication infrastructure technologies and tools can be seen as central to a company’s implementation of concurrent engineering, as shown in the case studies covered in this work.