Este trabalho apresenta maneiras de trabalhar com o controle de potência reativa e estabilidade de tensão em microgrids. A estratégia de controle utilizada é o Controle por Tensão Distribuída (Distributed Voltage Control - DVC), ou controle por tensões distribuídas, um laço integral que considera as potências reativas em todas as barras como entradas e as tensões respectivas como sinais de controle. Diferentes estratégias de controle para distribuição de potência foram propostas e analisadas, sempre enfatizando seus aspectos conceituais. O cálculo dos ganhos do controlador, embora fundamental para o sucesso de qualquer estratégia de controle, geralmente não é discutido, e não são dados métodos ou linhas gerais para esta tarefa. Neste trabalho, apresentamos e discutimos diferentes metodologias para o projeto de ganhos de controle em DVC. Além disso, sendo o sistema não-linear, grandes variações de performance podem ser observadas se os mesmos ganhos de controle são usados para todos os pontos de operação, o que motiva a proposta de uma estratégia de programação de ganhos, também apresentada neste trabalho. / This text deals with the control of reactive power distribution and voltage stability in microgrids. The control strategy studied is the Distributed Voltage Control (DVC), an integral loop considering entries as reactive in every bus and the bus voltages as control signals. Different control strategies for power distribution have been proposed and analysed, always emphasising its conceptual aspects; design of the controller’s gains, however fundamental for the success of any control strategy, is usually not discussed, and no methods or guideline are given for this task. In this text we present and discuss different methodologies for tuning the control gains in DVC. Moreover, since power systems are nonlinear, large variations in performance can be observed if the same control gains are used for all operating points, which motivates the proposal of a gain scheduling strategy, also presented in here.

Este trabalho apresenta maneiras de trabalhar com o controle de potência reativa e estabilidade de tensão em microgrids. A estratégia de controle utilizada é o Controle por Tensão Distribuída (Distributed Voltage Control - DVC), ou controle por tensões distribuídas, um laço integral que considera as potências reativas em todas as barras como entradas e as tensões respectivas como sinais de controle. Diferentes estratégias de controle para distribuição de potência foram propostas e analisadas, sempre enfatizando seus aspectos conceituais. O cálculo dos ganhos do controlador, embora fundamental para o sucesso de qualquer estratégia de controle, geralmente não é discutido, e não são dados métodos ou linhas gerais para esta tarefa. Neste trabalho, apresentamos e discutimos diferentes metodologias para o projeto de ganhos de controle em DVC. Além disso, sendo o sistema não-linear, grandes variações de performance podem ser observadas se os mesmos ganhos de controle são usados para todos os pontos de operação, o que motiva a proposta de uma estratégia de programação de ganhos, também apresentada neste trabalho. / This text deals with the control of reactive power distribution and voltage stability in microgrids. The control strategy studied is the Distributed Voltage Control (DVC), an integral loop considering entries as reactive in every bus and the bus voltages as control signals. Different control strategies for power distribution have been proposed and analysed, always emphasising its conceptual aspects; design of the controller’s gains, however fundamental for the success of any control strategy, is usually not discussed, and no methods or guideline are given for this task. In this text we present and discuss different methodologies for tuning the control gains in DVC. Moreover, since power systems are nonlinear, large variations in performance can be observed if the same control gains are used for all operating points, which motivates the proposal of a gain scheduling strategy, also presented in here.

This thesis investigates and implements the sensor fusion necessary to autonomously reverse a full size truck and trailer system. This is done using a LiDAR mounted on the rear of the truck along with a RTK-GPS. It is shown that the relative angles between truck-dolly and dolly-trailer can be estimated, along with global position and global heading of the trailer. This is then implemented in one of Scania's test vehicles, giving it the ability to continuously estimate these states. A controller is then implemented, showing that the full scale system can be stabilised in reverse motion. The controller is tested both on a static reference path and a reference path received from a motion planner. In these tests, the controller is able to stabilise the system well, allowing the truck to do complex manoeuvres backwards. A small lateral tracking error is present, which needs to be further investigated.

Direct lift control for aircraft has been around in the aeronautical industry for decades but is mainly used in commercial aircraft with dedicated direct lift control surfaces. The focus of this thesis is to investigate if direct lift control is feasible for a fighter aircraft, similar to Saab JAS 39 Gripen, without dedicated control surfaces. The modelled system is an aircraft that is inherently unstable and contains nonlinearities both in its aerodynamics and in the form of limited control surface deflection and deflection rates. The dynamics of the aircraft are linearised around a flight case representative of a landing scenario. Direct lift control is then applied to give a more immediate relation from pilot stick input to change in flight path angle while also preserving the pitch attitude. Two different control strategies, linear quadratic control and model predictive control, were chosen for the implementation. Since fighter aircraft are systems with fast dynamics it was important to limit the computational time. This constraint motivated the use of specialised methods to speed up the optimisation of the model predictive controller. Results from simulations in a nonlinear simulation environment supplied by Saab, as well as tests in high-fidelity flight simulation rigs with a pilot, proved that direct lift control is feasible for the investigated fighter aircraft. Sufficient control authority and performance when controlling the flight path angle were observed. Both developed controllers have their own advantages and which strategy is the most suitable depends on what the user prioritises. Pilot workload during landing as well as precision at touch down were deemed similar to conventional control.

<p>Networked embedded control systems are present almost everywhere. A recent trend is to introduce wireless sensor networks in these systems, to take advantage of the added mobility and flexibility offered by wireless solutions. In such networks, the sensor observations are typically quantized and transmitted over noisy links. Concerning the problem of closed-loop control over such non-ideal communication channels, relatively few works have appeared so far. This thesis contributes to this field, by studying some fundamentally important problems in the design of joint source--channel coding and optimal control.</p><p>The main part of the thesis is devoted to joint design of the coding and control for scalar linear plants, whose state feedbacks are transmitted over binary symmetric channels. The performance is measured by a finite-horizon linear quadratic cost function. The certainty equivalence property of the studied systems is utilized, since it simplifies the overall design by separating the estimation and the control problems. An iterative optimization algorithm for training the encoder--decoder pairs, taking channel errors into account in the quantizer design, is proposed. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate promising improvements in performance compared to traditional approaches.</p><p>Event-triggered control strategies are a promising solution to the problem of efficient utilization of communication resources. The basic idea is to let each control loop communicate only when necessary. Event-triggered and quantized control are combined for plants affected by rarely occurring disturbances. Numerical experiments show that it is possible to achieve good control performance with limited control actuation and sensor communication.</p>

We study canonical forms for Hamiltonian and symplectic matrices or pencils under equivalence transformations which keep the class invariant. In contrast to other canonical forms our forms are as close as possible to a triangular structure in the same class. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of Hamiltonian and symplectic triangular Jordan, Kronecker and Schur forms. The presented results generalize results of Lin and Ho [17] and simplify the proofs presented there.

We study canonical forms for Hamiltonian and symplectic matrices or pencils under equivalence transformations which keep the class invariant. In contrast to other canonical forms our forms are as close as possible to a triangular structure in the same class. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of Hamiltonian and symplectic triangular Jordan, Kronecker and Schur forms. The presented results generalize results of Lin and Ho [17] and simplify the proofs presented there.

Networked embedded control systems are present almost everywhere. A recent trend is to introduce wireless sensor networks in these systems, to take advantage of the added mobility and flexibility offered by wireless solutions. In such networks, the sensor observations are typically quantized and transmitted over noisy links. Concerning the problem of closed-loop control over such non-ideal communication channels, relatively few works have appeared so far. This thesis contributes to this field, by studying some fundamentally important problems in the design of joint source--channel coding and optimal control. The main part of the thesis is devoted to joint design of the coding and control for scalar linear plants, whose state feedbacks are transmitted over binary symmetric channels. The performance is measured by a finite-horizon linear quadratic cost function. The certainty equivalence property of the studied systems is utilized, since it simplifies the overall design by separating the estimation and the control problems. An iterative optimization algorithm for training the encoder--decoder pairs, taking channel errors into account in the quantizer design, is proposed. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate promising improvements in performance compared to traditional approaches. Event-triggered control strategies are a promising solution to the problem of efficient utilization of communication resources. The basic idea is to let each control loop communicate only when necessary. Event-triggered and quantized control are combined for plants affected by rarely occurring disturbances. Numerical experiments show that it is possible to achieve good control performance with limited control actuation and sensor communication. / QC 20101109

Cette thèse s'intéresse à la coordination des sous-systèmes d'un nouveau genre de centrale de production d'énergie : un cycle combiné hybride (HCC - Hybrid Combined Cycle). Cette centrale HCC n'existe pas encore mais combine un cycle combiné gaz (CCG), un moyen de production solaire thermodynamique (miroirs cylindro-paraboliques) et un moyen de stockage thermique (stockage indirect de chaleur sensible utilisant deux réservoirs de sels fondus). Comment coordonner ces trois sous-systèmes de manière optimale lors des variations de demande de puissance ou des prix du gaz ?Dans un premier temps, chacun des trois sous-systèmes est étudié de manière indépendante afin d'obtenir, d'une part, un modèle physique permettant de caractériser le comportement dynamique du sous-système considéré et, d'autre part, un contrôle local qui agit en fonction des objectifs de fonctionnement prédéfinis. Un modèle du système complet interconnecté de l'HCC est ensuite obtenu en couplant les modèles des trois sous-systèmes. Enfin, une coordination des différents sous-systèmes est mise en place pour adapter le fonctionnement de chacun, en fonction des objectifs globaux de la centrale HCC complète, en optimisant les consignes de chaque sous-système. Dans ce travail, une coordination de type linéaire quadratique et une coordination de type optimale prédictive sont étudiées. Les résultats obtenus sont bien prometteurs : ils montrent, tout d'abord, que lors d'un appel de puissance, la commande coordonnée permet au système HCC de répondre plus rapidement, en utilisant plus efficacement la partie solaire. De plus, lorsque la demande subit beaucoup de variations, la partie solaire et la partie stockage absorbent toutes ces variations et la Turbine à Combustion (TAC) du CCG est beaucoup moins sollicitée. Lorsqu'il n'y a plus d'irradiation solaire, la partie stockage prend la relève pour continuer à produire de la vapeur solaire, jusqu'à ce que les stocks se vident. Finalement, le stockage permet d'ajuster la production de la TAC en fonction des prix du gaz. / This work concerns the subsystems coordination of a new type of power plant: a Hybrid Combined Cycle (HCC). This HCC plant is not yet build but consists of a Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP), a concentrated solar plant (parabolic trough) and a thermal storage system (a molten-salts two-tank indirect sensible thermal storage). How to coordinate these three subsystems optimally during variations in power demand or in gas price?First, each subsystem is studied independently in order to get on one hand a physical model that reproduces the dynamical behavior of the considered subsystem, and on the other hand, a local control that achieves an operation according to pre-specified objectives. Then, a model of the HCC system is obtained by coupling the models of the three defined subsystems.Eventually, a coordination of the subsystems is set up in order to adapt the behavior of each subsystem according to the global objectives for the full HCC system, by optimizing subsystem setpoints. In this study, a linear quadratic coordination and a model predictive coordination are designed. The obtained results are promising: they first show that during a power demand, the coordination allows the global system to quickly respond, using extensively the solar production. Besides, when the power demand undergoes many fluctuations, the solar and storage parts absorb these variations and the gas turbine of the CCPP is much less stressed. In addition, when there is no more solar radiation, the storage part continues producing solar steam, until storage tanks are empty. At last, the storage part allows to adjust the gas turbine production according to the gas prices.

The interest in autonomous vehicles has never been higher and there are several components that need to function for a vehicle to be fully autonomous; one of which is the ability to perform a parking at the end of a mission. The objective of this thesis work is to develop and implement an automatic parking system (APS) for a heavy-duty vehicle (HDV). A delimitation in this thesis work is that the parking lot has a known structure and the HDV is a truck without any trailer and access to more computational power and sensors than today's commercial trucks. An automatic system for searching the parking lot has been developed which updates an occupancy grid map (OGM) based on measurements from GPS and LIDAR sensors mounted on the truck. Based on the OGM and the known structure of the parking lot, the state of the parking spots is determined and a path can be computed between the current and desired position. Based on a kinematic model of the HDV, a gain-scheduled linear quadratic (LQ) controller with feedforward action is developed. The controller's objective is to stabilize the lateral error dynamics of the system around a precomputed path. The LQ controller explicitly takes into account that there exist an input delay in the system. Due to minor complications with the precomputed path the LQ controller causes the steering wheel turn too rapidly which makes the backup driver nervous. To limit these rapid changes of the steering wheel a controller based on model predictive control (MPC) is developed with the goal of making the steering wheel behave more human-like. A constraint for maximum allowed changes of the controller output is added to the MPC formulation as well as physical restrictions and the resulting MPC controller is smoother and more human-like, but due to computational limitations the controller turns out less effective than desired. Development and testing of the two controllers are evaluated in three different environments of varying complexity; the simplest simulation environment contains a basic vehicle model and serves as a proof of concept environment, the second simulation environment uses a more realistic vehicle model and finally the controllers are evaluated on a full-scale HDV. Finally, system tests of the APS are performed and the HDV successfully parks with the LQ controller as well as the MPC controller. The concept of a self-parking HDV has been demonstrated even though more tuning and development needs to be done before the proposed APS can be used in a commercial HDV.