ROBUST CONTROL OF GAS TUNGSTEN ARC WELDING SYSTEM

The robust control law for gas tungsten arc welding dynamic process, which is a typical sampled-data system and full of uncertainties, is presented. By using the Lyapunov second method, the robust control and robust optimal control for a class of sampled-data systems whose underlying continuous-time systems are subjected to structured uncertainties are discussed in time-domain. As a result, some sufficient conditions of robust stability and the corresponding robust control laws are derived. All these results are designed by solving a class of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) and a class of dynamic optimization problem with LMIs constraints respectively. An example adapted under some experimental conditions in the dynamic process of gas tungsten arc welding system in which the controlled variable is the backside width of weld pool and controlling variable pulse duty ratio, is worked out to illustrate the proposed results, it is shown that the sampling period is the crucial design parameter.     

The development and control of a flexible-spine for a human-form robot

In this paper, the development of a robot which has a flexible spine is presented. By embedding a multi-d.o.f. soft structure into a robot body as a spine, the robot can increase its ability to absorb shock and to work in various environment such as narrow places. As a result of these abilities, the robot can expand its opportunity to work in the human environment. Moreover, its motion could be more natural. The developed full-body human-form robot has a five-jointed flexible spine. Each joint (vertebra) has 3 d.o.f. Between each vertebrae is a 'disk' made of silicone rubber. The spine is controlled by eight tendons, whose tensions can be controlled using tension sensors and locally distributed microcontrollers. This paper describes the development of the flexible spine and the control of the posture of the spine and body.     

Basic Behavior Acquisition with Multisensor Integration for a Robot System

A robot system generally has several degrees of freedom of motions as well as different kinds of sensors. Basic behaviors are planned based on these sensors' feedback. We take advantage of the Jacobian matrix to describe the differential relations between the sensor feedback and the motor motions. Hence, the relation between two sensors could be formulated by the two respective Jacobian matrices of both sensors to motors. Multisensor integration can, thus, be employed for better performance of the robot system. Experiments of basic behavior acquisition like gazing and posture control of a robot head are conducted. The performances of the two basic behaviors before and after multisensor integration are compared, which demonstrate the performance and robustness of the proposed multisensor integration method.     

Super mechano-systems project

The super mechano-system (SMS) project is the Grand-in-Aid for COE Research Project, which started is April 1997 at the Tokyo Institute of Technology for the Creation of New Functionality by the Fusion of Control and Mechanisms, and is supported by the Ministry of Education, Sciences, Sports and Culture. The project aims to establish a new discipline by the functional integration of advanced technologies in mechanisms and control. This paper briefly describes the SMS project.     

New structure of automatic torch and new approach for controlling drop transfer in rotating spray welding arc

Abstract

Using computer aided design/computer aided manufacturing technology, an automatic welding system is designed and manufactured for high current, high speed, and high deposition metal arc active gas (MAG) welding. The welding torch structure is evaluated and optimised via the finite element method and practical welding technology experiments. Finally, the process of high deposition MAG welding is investigated, and it is highlighted that on application of a longitudinal magnetic field to the high deposition MAG welding process, a steady metal transfer and drop deposition condition can be achieved, which is suited to the demands of high current, high speed welding technology.     

OPTIMAL TORQUE CONTROL STRATEGY FOR PARALLEL HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE WITH AUTOMATIC MECHANICAL TRANSMISSION

In parallel hybrid electrical vehicle (PHEV) equipped with automatic mechanical transmission (AMT), the driving smoothness and the clutch abrasion are the primary considerations for powertrain control during gearshift and clutch operation. To improve these performance indexes of PHEV, a coordinated control system is proposed through the analyzing of HEV powertrain dynamic characteristics. Using the method of minimum principle, the input torque of transmission is optimized to improve the driving smoothness of vehicle. Using the methods of fuzzy logic and fuzzy-PID, the engaging speed of clutch and the throttle opening of engine are manipulated to ensure the smoothness of clutch engagement and reduce the abrasion of clutch friction plates. The motor provides the difference between the required input torque of transmission and the torque transmitted through clutch plates. Results of simulation and experiments show that the proposed control strategy performs better than the contrastive control system, the smoothness of driving and the abrasion of clutch can be improved simultaneously.     

SPOT WELDING QUALITY FUZZY CONTROL SYSTEM BASED ON MULTISENSOR INFORMATION FUSION

The multisensor information fusion technology is adopted for real time measuring the four parameters which are connected closely with the weld nugget size(welding current,electrode displacement,dynamic resistance,welding time),thus much more original information is obtained.In this way,the difficulty caused by measuring indirectly weld nugget size can be decreased in spot welding quality control,and the stability of spot welding quality can be improved.According to this method,two-dimensional fuzzy controllers are designed with the information fusion result as input and the thyristor control signal as output.The spot welding experimental results indicate that the spot welding quality intelligent control method based on multisensor information fusion technology can compensate the influence caused by variable factors in welding process and ensure the stability of welding quality.     

Modeling and time delay control of shape memory alloy actuators

Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators possess hard nonlinearities including backlash-like hysteresis and saturation. These nonlinearities result in steady-state error and limit-cycle problems when conventional controllers such as the proportional integral derivative (PID) are used for trajectory control. In this study, a dynamics for an SMA actuator was newly derived using the modified Liang's model. The derived dynamics showed continuity at the change of the phase transformation process, but the original model could not. SMA actuator characteristics could be well described using this dynamics. The derived dynamics could be also used effectively for the prediction of control performance and gain tuning of the time delay control (TDC). The dynamics consisted of first-order linear and second-order nonlinear equations. Accordingly, a control strategy was established for the TDC to regulate only the second-order nonlinear part for simplicity and for the internal closed loop to regulate the rest. The control strategy was examined from the point of view of influence of an antiwindup scheme and high gain tuning on control performance. An anti-windup scheme was essential to protect windup phenomenon and high gain tuning was effective when a temperature disturbance existed. In the robustness test, the TDC with high gains showed robustness to inertia variation and temperature disturbance in comparison with the TDC with low gains.     

Control of giant swing motion of a two-link horizontal bar gymnastic robot

We investigated a control method to realize the three different types of free giant swing motions produced by a two-link horizontal bar gymnastic robot. By evaluating the eigenvalues of the transitional error matrix on the Poincare plane, it was found that the stable giant swing motions could be obtained by a proposed configuration control, in which the actuated joint torque is controlled such that the measured state variables follow the reference configuration with respect to the angular position of the passive joint. We also demonstrated that the two types of stable giant swing motions could be accomplished by the configuration method.