<p>In this master thesis, control algoritms using arm side sensors are investigated for an industrial robot. The sensors can be position encoders placed after the gearbox and accelerometers on the robot arms. Control strategies are discussed and evaluated for different models of the robot, after which chosen strategies are applied to a realistic model. </p><p>Control algoritms using arm side sensors (LQ, dual-loop and PD-PID) are compared to a PID-controller that only uses measurements of motor position for feedback control. The comparison are done with respect to disturbance rejection, oscillation damping, robustness and tracking performance of a reference trajectory. </p><p>Results from tests with the realistic robot modell shows that disturbance rejection was improved a factor 2 to 5 while tracking performance was improved a factor 4 to 5 according to maximum deviation from the reference path. At the same time good re-sults are achieved regarding oscillation damping and robustness.</p>

In this master thesis, control algoritms using arm side sensors are investigated for an industrial robot. The sensors can be position encoders placed after the gearbox and accelerometers on the robot arms. Control strategies are discussed and evaluated for different models of the robot, after which chosen strategies are applied to a realistic model. Control algoritms using arm side sensors (LQ, dual-loop and PD-PID) are compared to a PID-controller that only uses measurements of motor position for feedback control. The comparison are done with respect to disturbance rejection, oscillation damping, robustness and tracking performance of a reference trajectory. Results from tests with the realistic robot modell shows that disturbance rejection was improved a factor 2 to 5 while tracking performance was improved a factor 4 to 5 according to maximum deviation from the reference path. At the same time good re-sults are achieved regarding oscillation damping and robustness.

Gun and gun turret systems are the primary units of the weapon systems of an aircraft. They are required to hit targets accurately during operations. That is why a complete, high precision control of weapon systems is required. This function is provided by accurate modeling of the system and the design of a suitable controller. This study presents the modeling of and controller design for the gun and turret system for an aircraft. For the controller design purpose, first the mathematical model of the system is constructed. Then the controller is designed to position the turret system as the target comes into sight. The reference input to the controller will either be obtained from a FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) unit or from a HCU (Hand Control Unit). The basic specification for the controller is to hold theerror signal within the 5.5&deg / positioning envelope. This specification is satisfied by designing Linear Quadratic Gaussian and Internal Model Control type controllers. The performance of the overall system has been examined both by simulation studies and on the real physical system. Results have shown that the designed system is well over being sufficient.

<p>Arbetet har utförts på Saab Bofors Dynamics i Karlskoga och dess syfte var att undersöka om det är möjligt att använda modellbaserad prediktionsreglering, MPC, vid slutfasstyrning av en viss typ av robot. Som referensram används linjärkvadratisk reglering, LQ, eftersom denna reglermetod har undersökts tidigare och visat sig fungera bra vid slutfasstyrning, dock för en annan typ av robot. Anledningen till att man vill undersöka om det är möjligt att använda MPC är att styrlagen enkelt tar hand om begränsningar på systemet på ett direkt och intuitivt sätt.</p><p>Styrlagarnas uppgift är att styra en robot i dess slutfas då det finns krav och önskemål på roboten som bör vara uppfyllda. Till exempel finns det begränsningar på styrsignalen samt önskemål om att träff ska ske i en viss träffpunkt och även med en viss träffvinkel. För att utvärdera resultaten undersöks och jämförs de två styrlagarnas prestanda och robusthet.</p><p>För att kunna utvärdera styrlagarnas egenskaper och jämföra dem implementeras de båda i en befintlig detaljerad simuleringsmiljö, som har utvecklats på Saab Bofors Dynamics i Karlskoga.</p><p>De prestanda och robusthetstester som har utförts uppvisar små skillnader på de två styrlagarna och slutsatsen blir därmed att det är möjligt att använda modellbaserad prediktionsreglering vid slutfasstyrning av en viss typ av robot eftersom det sedan tidigare är känt att linjärkvadratisk reglering är en bra styrlag att använda. För att se vilken av de två styrlagarna som är bäst vid slutfasstyrning av en viss typ av robot behöver det göras vissa ändringar och mer detaljerade undersökningar utföras.</p>

Arbetet har utförts på Saab Bofors Dynamics i Karlskoga och dess syfte var att undersöka om det är möjligt att använda modellbaserad prediktionsreglering, MPC, vid slutfasstyrning av en viss typ av robot. Som referensram används linjärkvadratisk reglering, LQ, eftersom denna reglermetod har undersökts tidigare och visat sig fungera bra vid slutfasstyrning, dock för en annan typ av robot. Anledningen till att man vill undersöka om det är möjligt att använda MPC är att styrlagen enkelt tar hand om begränsningar på systemet på ett direkt och intuitivt sätt. Styrlagarnas uppgift är att styra en robot i dess slutfas då det finns krav och önskemål på roboten som bör vara uppfyllda. Till exempel finns det begränsningar på styrsignalen samt önskemål om att träff ska ske i en viss träffpunkt och även med en viss träffvinkel. För att utvärdera resultaten undersöks och jämförs de två styrlagarnas prestanda och robusthet. För att kunna utvärdera styrlagarnas egenskaper och jämföra dem implementeras de båda i en befintlig detaljerad simuleringsmiljö, som har utvecklats på Saab Bofors Dynamics i Karlskoga. De prestanda och robusthetstester som har utförts uppvisar små skillnader på de två styrlagarna och slutsatsen blir därmed att det är möjligt att använda modellbaserad prediktionsreglering vid slutfasstyrning av en viss typ av robot eftersom det sedan tidigare är känt att linjärkvadratisk reglering är en bra styrlag att använda. För att se vilken av de två styrlagarna som är bäst vid slutfasstyrning av en viss typ av robot behöver det göras vissa ändringar och mer detaljerade undersökningar utföras.

Modern industrial control systems use a multitude of spatially distributed sensors and actuators to continuously monitor and control physical processes. Information exchange among control system components is traditionally done through physical wires. The need to physically wire sensors and actuators limits flexibility, scalability and reliability, since the cabling cost is high, cable connectors are prone to wear and tear, and connector failures can be hard to isolate. By replacing some of the cables with wireless communication networks, costs and risks of connector failures can be decreased, resulting in a more cost-efficient and reliable system. Integrating wireless communication into industrial control systems is challenging, since wireless communication channels introduce imperfections such as stochastic delays and information losses. These imperfections deteriorate the closed-loop control performance, and may even cause instability. In this thesis, we aim at developing design frameworks that take these imperfections into account and improve the performance of closed-loop control systems. The thesis first considers the joint design of packet forwarding policies and controllers for wireless control loops where sensor measurements are sent to the controller over an unreliable and energy-constrained multi-hop wireless network. For a fixed sampling rate of the sensor, the co-design problem separates into two well-defined and independent subproblems: transmission scheduling for maximizing the deadline-constrained reliability and optimal control under packet losses. We develop optimal and implementable solutions for these subproblems and show that the optimally co-designed system can be obtained efficiently. The thesis continues by examining event-triggered control systems that can help to reduce the energy consumption of the network by transmitting data less frequently. To this end, we consider a stochastic system where the communication between the controller and the actuator is triggered by a threshold-based rule. The communication is performed across an unreliable link that stochastically erases transmitted packets. As a partial protection against dropped packets, the controller sends a sequence of control commands to the actuator in each packet. These commands are stored in a buffer and applied sequentially until the next control packet arrives. We derive analytical expressions that quantify the trade-off between the communication cost and the control performance for this class of event-triggered control systems. The thesis finally proposes a supervisory control structure for wireless control systems with time-varying delays. The supervisor has access to a crude indicator of the overall network state, and we assume that individual upper and lower bounds on network time-delays can be associated to each value of the indicator. Based on this information, the supervisor triggers the most appropriate controller from a multi-controller unit. The performance of such a supervisory controller allows for improving the performance over a single robust controller. As the granularity of the network state measurements increases, the performance of the supervisory controller improves at the expense of increased computational complexity. / <p>QC 20150504</p>

When introducing autonomous functionality in personal vehicles the ability to control the quality of the ride is transferred from the driver to the vehicle control system. In this context, a reference method for quantifying ride quality may be a useful tool in the development and tuning process. This master’s thesis investigates whether general quantitative measures of ride quality can be of value in the tuning of motion controllers for autonomous vehicles. A set of tools is built for a specific case study, analysing a lateral path planning algorithm, based on a finite horizon linear quadratic tracking controller, and how its tuning affects ride quality performance. A graphical user interface is built, with functionality for frequency domainanalysis of the path planning algorithm, individually and in combination with the remaining lateral control system, as well as ride quality evaluation based on lateral acceleration data, from logged test runs and simulation results. In addition, a simulation environment for the lateral control system is modified to be used in combination with the evaluation tool. Results of the case study indicate a measurable difference in ride quality performance when comparing manual and autonomous driving with the current implementation. Attempts were made to improve ride quality by re-tuning the path planning algorithm but little or no improvement from the previous tuning was made. The work has recognized the potential of using ride quality measures in the development and tuning process for autonomous vehicles as well as devising a tuning strategy incorporating frequency analysis and ride quality evaluation through simulation for the lateral control system. To further increase ride quality performance via the path planning algorithm an altered controller structure, such as a frequency weighted linear quadratic controller is suggested.

In this thesis, autopilots are developed for missiles with moderate dynamics and stationary targets. The aim is to use the designs in real applications. Since the real missile model is nonlinear, a linearization process is required to get use of systematic linear controller design techniques. In the scope of this thesis, the linear quadratic full state feedback approach is applied for developing missile autopilots. However, the limitations of measurement systems on the missiles restrict the availability of all the states required for feedback. Because of this fact, the linear quadratic design will be approximated by the use of projective control theory. This method enables the designer to use preferably static feedback or if necessary a controller plus a low order compensator combination to approximate the full state feedback reference. Autopilots are checked for the validity of linearization, robust stability against aerodynamic, mechanical and measurement uncertainties.

Uma câmera pan-tilt é capaz de se movimentar em torno de dois eixos de rotação (pan e tilt), permitindo que sua lente possa ser apontada para um ponto qualquer no espaço. Uma aplicação possível dessa câmera é mantê-la apontada para um determinado alvo em movimento, através de posicionamentos angulares pan e tilt adequados. Este trabalho apresenta uma técnica de controle servo visual, em que, inicialmente, as imagens capturadas pela câmera são utilizadas para determinar a posição do alvo. Em seguida, calculam-se as rotações necessárias para manter a projeção do alvo no centro da imagem, em um sistema em tempo real e malha fechada. A técnica de rastreamento visual desenvolvida se baseia em comparação de uma região de referência, utilizando a soma dos quadrados das diferenças (SSD) como critério de correspondência. Sobre essa técnica, é adicionada uma extensão baseada no princípio de estimação incremental e, em seguida, o algoritmo é mais uma vez modificado através do princípio de estimação em multiresolução. Para cada uma das três configurações, são realizados testes para comparar suas performances. O sistema é modelado através do princípio de fluxo óptico e dois controladores são apresentados para realimentar o sistema: um proporcional integral (PI) e um proporcional com estimação de perturbações externas através de um filtro de Kalman (LQG). Ambos são calculados utilizando um critério linear quadrático e os desempenhos deles também são analisados comparativamente. / A pan-tilt camera can move around two rotational axes (pan and tilt), allowing its lens to be pointed to any point in space. A possible application of the camera is to keep it pointed to a certain moving target, through appropriate angular pan-tilt positioning. This work presents a visual servoing technique, which uses first the images captured by the camera to determinate the target position. Then the method calculates the proper rotations to keep the target position in image center, establishing a real-time and closed-loop system. The developed visual tracking technique is based on template region matching, and makes use of the sum of squared differences (SSD) as similarity criterion. An extension based on incremental estimation principle is added to the technique, and then the algorithm is modified again by multiresolution estimation method. Experimental results allow a performance comparison between the three configurations. The system is modeled through optical flow principle and this work presents two controllers to accomplish the system feedback: a proportional integral (PI) and a proportional with external disturbances estimation by a Kalman filter (LQG). Both are determined using a linear quadratic method and their performances are also analyzed comparatively.

We discuss a parallel library of efficient algorithms for the solution of linear-quadratic optimal control problems involving largescale systems with state-space dimension up to $O(10^4)$. We survey the numerical algorithms underlying the implementation of the chosen optimal control methods. The approaches considered here are based on invariant and deflating subspace techniques, and avoid the explicit solution of the associated algebraic Riccati equations in case of possible ill-conditioning. Still, our algorithms can also optionally compute the Riccati solution. The major computational task of finding spectral projectors onto the required invariant or deflating subspaces is implemented using iterative schemes for the sign and disk functions. Experimental results report the numerical accuracy and the parallel performance of our approach on a cluster of Intel Itanium-2 processors.