Event-triggered variable horizon Supervisory Predictive control of hybrid power plants

The supervision of a hybrid power plant, including solar panels, a gas microturbine and a storage unit operating under varying solar power profiles is considered. The Economic Supervisory Predictive controller assigns the power references to the controlled subsystems of the hybrid cell using a financial criterion. A prediction of the renewable sources power is embedded into the supervisor. Results deteriorate when the solar power is unsteady, owing to the inaccuracy of the predictions for a long-range horizon of 10 s. The receding horizon is switched between an upper and a lower value according to the amplitude of the solar power trend. Theoretical results show the relevance of horizon switching, according to a tradeoff between performance and prediction accuracy. Experimental results, obtained in a Hardware In the Loop (HIL) framework, show the relevance of the variable horizon approach. Power amplifiers allow us to simulate virtual components, such as a gas microturbine, and to blend their powers with that of real devices (storage unit, real solar panels). In this case, fuel savings, reaching 15%, obtained under unsteady operating conditions lead to a better overall performance of the hybrid cell. The overall savings obtained in the experiments amount to 12%.     

An experiential account of phantom vibration syndrome

A small handful of recent studies have addressed a phenomenon known as “phantom vibration syndrome”. This refers to when phone users perceive their device to vibrate, indicating that a call or text is incoming, when in fact the phone did not vibrate at all. Though these studies show that most users do not find phantom vibration hallucinations to be very bothersome, they also find that a large majority of users experience this phenomenon. This paper explores what the striking prevalence of phantom vibration syndrome means for our contemporary relationships with technology. I begin with a review of the theories purporting to explain these data, which largely rely on particular understandings of the brain. Next I develop an alternative theory of phantom vibration syndrome based on insights from the philosophical tradition of phenomenology. This account considers the ways users develop bodily and perceptual habits regarding how the phone is understood and used. By critically contrasting these different theories, we can refine our questions about what the high prevalence of phantom vibration syndrome implies about our contemporary technological situation.     

Rectangular Section Control Technology for Silicon Steel Rolling

Rectangular section control technology(RSCT)was introduced to achieve high-precision profile control during silicon steel rolling.The RSCT principle and method were designed,and the whole RSCT control strategy was developed.Specifically,RSCT included roll contour design,rolling technology optimization,and control strategy development,aiming at both hot strip mills(HSMs)and cold strip mills(CSMs).Firstly,through the high-performance variable crown(HVC)work roll optimization design in the upper-stream stands and the limited shifting technology for schedule-free rolling in the downstream stands of HSMs,a hot strip with a stable crown and limited wedge,local spot,and single wave was obtained,which was suitable for cold rolling.Secondly,an approximately rectangular section was obtained by edge varying contact(EVC)work roll contour design,edge-drop setting control,and closed loop control in the upper-stream stands of CSMs.Moreover,complex-mode flatness control was realized by coordinating multiple shape-control methods in the downstream stands of CSMs.In addition,the RSCT approach was applied in several silicon-steel production plants,where an outstanding performance and remarkable economic benefits were observed.     

Nonlinear dynamic behaviors and control based on simulation of high-purity heat integrated air separation column

In this paper, the dynamic behaviors on the basis of simulation for high-purity heat integrated air separation column (HIASC) are studied. A nonlinear generic model control (GMC) scheme is proposed based on the nonlinear behavior analyses of a HIASC process, and an adaptive generic model control (AGMC) scheme is further presented to correct the model parameters online. Related internal model control (IMC) scheme and multi-loop PID (M-PID) scheme are also developed as the comparative base. The comparative researches are carried out among these linear and nonlinear control schemes in detail. The simulation research results show that the proposed AGMC schemes present advantages in both servo control and regulatory control for the high-purity HIASC.     

Adaptive robust boundary control of shaft vibrations under perturbations with unknown upper bounds

This paper presents robust and adaptive boundary control designs to stabilize the two‐dimensional vibration of hybrid shaft model. The hybrid shaft is mathematically represented by a set of partial differential equations, governing the shaft vibrations, coupled to ordinary differential equations, describing rigid body spinning and dynamic boundary conditions. The control objective is to stabilize the transverse vibrations of the perturbed shaft while regulating the spinning rate. To achieve this, the paper first establishes robust boundary control laws that fulfil the control objective in the presence of modeling uncertainties and external disturbances operating over the shaft domain and boundary. Lyapunov‐based analyses show that the proposed robust control exponentially stabilizes the shaft with vanishing distributive perturbations, while assuring ultimately bounded vibrations in the case of nonvanishing perturbations. Then, adaptive control philosophy is utilized to achieve redesigned robust controllers that only use online adaptation of control gains without acquiring the knowledge of bounds on perturbations, as well as dynamic parameters. An advantage of this design is avoiding an overconservative robust control law, which may induce poor stability and chattering in tackling system perturbations with unknown upper bounds. Simulations through finite element method illustrate the results. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Control of the particle microstructure during the synthesis of bulk-polymerized transparent methacrylate-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin

A series of methacrylate-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (MABS) resins was prepared using bulk polymerization. The polarity of the continuous phase and the compatibility of two phases were changed by adjusting the methyl methacrylate (MMA) content, choosing values that were close to styrene-butadiene rubber solubility value. The possibility of controlling the microstructure of the MABS resin by changing the polarity of the components and the compatibility of two phases was assessed. The dynamic mechanical analysis shows that the compatibility of two phases varies with the MMA content. The morphological analysis shows that increasing MMA contents results in a gradual decrease in the sub-inclusion structure with a network skeleton of rubber particles, and that all the particles become solid rubber when the MMA content reaches 75%. The sub-inclusion structure reappears but does not have a network skeleton when the MMA content is 90%. The impact strength and morphological analysis indicate that the solid rubber particles and the sub-inclusion structure with a network skeleton provide excellent toughness, while the sub-inclusion structure without a network skeleton does not. In contrast, the transmittance of the ABS resin first increased and then decreased with increasing MMA content.     

Friction compensation controller for load varying machine tool feed drive

The load applied to a machine tool feed drive changes during the machining process as material is removed. This load change alters the Coulomb friction of the feed drive. Because Coulomb friction accounts for a large part of the total friction the friction compensation control accuracy of the feed drives is limited if this nonlinear change in the applied load is not considered. This paper presents a new friction compensation method that estimates the machine tool load in real time and considers its effect on friction characteristics. A friction observer based on a Kalman filter with load estimation is proposed for friction compensation control considering the applied load change. A specially designed feed drive testbed that enables the applied load to be modified easily was constructed for experimental verification. Control performance and friction estimation accuracy are demonstrated experimentally using the testbed.     

Control theory for stochastic distributed parameter systems,an engineering perspective

The main purpose of this paper is to survey some recent progresses on control theory for stochastic distributed parameter systems, i.e., systems governed by stochastic differential equations in infinite dimensions, typically by stochastic partial differential equations. We will explain the new phenomenon and difficulties in the study of controllability and optimal control problems for one dimensional stochastic parabolic equations and stochastic hyperbolic equations. In particular, we shall see that both the formulation of corresponding stochastic control problems and the tools to solve them may differ considerably from their deterministic/finite-dimensional counterparts. More importantly, one has to develop new tools, say, the stochastic transposition method introduced in our previous works, to solve some problems in this field.     

Sensor network design based on system-wide reliability criteria. Part I: Objectives

Reliability based criteria are quite popular for optimal sensor network design. We present a modified definition of system reliability for sensor network design for two applications: reliable estimation of variables in a steady state linear flow process, and reliable fault detection and diagnosis for any process. Unlike the weakest-link based definition of system reliability in the literature, the proposed definition considers the entire system and is consistent with the reliability concept used in classical reliability literature. For each application, dual approaches for defining system reliability are proposed, and their analogy with the reliability problem in the classical reliability literature is established. Using examples and stochastic simulations, the advantage of using the proposed system reliability in contrast to the existing definition is illustrated. Part II of this series of articles presents methods for efficient generation of the system reliability function and its use in optimization-based approaches for designing optimal sensor networks.