Precision Motion Control
Dutch high tech industry is constantly pushing requirements of bandwidth, precision and robustness. In semiconductor industry, we move towards ever-increasing production of integrated chips, solar cells and ever decreasing transistor sizes; in healthcare, demand for universally applicable and safe devices is increasing. Linear controllers continue to be working backbone despite their limitations. Nonlinear controllers can significantly improve performance, but they rarely meet industry standards in design and large-scale applicability. Industry compatible advanced nonlinear control can create a new roadmap and potentially lead to large performance upgrades. However, introducing nonlinearity introduces new challenges in design and analysis.
From PID to Complex Order Control (CLOC)
CLOC will develop industry compatible nonlinear controllers capable of improving speed, precision, and accuracy while at the same time ensuring robustness and stability. This will be achieved by realizing complex-order control using reset nonlinearities applied to fractional order approximation techniques. This will result in the first successful practical realization and implementation of complex order controllers that can be directly adopted by the industry.
Nonlinear Precision Control for Flexible Mechatronics
This research focuses on development, validation and verification of advanced nonlinear controllers for precision motion control applications. Industry standard design techniques, accurate frequency domain behaviour analysis methods will be created as part of this project as we attempt to push the boundaries of precision industry.
Toolbox: Frequency Analysis of Reset Control Systems
The novel reset controller design toolbox provides frequency analyses of reset systems in the open-loop and closed-loop. It uses the high order sinusoidal describing function (HOSIDF) analysis to demonstrate the nonlinearity of the system.
Fractional Order Loopshaping Toolbox
The novel fractional order controller design toolbox combines the industry standard loopshaping technique of designing control with fractional order filters for greater freedom in design. This serves as a good base for control engineers in industry to experiment with and employ fractional order filters in their control design. With different fractional order approximation techniques being part of toolbox, it also serves as an educational tool for students.
