Controls and Control Theory Commons^™

Data Driven And Machine Learning Based Modeling And Predictive Control Of Combustion At Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition Engines, Behrouz Khoshbakht Irdmousa

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) engines operates has capacity to provide higher thermal efficiency, lower particular matter (PM), and lower oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions compared to conventional diesel combustion (CDC) operation. Achieving these benefits is difficult since real-time optimal control of RCCI engines is challenging during transient operation. To overcome these challenges, data-driven machine learning based control-oriented models are developed in this study. These models are developed based on Linear Parameter-Varying (LPV) modeling approach and input-output based Kernelized Canonical Correlation Analysis (KCCA) approach. The developed dynamic models are used to predict combustion timing (CA50), indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP), …

Implementation And Optimization Of Multi-Resonance And Phase Control Of The Electrical Power Take-Off On A Wec Array For Improved Performance, Madelyn G. Veurink

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Many governments around the world are pledging to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels as they look to curb the amount of green house gasses they release into the atmosphere. These green house gasses are what scientists blame for global warming and the recent increase in extreme weather events. Producing electricity is one of the largest producers of these gasses but utilizing renewable sources can greatly decrease the amount of green house gasses produced. Common forms of renewable energies are wind and solar and both of these green energies have reached a state of maturation where they are economically viable …

Model Predictive Control Of Energy Systems For Heat And Power Applications, Chethan Ramakrishna Reddy

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Building and transportation sectors together account for two-thirds of the total energy consumption in the US. There is a need to make these energy systems (i.e., buildings and vehicles) more energy efficient. One way to make grid-connected buildings more energy efficient is to integrate the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system of the building with a micro-scale concentrated solar power (MicroCSP) sys- tem. Additionally, one way to make vehicles driven by internal combustion engine (ICE) more energy efficient is by integrating the ICE with a waste heat recovery (WHR) system. But, both the resulting energy systems need a smart …

Study Of Electric Vehicle Smart Charging And Energy Management For Vehicle-Grid Integration Systems, Zhouquan Wu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The emerging need of building an efficient Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure requires the investigation of all aspects of Vehicle-Grid Integration (VGI). This dissertation studies the optimal EV charging control and energy management of VGI system to address the economic benefits of EV charging customers and operation stability of distribution power grids. First of all, a centralized EV charging control method is developed under the transactive energy environment to minimize the EV charging cost and avoid the distribution power grid overloading. The quadratic programming is used to obtain optimized charging control actions. Case studies with hundreds of EVs are conducted …

Stability Approximation Method For Pulse Loads In Power Electronic Systems, Eduardo A. Marmol D

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Pulse loads on power electronic distribution systems are becoming very popular nowadays as the components of ships and airplanes are moving to more electric power. However, the pulse loads have a destabilizing effect on the power distribution system. Usually, the method used to study the stability of this type of system are small-signal analyses and are based on a system where the load is modeled as a constant. Since DC-DC systems with pulsed loads are very nonlinear, a small-signal analysis does not provide helpful information related to the stability of the system. The work presented in this thesis focuses on …

Self-Oscillating Induction Heater, Patrick Rice

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This report develops a control system to keep an induction heater in resonance. When a metallic workpiece is inserted in the air core of the workcoil, the resonant frequency changes. Different workpiece materials affect the resonant frequency and power. This presents a problem since changing the resonant frequency of the circuit while keeping the frequency constant reduces the maximum power of the circuit. Finite element analysis is used to find the circuit parameters of the workcoil and workpiece interaction. A non-linear controller which oscillates based on the resonant frequency of an LC tank is created. Nyquist and describing function analysis …

Nonlinear Model Predictive Control Of Wave Energy Converter, Isha Malekar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In this report model predictive control (MPC) is applied to a simulated, spherical, point absorber wave energy converter to maximize energy extraction. Constraints are applied to the buoy's displacement and the power take-off (PTO) generator force. The WEC's "truth” model uses nonlinear Froude-Krylov (FK) hydrostatic and hydrodynamic forces. This is in contrast with previous studies where linear approximations are used in the form of a hydrostatic stiffness force and a wave excitation force. The nonlinear forces become significant when the vertical displacement of the buoy exceeds about 40% of the buoy's radius. Two versions of MPC are compared where optimal …

Integration Of Robotic And Electro-Pneumatic Systems Using Advanced Control And Communication Schemes, Chinmay Kondekar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Modern industrial automation systems are designed by interconnecting various subsystems which work together to perform a process. The thesis project aims to integrate fragmented subsystems into a flexible and reconfigurable system through advanced communication protocols and perform a process to demonstrate the effectiveness of interconnected systems.

The system consists of three six-axis robots, one electro-pneumatic robot, and two conveyors connected using EthernetIP communication and hardwired connections. The interconnected system works together to perform machining of a workpiece using advanced control methods of CAD to robot path generation, central control through a PLC, and process control through HMI.

Standardized programming blocks …

Development Of Autonomous Vehicle Motion Planning And Control Algorithm With D* Planner And Model Predictive Control In A Dynamic Environment, Somnath Mondal

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The research in this report incorporates the improvement in the autonomous driving capability of self-driving cars in a dynamic environment. Global and local path planning are implemented using the D* path planning algorithm with a combined Cubic B-Spline trajectory generator, which generates an optimal obstacle free trajectory for the vehicle to follow and avoid collision. Model Predictive Control (MPC) is used for the longitudinal and the lateral control of the vehicle. The presented motion planning and control algorithm is tested using Model-In-the-Loop (MIL) method with the help of MATLAB® Driving Scenario Designer and Unreal Engine® Simulator by Epic Games®. Different …

Development Of An Eco Approach And Departure Application To Improve Energy Consumption Of A Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle In Charge Depleting Mode, Brandon Narodzonek

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

A recent study at Michigan Technological University as part of the NEXTCAR DOE APRA-E Project was conducted to determine the potential energy savings of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) equipped with various Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) Technologies. One aspect of this study focused on the development of an Eco Approach and Departure (Eco AnD) Application that would further reduce the energy consumed around a signalized intersection.

Many modern intersections are equipped with traffic signals that can broadcast Basic Safety (BSM), MAP, and Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) message sets that contain intersection ID, location, current phase, and cyclic …

Sensor Fusion And Non-Linear Mpc Controller Development Studies For Intelligent Autonomous Vehicular Systems, Ahammad Basha Dudekula

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The demand for safety and fuel efficiency on ground vehicles and advancement in embedded systems created the opportunity to develop Autonomous controller. The present thesis work is three fold and it encompasses all elements that are required to prototype the autonomous intelligent system including simulation, state handling and real time implementation. The Autonomous vehicle operation is mainly dependent upon accurate state estimation and thus a major concern of implementing the autonomous navigation is obtaining robust and accurate data from sensors. This is especially true, in case of Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor data. The IMU consists of a 3-axis gyro, …

Identification Of Heat Release Shapes And Combustion Control Of An Ltc Engine, Radhika Sitaraman

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) regimes have gained attention in internal combustion engines since they deliver low nitrogen oxides (NOx) and soot emissions with higher thermal efficiency and better combustion efficiency, compared to conventional combustion regimes. However, the operating region of these high-efficiency combustion regimes is limited as it is prone to knocking and high in-cylinder pressure rise rate outside the engine safe zone. By allowing multi-regime operation, high-efficiency region of the engine is extended. To control these complex engines, understanding and identification of heat release rate shapes is essential. Experimental data collected from a 2 liter 4 cylinder LTC engine …

Real-Time Predictive Control Of Connected Vehicle Powertrains For Improved Energy Efficiency, Joseph Oncken

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The continued push for the reduction of energy consumption across the automotive vehicle fleet has led to widespread adoption of hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) by auto manufacturers. In addition, connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies have seen rapid development in recent years and bring with them the potential to significantly impact vehicle energy consumption. This dissertation studies predictive control methods for PHEV powertrains that are enabled by CAV technologies with the goal of reducing vehicle energy consumption.

First, a real-time predictive powertrain controller for PHEV energy management is developed. This controller utilizes predictions of future vehicle velocity …

A Study Of Model-Based Control Strategy For A Gasoline Turbocharged Direct Injection Spark Ignited Engine, Xin Wang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

To meet increasingly stringent fuel economy and emissions legislation, more advanced technologies have been added to spark-ignition (SI) engines, thus exponentially increase the complexity and calibration work of traditional map-based engine control. To achieve better engine performance without introducing significant calibration efforts and make the developed control system easily adapt to future engines upgrades and designs, this research proposes a model-based optimal control system for cycle-by-cycle Gasoline Turbocharged Direct Injection (GTDI) SI engine control, which aims to deliver the requested torque output and operate the engine to achieve the best achievable fuel economy and minimum emission under wide range of …

Online Learning Of The Spatial-Temporal Channel Variation In Underwater Acoustic Communication Networks, Wensheng Sun

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Influenced by environmental conditions, underwater acoustic (UWA) communication channels exhibit spatial and temporal variations, posing significant challenges for UWA networking and applications. This dissertation develops statistical signal processing approaches to model and predict variations of the channel and relevant environmental factors. Firstly, extensive field experiments are conducted in the Great Lakes region. Three types of the freshwater river/lake acoustic channels are characterized in the aspects of statistical channel variations and sound propagation loss, including stationary, mobile and under-ice acoustic channels. Statistical data analysis shows that relative to oceanic channels, freshwater river/lake channels have larger temporal coherence, higher correlation among densely …

Optimal Power Flow Control Of Networked Dc Microgrids, Eddy H. Trinklein

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The US military is moving toward the electrification of many weapon systems and platforms. Advanced weapon systems such as high energy radar, electro-magnetic kinetic weapons and directed energy pose significant integration challenges due to their pulsed power electrical load profile. Additionally, the weapons platforms, including ships, aircraft, and vehicles can be studied as a mobile microgrids with multiple generation sources, loads, and energy storage. There is also a desire to extend the mission profile and capabilities of these systems. Common goals are to increase fuel efficiency, maintaining system stability, and reduce energy storage size as typically required to enable pulsed …

Estimation And Prediction Of The Human Gait Dynamics For The Control Of An Ankle-Foot Prosthesis, Guilherme Aramizo Ribeiro

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

With the growing population of amputees, powered prostheses can be a solution to improve the quality of life for many people. Powered ankle-foot prostheses can be made to behave similar to the lost limb via controllers that emulate the mechanical impedance of the human ankle. Therefore, the understanding of human ankle dynamics is of major significance. First, this work reports the modulation of the mechanical impedance via two mechanisms: the co-contraction of the calf muscles and a change of mean ankle torque and angle. Then, the mechanical impedance of the ankle was determined, for the first time, as a multivariable …

Modeling And Control Of Maximum Pressure Rise Rate In Rcci Engines, Aditya Basina

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) is a combustion strategy that burns fuel at lower temperatures and leaner mixtures in order to achieve high efficiency and near zero NOx emissions. Since the combustion happens at lower temperatures it inhibits the formation of NOx and soot emissions. One such strategy is Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI). One characteristic of RCCI combustion and LTC com- bustion in general is short burn durations which leads to high Pressure Rise Rates (PRR). This limits the operation of these engines to lower loads as at high loads, the Maximum Pressure Rise Rate (MPRR) hinders the use of …

Networked Microgrid Optimization And Energy Management, Robert S. Jane

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Military vehicles possess attributes consistent with a microgrid, containing electrical energy generation, storage, government furnished equipment (GFE), and the ability to share these capabilities via interconnection. Many military vehicles have significant energy storage capacity to satisfy silent watch requirements, making them particularly well-suited to share their energy storage capabilities with stationary microgrids for more efficient energy management. Further, the energy generation capacity and the fuel consumption rate of the vehicles are comparable to standard diesel generators, for certain scenarios, the use of the vehicles could result in more efficient operation. Energy management of a microgrid is an open area of …

Effect Of Sensor Errors On Autonomous Steering Control And Application Of Sensor Fusion For Robust Navigation, Shuvodeep Bhattacharjya

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Autonomous steering control is one the most important features in autonomous vehicle navigation. The nature and tuning of the controller decides how well the vehicle follows a defined trajectory. A poorly tuned controller can cause the vehicle to oversteer or understeer at turns leading to deviation from a defined path. However, controller performance also depends on the state–feedback system. If the states used for controller input are noisy or has bias / systematic error, the navigation performance of the vehicle is affected irrespective of the control law and controller tuning. In this report, autonomous steering controller analysis is done for …

Design And Optimization Of An Electromagnetic Railgun, Nihar S. Brahmbhatt

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Railgun is a future weapon for shooting long-range targets with high accuracy. Railgun is an economical weapon as it does not use any kind of propellant for shooting a projectile. It uses high impulsive current to generate the necessary force required to hit the target. The US Navy has been planning to implement railgun system on ships as their long-range shooting weapon. Railgun needs to be charged up to a certain voltage level to generate the necessary force to shoot the projectile to achieve the specified target location. It is very important that minimal voltage is required for shooting the …

Electro-Mechanical-Thermal Modeling And Stability Of Pulsed Power Loads On A Dc Network, Joshua Allen Dillon

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Modern military aircraft are developing larger pulsed power loads varying from new weapon technologies to advanced avionics and other electrical equipment. Pulsing power loads emulate a pulse width modulated signal which have non-linear destabilizing effects on the electrical system. Additionally, these devices have thermal properties that can induce electrical stability issues at low and high temperatures and various pulsing load conditions. These non-linear electrical stability issues carry through to the mechanical and thermal systems of the aircraft and can damage components. The MATLAB/Simulink workspace is used to simulate a non-linear model of an aircraft’s electrical-mechanicalthermal (EMT) system. This system includes …

Resource Optimization In Wireless Sensor Networks For An Improved Field Coverage And Cooperative Target Tracking, Husam Sweidan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

There are various challenges that face a wireless sensor network (WSN) that mainly originate from the limited resources a sensor node usually has. A sensor node often relies on a battery as a power supply which, due to its limited capacity, tends to shorten the life-time of the node and the network as a whole. Other challenges arise from the limited capabilities of the sensors/actuators a node is equipped with, leading to complication like a poor coverage of the event, or limited mobility in the environment. This dissertation deals with the coverage problem as well as the limited power and …

Cyber-Based Contingency Analysis And Insurance Implications Of Power Grid, Zhiyuan Yang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Cybersecurity for power communication infrastructure is a serious subject that has been discussed for a decade since the first North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) critical infrastructure protection (CIP) initiative in 2006. Its credibility on plausibility has been evidenced by attack events in the recent past. Although this is a "very high impact, rare probability" event, the establishment of quantitative measures would help asset owners in making a series of investment decisions. First, this dissertation tackles attackers' strategies based on the current communication architecture between remote IP-based (unmanned) power substations and energy control centers. Hypothetically, the identification of intrusion paths …

Energy Storage Control And Requirements For Inverter-Based Microgrids, Mehrzad Mohammadi Bijaieh

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The intermittent nature of distributed renewable sources such as wind or solar requires integration of energy storage systems. In this dissertation a distributed form of the Hamiltonian Surface Shaping and Power Flow Control (HSSPFC) method is used to determine the energy storage requirements of three-phase inverter-based microgrids. The overall control is appropriate to be integrated into a hierarchical control system. As the primary control, a novel dq droop control sets the local references and is supported by a level-zero Hamiltonian controller which includes energy storage feed-forward and feedback, and an inverter feed-forward controls. Here, the energy storage element performs as …

Model-Based Control Of Hybrid Electric Powertrains Integrated With Low Temperature Combustion Engines, Ali Soloukmofrad

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Powertrain electrification including hybridizing advanced combustion engines is a viable cost-effective solution to improve fuel economy of vehicles. This will provide opportunity for narrow-range high-efficiency combustion regimes to be able to operate and consequently improve vehicle’s fuel conversion efficiency, compared to conventional hybrid electric vehicles (HEV)s. Low temperature combustion (LTC) engines offer the highest peak brake thermal efficiency reported in literature, but these engines have narrow operating range. In addition, LTC engines have ultra-low soot and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, compared to conventional compression ignition and spark ignition (SI) engines. This dissertation concentrates on integrating the LTC engines (i) in …

Control Of A Powered Ankle-Foot Prosthesis: From Perception To Impedance Modulation, Guilherme Aramizo Ribeiro

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Active ankle prostheses controllers are demonstrating gaining smart features to improve the safety and comfort offor users. The perception of user intention to modulate the ankle dynamics is a well-known example of such feature. But not much work focused on the perception of the environment, nor how the environment should be included in the mechanical design and control of the prosthesisprostheses. The proposed work aims to improve the feasibility of integrate the environment perception integration intoto the prostheses controllersler, and to define the desired ankle dynamics, as mechanical impedance, duringof the human walk on different environmental settings. As a preliminary …

Easily Verifiable Controller Design With Application To Automotive Powertrains, Mohammad Reza Amini

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Bridging the gap between designed and implemented model-based controllers is a major challenge in the design cycle of industrial controllers. This gap is mainly created due to (i) digital implementation of controller software that introduces sampling and quantization imprecisions via analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), and (ii) uncertainties in the modeled plant’s dynamics, which directly propagate through the controller structure. The failure to identify and handle these implementation and model uncertainties results in undesirable controller performance and costly iterative loops for completing the controller verification and validation (V&V) process.

This PhD dissertation develops a novel theoretical framework to design controllers that are …

Model-Based Control Of An Rcci Engine, Akshat Abhay Raut

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) is a combustion strategy that offers high fuel conversion efficiency and near zero emissions of NOx and soot which can help in improving fuel economy in mobile and stationary internal combustion engine (ICE) applications and at the same time lower engine-out emissions. One of the main challenges associated with RCCI combustion is the difficulty in simultaneously controlling combustion phasing, engine load, and cyclic variability during transient engine operations.

This thesis focuses on developing model based controllers for cycle-to-cycle combustion phasing and load control during transient operations. A control oriented model (COM) is developed by using …

Using Lower Extremity Muscle Activations To Estimate Human Ankle Impedance In The External-Internal Direction, Lauren N. Knop

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

For millions of people, mobility has been afflicted by lower limb amputation. Lower extremity prostheses have been used to improve the mobility of an amputee; however, they often require additional compensation from other joints and do not allow for natural maneuverability. To improve upon the functionality of ankle-foot prostheses, it is necessary to understand the role of different muscle activations in the modulation of mechanical impedance of a healthy human ankle. This report presents the results of using artificial neural networks (ANN) to determine the functional relationship between lower extremity electromyography (EMG) signals and ankle impedance in the transverse plane. …