The principle of braking in road vehicles involves the conversion of kinetic energy into heat. This high energy conversion therefore demands an appropriate rate of heat dissipation if a reasonable temperature and performance stability are to be maintained. While the design, construction, and location features severely limit the heat dissipation function of the friction brake, electromagnetic brakes work in a relatively cool condition and avoid problems that friction brakes face by using a totally different working principle and installation location. By using the electromagnetic brake as supplementary retardation equipment, the friction brakes can be used less frequently and therefore practically never reach high temperatures. The brake linings thus have a longer life span, and the potential "brake fade" problem can be avoided. It is apparent that the electromagnetic brake is an essential complement to the safe braking of heavy vehicles. In this thesis, a new mathematical model for electromagnetic brakes is proposed to describe their static characteristics (angular speed versus brake torque). The performance of the new mathematical model is better than the other three models available in the literature in a least-square sense. Compared with old models that treat reluctance as a constant, our model treats reluctance as a function of speed. In this way, the model represents more precisely the aggregate effect of all side effects such as degree of saturation of the iron in the magnet, demagnetizing effects, and air gap. The software program written in Matlab can be used to code different brake characteristics (both static and dynamic) and evaluate their performance in different road scenarios. A controller is designed that achieves wheel-slip control for vehicle motion. The objective of this brake control system is to keep the wheel slip at an ideal value so that the tire can still generate lateral and steering forces as well as shorter stopping distances. In order to control the wheel slip, vehicle system dynamic equations are given in terms of wheel slip. The system shows the nonlinearities and uncertainties. Hence, a nonlinear control strategy based on sliding mode, which is a standard approach to tackle the parametric and modeling uncertainties of a nonlinear system, is chosen for slip control. Due to its robustness properties, the sliding mode controller can solve two major difficulties involved in the design of a braking control algorithm: 1) the vehicle system is highly nonlinear with time-varying parameters and uncertainties; 2) the performance of the system depends strongly on the knowledge of the tire/road surface condition. A nominal vehicle system model is simulated in software and a sliding mode controller is designed to maintain the wheel slip at a given value. The brake control system has desired performance in the simulation. It can be proven from this study that the electromagnetic brake is effective supplementary retardation equipment. The application and control of electromagnetic brakes might be integrated with the design of vehicles and their friction braking systems so that an ideal match of the complementary benefits of both systems might be obtained to increase safety to a maximum while reducing vehicle operating costs to a minimum. / Master of Science

In position control systems like linear motor, friction is a key factor to influence the control performance when micron or sub-micron meter accuracy is required. To overcome the effect of the friction, besides a general model of the linear motor system, past researches have shown an additional static friction model of the system is necessary for a better control performance when the motor move into the micro region of the system (usually <100£gm). Two models, macro and micro model of the system have been well constructed by two different identification methods. After model construction, two different controllers are also designed for each model. A traditional pole-placement PID controller can be easily obtained for the macro model to move into the micro region quickly and stably. Then in micro model design, from the experiments, it is found that system parameter varies and thus degrades the positioning performance of the system. So, a Sliding-Mode Controller is designed to improve these problems. With a two step control strategy, macro and micro step, the linear motor positioning system can achieve a 0.1£gm accuracy within 0.2 sec.

The contact patch of the tire is responsible for all of the transmission of a vehicle's motion to the road surface. This small area is responsible for the acceleration, stopping and steering control of the vehicle. Throughout the development of vehicle safety and stability control systems, it is desirable to possess the exact forces and moments at the tire contact patch. The tire is a passive element in the system, supplying no explicit information to vehicle control systems. Current safety and stability algorithms use estimated forces at the tire contact patch to develop these control strategies. An "intelligent" tire that is capable of measuring and transmitting the instantaneous forces and moments at the contact patch to the control algorithms in real-time holds promise to improve vehicle safety and performance. Using the force and friction information measured at the contact patch, an anti-lock braking control strategy is developed using sliding mode control. This strategy is compared to the performance of a current commercial anti-lock braking system that has been optimized by performing a threshold sensitivity analysis. The results show a definite improvement in control system strategy having known information at the tire contact patch. / Master of Science

Many problems in tracking control have been identified over the years, such as the availability of systems states, the presence of noise and system uncertainties, and speed of response, just to name a few. This thesis is concerned with developing novel integrated control and estimation algorithms to overcome some of these problems in order to achieve an efficient tracking performance. Since there are some significant advantages associated with Sliding Mode Control (SMC) or Variable Structure Control (VSC), (fast regulation rate and robustness to uncertainties), this research reviews and extends new filtering concepts for state estimation, referred to as the Variable Structure Filter (VSF)and Smooth Variable Structure Filter (SVSF). These are based on the philosophy of Sliding Mode Control.<p>The VSF filter is designed to estimate some of the states of a plant when noise and uncertainties are presented. This is accomplished by refining an estimate of the states in an iterative fashion using two filter gains, one based on a noiseless system with no uncertainties and the second gain which reflects these uncertainties. The VSF is combined seamlessly with the Sliding Mode Controller to produce an integrated controller called a Sliding Mode Controller and Filter (SMCF). This new controller is shown to be a robust and effective integrated control strategy for linear systems. For nonlinear systems, a novel integrated control strategy called the Smooth Sliding Mode Controller and Filter (SSMCF), fuses the SMC and SVSF in a particular form to address nonlinearities. The gain term in the SVSF is redefined to form a new algorithm called the SVSF with revised gain in order to obtain a better estimation performance. Its performance is compared to that of the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) when applied to a particular nonlinear plant.<p>The SMCF and SSMCF are applied to the experimental prototype of a precision positioning hydraulic system called an ElectroHydraulic Actuator (EHA) system. The EHA system is known to display nonlinear characteristics but can approximate linear behavior under certain operating conditions, making it ideal to test the robustness of the proposed controllers.<p>The main conclusion drawn in this research was that the SMCF and SSMCF as developed and implemented, do exhibit robust and high performance state estimation and trajectory tracking control given modeling uncertainties and noise. The controllers were applied to a prototype EHA which demonstrated the use of the controllers in a real world application. It was also concluded that the application of the concepts of VSC for the controller can alleviate a challenging mechanical problem caused by a slip-stick characteristic in friction. Another conclusion is that the revised form of the SVSF could obtain robust and fast state estimation for nonlinear systems.<p>The original contributions of the research include: i) proposing the SMCF and SSMCF, ii) applying the Sliding Mode Controller to suppress cross-over oscillations caused by the slip-stick characteristics in friction which often occur in mechanical systems, iii) the first application of the SVSF for state estimation and iv) a comparative study of the SVSF and Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to the EHA demonstrating the superiority of the SVSF for state estimation performance under both steady-state and transient conditions for the application considered.<p>The dissertation is written in a paper format unlike the traditional Ph.D thesis manuscript. The content of the thesis discourse is based on five manuscripts which are appended at the end of the thesis. Fundamental principles and concepts associated with SMC, VSF, SVSF and the fused controllers are introduced. For each paper, the objectives, approaches, typical results, conclusions and major contributions are presented. Major conclusions are summarized and original contributions reiterated.

Many problems in tracking control have been identified over the years, such as the availability of systems states, the presence of noise and system uncertainties, and speed of response, just to name a few. This thesis is concerned with developing novel integrated control and estimation algorithms to overcome some of these problems in order to achieve an efficient tracking performance. Since there are some significant advantages associated with Sliding Mode Control (SMC) or Variable Structure Control (VSC), (fast regulation rate and robustness to uncertainties), this research reviews and extends new filtering concepts for state estimation, referred to as the Variable Structure Filter (VSF)and Smooth Variable Structure Filter (SVSF). These are based on the philosophy of Sliding Mode Control.<p>The VSF filter is designed to estimate some of the states of a plant when noise and uncertainties are presented. This is accomplished by refining an estimate of the states in an iterative fashion using two filter gains, one based on a noiseless system with no uncertainties and the second gain which reflects these uncertainties. The VSF is combined seamlessly with the Sliding Mode Controller to produce an integrated controller called a Sliding Mode Controller and Filter (SMCF). This new controller is shown to be a robust and effective integrated control strategy for linear systems. For nonlinear systems, a novel integrated control strategy called the Smooth Sliding Mode Controller and Filter (SSMCF), fuses the SMC and SVSF in a particular form to address nonlinearities. The gain term in the SVSF is redefined to form a new algorithm called the SVSF with revised gain in order to obtain a better estimation performance. Its performance is compared to that of the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) when applied to a particular nonlinear plant.<p>The SMCF and SSMCF are applied to the experimental prototype of a precision positioning hydraulic system called an ElectroHydraulic Actuator (EHA) system. The EHA system is known to display nonlinear characteristics but can approximate linear behavior under certain operating conditions, making it ideal to test the robustness of the proposed controllers.<p>The main conclusion drawn in this research was that the SMCF and SSMCF as developed and implemented, do exhibit robust and high performance state estimation and trajectory tracking control given modeling uncertainties and noise. The controllers were applied to a prototype EHA which demonstrated the use of the controllers in a real world application. It was also concluded that the application of the concepts of VSC for the controller can alleviate a challenging mechanical problem caused by a slip-stick characteristic in friction. Another conclusion is that the revised form of the SVSF could obtain robust and fast state estimation for nonlinear systems.<p>The original contributions of the research include: i) proposing the SMCF and SSMCF, ii) applying the Sliding Mode Controller to suppress cross-over oscillations caused by the slip-stick characteristics in friction which often occur in mechanical systems, iii) the first application of the SVSF for state estimation and iv) a comparative study of the SVSF and Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to the EHA demonstrating the superiority of the SVSF for state estimation performance under both steady-state and transient conditions for the application considered.<p>The dissertation is written in a paper format unlike the traditional Ph.D thesis manuscript. The content of the thesis discourse is based on five manuscripts which are appended at the end of the thesis. Fundamental principles and concepts associated with SMC, VSF, SVSF and the fused controllers are introduced. For each paper, the objectives, approaches, typical results, conclusions and major contributions are presented. Major conclusions are summarized and original contributions reiterated.

<div>Collision avoidance design plays an essential role in autonomous vehicle technology. It's an attractive research area that will need much experimentation in the future. This research area is very important for providing the maximum safety to automated vehicles, which have to be tested several times under different circumstances for safety before use in real life. This thesis proposes a method for designing and presenting a collision avoidance maneuver by using a model predictive controller with a moving obstacle for automated vehicles. It consists of a plant model, an adaptive MPC controller, and a reference trajectory. The proposed strategy applies a dynamic bicycle model as the plant model, adaptive model predictive controller for the lateral control, and a custom reference trajectory for the scenario design. The model was developed using the Model Predictive Control Toolbox and Automated Driving Toolbox in Matlab. Builtin tools available in Matlab/Simulink were used to verify the modeling approach and analyze the performance of the system. The major contribution of this thesis work was implementing a novel dynamic obstacle avoidance control method for automated vehicles. The study used validated parameters obtained from previous research. The novelty of this research was performing the studies using a MPC based controller instead of a sliding mode controller, that was primarily used in other studies. The results obtained from the study are compared with the validated models. The comparisons consisted of the lateral overlap,lateral error, and steering angle simulation results between the models. Additionally,this study also included outcomes for the yaw angle. The comparisons and other outcomes obtained in this study indicated that the developed control model produced reasonably acceptable results and recommendations for future studies.</div>

The growing need for ocean surveillance and exploration has pushed the development of novel autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technology. A current trend is to make use of bio-inspired propulsor to increase the overall system efficiency and performance, an improvement that has deep implications in the dynamics of the system. The goal of this dissertation is to propose a generic robust control framework specific for bio-inspired autonomous underwater vehicles (BIAUV). These vehicles utilize periodic oscillation of a flexible structural component to generate thrust, a propulsion mechanism that can be tuned to operate under resonance and consequently improve the overall system efficiency. The control parameter should then be selected to keep the system operating in such a condition. Another important aspect is to have a controller design technique that can address the time-varying behaviors, structured uncertainties and system nonlinearities. To address these needs a robust, model-based, nonlinear controller design technique is presented, called digital sliding mode controller (DSMC), which also takes into account the discrete implementation of these laws using microcontrollers. The control law is implemented in the control of a jellyfish-inspired autonomous underwater vehicle. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Neste trabalho é proposto um estudo envolvendo o controle vetorial do Motor de Indução Trifásico, compreendendo o uso da teoria de modos deslizantes nas malhas de controle de fluxo e velocidade na estratégia de Controle Vetorial por Orientação Indireta de Campo (Indirect Field Oriented Control, IFOC), visando sobretudo, melhorar tanto o desempenho dinâmico quanto o problema de chattering. Para tanto, aborda-se o uso de uma função de chaveamento suave, analisando suas características perante o uso de diferentes superfícies de deslizamento. Com base nessas análises, tem-se a proposta de um controlador por modos deslizantes integral, englobando o uso de uma superfície de deslizamento integral em conjunto com um método de anti-windup, sendo tal método baseado em uma função triangular. Para verificar a atratividade às superfícies de fluxo e velocidade, é realizada uma investigação quanto ao uso de uma parcela paramétrica como ação de controle, dada pelo termo equivalente. Com o objetivo de analisar a topologia de controle proposta, resultados são obtidos por meio de simulação e de uma bancada experimental considerando diferentes condições de operação. Desta forma, os resultados foram divididos em testes, visando abordar o problema do chattering e diferenças do controlador proposto perante os convencionais. De maneira geral, a topologia de controle apresentou resultados melhores aos encontrados na literatura, podendo ser uma opção em sistemas que requerem acionamento de alto desempenho dinâmico. / This work deals with the vector control in a three-phase induction motor, applying the sliding mode theory to both the flux and the speed control loops in the Indirect Field Oriented Control strategy. It aims to improve the dynamic performance regarding the chattering problem. Therefore, the use of a smooth switching function is addressed, analyzing the outcomes achieved by different sliding surfaces. Based on these analysis, an Integral Sliding Mode Controller is proposed employing an integral sliding surface along with an anti-windup method based on a triangular function. In order to verify the attractiveness of the flux and the speed surfaces, an investigation regarding the use of a parametric portion as control action is carried out. The proposed control strategy is verified by means of simulations and experiments on test bench for different operating conditions. This way, the results are split in tests aiming to approach chattering problems and the differences between the proposed and traditional control strategies. Genarally, the outcomes of the proposed topology are better with those found on literature, pointing it as a viable choice to drive high dynamic performance demanding systems.

Neste trabalho é proposto um estudo envolvendo o controle vetorial do Motor de Indução Trifásico, compreendendo o uso da teoria de modos deslizantes nas malhas de controle de fluxo e velocidade na estratégia de Controle Vetorial por Orientação Indireta de Campo (Indirect Field Oriented Control, IFOC), visando sobretudo, melhorar tanto o desempenho dinâmico quanto o problema de chattering. Para tanto, aborda-se o uso de uma função de chaveamento suave, analisando suas características perante o uso de diferentes superfícies de deslizamento. Com base nessas análises, tem-se a proposta de um controlador por modos deslizantes integral, englobando o uso de uma superfície de deslizamento integral em conjunto com um método de anti-windup, sendo tal método baseado em uma função triangular. Para verificar a atratividade às superfícies de fluxo e velocidade, é realizada uma investigação quanto ao uso de uma parcela paramétrica como ação de controle, dada pelo termo equivalente. Com o objetivo de analisar a topologia de controle proposta, resultados são obtidos por meio de simulação e de uma bancada experimental considerando diferentes condições de operação. Desta forma, os resultados foram divididos em testes, visando abordar o problema do chattering e diferenças do controlador proposto perante os convencionais. De maneira geral, a topologia de controle apresentou resultados melhores aos encontrados na literatura, podendo ser uma opção em sistemas que requerem acionamento de alto desempenho dinâmico. / This work deals with the vector control in a three-phase induction motor, applying the sliding mode theory to both the flux and the speed control loops in the Indirect Field Oriented Control strategy. It aims to improve the dynamic performance regarding the chattering problem. Therefore, the use of a smooth switching function is addressed, analyzing the outcomes achieved by different sliding surfaces. Based on these analysis, an Integral Sliding Mode Controller is proposed employing an integral sliding surface along with an anti-windup method based on a triangular function. In order to verify the attractiveness of the flux and the speed surfaces, an investigation regarding the use of a parametric portion as control action is carried out. The proposed control strategy is verified by means of simulations and experiments on test bench for different operating conditions. This way, the results are split in tests aiming to approach chattering problems and the differences between the proposed and traditional control strategies. Genarally, the outcomes of the proposed topology are better with those found on literature, pointing it as a viable choice to drive high dynamic performance demanding systems.