Controls and Control Theory Commons^™

Feedback Stabilization At Spear3, Daniel Kelley, Jeff Corbett

STAR Program Research Presentations

The SPEAR3 synchrotron lightsource at SLAC relies on a sophisticated radio frequency (RF) timing system to maintain current – electrons – in the storage ring. One problem SPEAR3 operators have dealt with is the thermal expansion of one of the cables supporting this RF timing system. As the cable expands and contracts with the diurnal rise and fall of the sun, the phase of the RF in the cable shifts. This shifting phase affects the timing accuracy of electron injections into the storage ring.

A common feedback control algorithm PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) has countless applications in engineering. PID feedback …

Design Of An Energy Efficient Virtual End Node Client Using Openadr2.0a And Smap, Kevin Navero

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Demand Response (DR) describes the set of actions taken to impose a reduction in electrical loads to stabilize the power grid and decrease costs. It is used when power grid emergencies or extremely high demand and congestion, threaten the electricity supply-demand balance. Automated Demand Response (ADR) describes a web-based control system that triggers DR events automatically by signaling other pre-programmed control systems. This project intends to use the OpenADR2.0 specifications provided by the OpenADR Alliance to construct an open source Virtual End Node (VEN) client to retrieve DR signals. The Simple Measurement and Actuation Profile (sMAP) software is also used …

Control System Infrastructure For The Cal Poly Human Powered Helicopter: Upturn Ii, Douglas A. Thornber, Samuel J. Wahyou

Aerospace Engineering

The Upturn was donated to Cal Poly in October 2012 by Neal Saiki from NTS. Our project was to replicate the old system to decrease the turn-around time in case of a crash during a test flight. The control system for the Upturn II was designed with the same considerations that were used for the Upturn. The result we got was inconclusive for the sensor selection, the new control system is heavier than the old system, and we couldn’t validate the system without doing a flight test. For the next iteration if some of the replication requirements are relaxed the …

Low-Cost Imu Implementation Via Sensor Fusion Algorithms In The Arduino Environment, Brandon Mccarron

Aerospace Engineering

A multi-phase experiment was conducted at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA, to design a low-cost inertial measurement unit composed of a 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope. Utilizing the growing microprocessor software environment, a 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope simulated 6 degrees of freedom orientation sensing through sensor fusion. By analyzing a simple complimentary filter and a more complex Kalman filter, the outputs of each sensor were combined and took advantage of the benefits of both sensors to improved results. Gyroscopic drift was removed in the pitch and roll axes using the Kalman filter for both static and dynamic …

Meat Smoker, Rhianna Topp

Electrical Engineering

This Senior Project consists of designing and building a meat smoker. The design of this meat smoker incorporates knowledge of control systems, programming, hardware, and materials manufacturing. This smoker is made to allow the user an easy experience of smoking food. The smoker provides the user with a programmable temperature and timer. It also has an automatic wood chip loader as deemed necessary to keep the correct amount of smoke distributed. Lastly, this smoker has an automatic application of the user’s choice of liquid to the meat. By designing a smoker with these capabilities, an untrained person desiring to smoke …

Voltage Stability Analysis Using Simulated Synchrophasor Measurements, Allan Agatep

Master's Theses

An increase in demand for electric power has forced utility transmission systems to continuously operate under stressed conditions, which are close to instability limits. Operating power systems under such conditions along with inadequate reactive power reserves initiates a sequence of voltage instability points and can ultimately lead to a system voltage collapse. Significant research have been focused on time-synchronized measurements of power systems which can be used to frequently determine the state of a power system and can lead to a more robust protection, control and operation performance. This thesis discusses the applicability of two voltage stability synchrophasor-based indices from …

Modeling And Analysis Of A Dynamic Voltage Regulator, Timothy David Haskell

Master's Theses

Increased government funding and incentives in recent years has led to an increase in the number of grid-tied renewable energy sources as their economic benefits become more renowned. Unfortunately, the outputs of these renewable resources are often highly variable, resulting in undesirable voltage disruptions that are harmful to sensitive loads. In addition to the energy variability of renewable energy sources, random voltage sags, swells and disruptions are already a major issue in power systems. Recent advances in power electronic devices have provided a platform for new solutions to the voltage support problem in power systems. One promising solution is the …

Caddy: A 2005 Roborodentia Entry With Vision And Path Planning Abilities, Taylor Braun-Jones

Computer Engineering

Roborodentia is an autonomous robotics competition held each year during Cal Poly’s Open House. For the 2005 competition, robot entries needed to navigate a maze searching for three randomly placed golf balls, collect them, and then deposit the balls in the “nest” at the end of the maze. A newly added aspect for the 2005 competition included two bonus balls that were placed on a platform behind the wall in two predetermined corners of the maze.

Caddy is a robot that was entered into the 2005 Roborodentia competition. Caddy included a vision system that allowed searching for balls down untraveled …

Geothermal Injection Well Monitoring, Timothy Rempher

Electrical Engineering

People depend on electricity all over the world. They depend on it for anything from drying their hair to global communications to heating up food. Many methods of power generation exist, each using a different fuel such as nuclear power, natural gas, coal, wind or the sun. This project focuses on a power plant which uses the naturally hot water in the ground to generate electricity. This process of generating power is called “Geothermal.” This project consists of two parts. The first and major part is the design logic of a PLC program that monitors the flow rate of an …