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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Controls and Control Theory

A Fuzzy Logic Controller For Autonomous Wheeled Vehicles, Mohamed Trabia, Linda Z. Shi, Neil Eugene Hodge Dec 2006

A Fuzzy Logic Controller For Autonomous Wheeled Vehicles, Mohamed Trabia, Linda Z. Shi, Neil Eugene Hodge

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Autonomous vehicles have potential applications in many fields, such as replacing humans in hazardous environments, conducting military missions, and performing routine tasks for industry. Driving ground vehicles is an area where human performance has proven to be reliable. Drivers typically respond quickly to sudden changes in their environment. While other control techniques may be used to control a vehicle, fuzzy logic has certain advantages in this area; one of them is its ability to incorporate human knowledge and experience, via language, into relationships among the given quantities. Fuzzy logic controllers for autonomous vehicles have been successfully applied to address various …


Latency Compensation Control Of Computer Based Control Systems, Aidan O'Dwyer Jan 2006

Latency Compensation Control Of Computer Based Control Systems, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This paper discusses the use of a modified Smith predictor for latency (i.e. time delay) compensation, to assist in the implementation of network computer based control systems. Such systems typically have a variable time delay associated with the transfer of information; the modified Smith predictor is robust to time delay variations.


Performance Improvement Using Simple Pid Controller Tuning Formulae, Aidan O'Dwyer Jan 2006

Performance Improvement Using Simple Pid Controller Tuning Formulae, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

The proportional integral derivative (PID) controller is the most dominant form of automatic controller in industrial use today. With this technique, it is necessary to adjust the controller parameters according to the nature of the process. Thus, for effective control of a HVDC system, for example, specific values need to be chosen for the P, I and D parameters, which will be different for the values required to control, for example, an induction motor drive. This tailoring of controller to process is known as controller tuning. Controller tuning is easily and effectively performed using tuning rules (i.e. formulae for controller …


Reducing Energy Costs By Optimizing Controller Tuning, Aidan O'Dwyer Jan 2006

Reducing Energy Costs By Optimizing Controller Tuning, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

The proportional integral derivative (PID) controller is the most dominant form of automatic controller in industrial use today. With this technique, it is necessary to adjust the controller parameters according to the nature of the process. This tailoring of controller to process is known as controller tuning. Controller tuning is easily and effectively performed using tuning rules (i.e. formulae for controller tuning, based on process information). Such tuning rules allow the easy set up of controllers to achieve optimum performance at commissioning. Importantly, they allow ease of re-commissioning if the characteristics of the process change. The paper outlines the results …


A Case Study In Modeling And Process Control: The Control Of A Pilot Scale Heating And Ventilation System, Robin Mooney, Aidan O'Dwyer Jan 2006

A Case Study In Modeling And Process Control: The Control Of A Pilot Scale Heating And Ventilation System, Robin Mooney, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This paper details the control of a pilot scale laboratory heating and ventilation system. The system is represented in 2x2 multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) form. A process reaction curve identification technique was used to model (in first order lag plus delay - FOLPD - form) the flow process and temperature process portions of the system, over a range of operating conditions. Tests revealed that both processes were continuously non-linear. A gain scheduler with static decoupling was designed, using look-up tables, to continuously interpolate for the most suitable proportional-integral (PI) or proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller settings and decoupler gains. The contribution of this …


Pi And Pid Controller Tuning Rules: An Overview And Personal Perspective, Aidan O'Dwyer Jan 2006

Pi And Pid Controller Tuning Rules: An Overview And Personal Perspective, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

The ability of PI and PID controllers to compensate many practical processes has led to their wide acceptance in industrial applications. The requirement to choose two or three controller parameters is most easily done using tuning rules. Starting with a general discussion of industrial practice, the paper provides a survey of additional tuning rules for continuous-time PI and PID control of time-delayed single-input, single-output (SISO) processes, to those explored in a recent book by the author.


Experiences Of Learning And Teaching On A Taught Masters Course In Engineering: From A Didactic Approach To A More Student Centered Learning Approach, Aidan O'Dwyer Jan 2006

Experiences Of Learning And Teaching On A Taught Masters Course In Engineering: From A Didactic Approach To A More Student Centered Learning Approach, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This paper reports on, reflects on, and evaluates the author’s experiences of teaching the Advanced Control module on the Masters degree in Advanced Engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) over the past four academic years. The teaching approach has evolved from a traditional didactic lecture and laboratory course, with associated assessments, in the first academic year, to the implementation of a more learner-centred approach over the past two academic years. This new approach has been made possible by the appropriate use of real case studies, information technology tools, and web-based virtual laboratories. Assessment methodology has also evolved. In the …


Enhancing Waste Management Through Automatic Control, Aidan O'Dwyer Jan 2006

Enhancing Waste Management Through Automatic Control, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

Meeting environmental requirements is recognised as one of the six 21st century business drivers for automatic control. The proportional integral (PI) and proportional integral derivative (PID) controllers are the most dominant form of automatic controllers in industrial use today. With these techniques, it is necessary to adjust the controller parameters according to the nature of the process. Thus, for effective control of a heating, cooling and air-conditioning (HVAC) application, for example, specific values need to be chosen for the P, I and D parameters, which will be different for the values required to control, for example, a distillation column. This …


Controlled Braking Scheme For A Wheeled Walking Aid, Eugene Coyle, Aidan O'Dwyer, Eileen Young, Kevin Sullivan, A. Toner Jan 2006

Controlled Braking Scheme For A Wheeled Walking Aid, Eugene Coyle, Aidan O'Dwyer, Eileen Young, Kevin Sullivan, A. Toner

Conference papers

A wheeled walking aid with an embedded controlled braking system is described. The frame of the prototype is based on combining features of standard available wheeled walking aids. A braking scheme has been designed using hydraulic disc brakes to facilitate accurate and sensitive controlled stopping of the walker by the user, and if called upon, by automatic action. Braking force is modulated via a linear actuating stepping motor. A microcontroller is used for control of both stepper movement and for supervisory control. An encoder is used to supervise walker movement in terms of time, distance and speed.


An Approach To Teaching Pid Controller Tuning, Aidan O'Dwyer Jan 2006

An Approach To Teaching Pid Controller Tuning, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This paper discusses an approach to the teaching of PID controller tuning methods to students in control engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology. The method involves analytically calculating the gain margin, phase margin and maximum sensitivity for PI and PID controlled systems whose process is modelled in first order lag plus time delay (FOLPD) form. Students can examine the performance of many tuning rules from graphical results, allowing insight to be developed as to the most rational choice of the tuning rule for the application. Some preliminary work done to develop an expert system to allow a greater automation of …


Synthesising Life-Sciences And Control Engineering: An Outline Survey And A Practical Example, Aidan O'Dwyer Jan 2006

Synthesising Life-Sciences And Control Engineering: An Outline Survey And A Practical Example, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

There is an increasing interest in life science related areas in the electrical and control engineering community [1]. One manifestation of this interest is the development of interdisciplinary programmes, such as the B.Sc. in Medical Physics and Bioengineering, offered by the Dublin Institute of Technology from September 2005. A significant amount of research work in control engineering has focused on aspects of human physiological system, for example blood glucose regulation [2], cardiovascular modelling and control [3], and limb control [4]. There is an increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary research; in recognition of this, the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) has starting …