Improved Hybrid Robust Control Method for the Electromechanical Actuator in Aircrafts

In the flight process of aircrafts, their electromechanical actuators（EMA） must have the ability of enduring uncertainties caused by factors such as load disturbance, the variation of work temperature and the EMA＇s nonlinearity. At present, in order to increase the EMA＇s robustness on the uncertainties, the H, control method has been applied in aircrafts. The major problems with standard H∞ control lie in the large overshoot of step response and the high orders of the controller. For the purpose of addressing the two problems, this paper investigates several kinds of robust control strategies of the EMA. A mathematical model of the EMA is first built, and then with MATLAB software a H∞ controller and an improved hybrid robust controller composed of a reduced order H∞controller and a lead compensator are designed. In order to make a scientific comparison of the control effects of H∞ controller, hybrid controller and classic proportion-integral-differential（PID） controller, a simulation research is made in respect of the open loop frequency response and the closed loop step response of the three controllers. For comparing the robustness of the three controllers, the load torque is entered as a disturbance and the disturbance response of error and control input are thus obtained. The experiments with the three controllers are also conducted. Through giving the EMA a command and a disturbance torque successively, the transient response and disturbing process of EMA are recorded. The simulation and experiment results show that with the help of the hybrid controller, the EMA not only guarantees good dynamic characteristics, but also has strong robustness of disturbance rejection. Therefore, the excogitated H∞ hybrid control method effectively solves the problem of large overshoot in dynamic response, and moderately meets the requirement of overcoming the uncertainties in the EMA of aircrafts.

Research and Design of Coordinated Control Strategy for Smart Electromechanical Actuator System

In order to improve the frequency response and anti-interference characteristics of the smart electromechanical actuator(EMA)system,and aiming at the force fighting problem when multiple actuators work synchronously,a multi input multi output(MIMO)position difference cross coupling control coordinated strategy based on double‑closed-loop load feedforward control is proposed and designed.In this strategy,the singular value method of return difference matrix is used to design the parameter range that meets the requirements of system stability margin,and the sensitivity function and the H_(∞)norm theory are used to design and determine the optimal solution in the obtained parameter stability region,so that the multi actuator system has excellent synchronization,stability and anti-interference.At the same time,the mathematical model of the integrated smart EMA system is established.According to the requirements of point-to-point control,the controller of double-loop control and load feedforward compensation is determined and designed to improve the frequency response and anti-interference ability of single actuator.Finally,the 270 V high-voltage smart EMA system experimental platform is built,and the frequency response,load feedforward compensation and coordinated control experiments are carried out to verify the correctness of the position difference cross coupling control strategy and the rationality of the parameter design,so that the system can reach the servo control indexes of bandwidth 6 Hz,the maximum output force 20000 N and the synchronization error≤0.1 mm,which effectively solves the problem of force fighting.

Active Fault Tolerant Nonsingular Terminal Sliding Mode Control for Electromechanical System Based on Support Vector Machine

Effective fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control method for aeronautics electromechanical actuator is concerned in this paper.By borrowing the advantages of model-driven and data-driven methods,a fault tolerant nonsingular terminal sliding mode control method based on support vector machine(SVM)is proposed.A SVM is designed to estimate the fault by off-line learning from small sample data with solving convex quadratic programming method and is introduced into a high-gain observer,so as to improve the state estimation and fault detection accuracy when the fault occurs.The state estimation value of the observer is used for state reconfiguration.A novel nonsingular terminal sliding mode surface is designed,and Lyapunov theorem is used to derive a parameter adaptation law and a control law.It is guaranteed that the proposed controller can achieve asymptotical stability which is superior to many advanced fault-tolerant controllers.In addition,the parameter estimation also can help to diagnose the system faults because the faults can be reflected by the parameters variation.Extensive comparative simulation and experimental results illustrate the effectiveness and advancement of the proposed controller compared with several other main-stream controllers.

Modelling and simulation of flight control electromechanical actuators with special focus on model architecting, multidisciplinary effects and power flows

In the aerospace field, electromechanical actuators are increasingly being implemented in place of conventional hydraulic actuators. For safety-critical embedded actuation applications like flight controls, the use of electromechanical actuators introduces specific issues related to thermal balance, reflected inertia, parasitic motion due to compliance and response to failure. Unfortunately, the physical effects governing the actuator behaviour are multidisciplinary, coupled and nonlinear. Although numerous multi-domain and system-level simulation packages are now available on the market, these effects are rarely addressed as a whole because of a lack of scientific approaches for model architecting, multi-purpose incremental modelling and judicious model implementation. In this publication, virtual prototyping of electromechanical actuators is addressed using the Bond-Graph formalism. New approaches are proposed to enable incremental modelling,thermal balance analysis, response to free-run or jamming faults, impact of compliance on parasitic motion, and influence of temperature. A special focus is placed on friction and compliance of the mechanical transmission with fault injection and temperature dependence. Aileron actuation is used to highlight the proposals for control design, energy consumption and thermal analysis, power network pollution analysis and fault response.

Output constrained IMC controllers in control systems of electromechanical actuators

Electromechanical actuators are widely used in many industrial applications. There are usually some constraints existing in a designed system. This paper proposes a simple method to design constrained controllers for electromechanical actuators. The controllers merge the ideas exploited in internal model control and model predictive control. They are designed using the standard control system structure with unity negative feedback. The structure of the controllers is relatively simple as well as the design process. The output constraint handling mechanism is based on prediction of the control plant behavior many time steps ahead. The mechanism increases control performance and safety of the control plant. The benefits offered by the proposed controllers have been demonstrated in real-life experiments carried out in control systems of two electromechanical actuators： a DC motor and an electrohydraulic actuator.

Theoretical study of the electroactive bistable actuator and regulation methods

Dielectric elastomer actuators have attracted growing interest for soft robot due to their large deformation and fast response.However,continuous high-voltage loading tends to cause the electric breakdown of the actuator due to heat accumulation,and viscoelasticity complicates precise control.The snap-through bistability of the Venus flytrap is one of the essential inspirations for bionic structure,which can be adopted to improve the shortcoming of dielectric elastomer actuators and develop a new actuation structure with low energy consumption,variable configuration,and multi-mode actuation.Hence,in this paper,the structural design principles of electroactive bistable actuators are first presented based on the total potential energy of the structure.Following that,a feasible design parameter region is provided,the influence of crucial parameters on the actuation stroke,trigger voltage,and actuation charge are discussed.Finally,according to the coupling relationship between the bending stiffness and the bistable property of the actuator,the adjusting methods of bistable actuation are explored.A qualitative experiment was performed to verify the feasibility and correctness of the bistable design methodology and the actuation regulation strategy.This study provides significant theoretical guidance and technical support for developing and applying dielectric elastomer actuators with multi-mode,high-performance,and long-life characteristics.

Multi-level virtual prototyping of electromechanical actuation system for more electric aircraft

Electromechanical actuators（EMAs） are becoming increasingly attractive in the field of more electric aircraft because of their outstanding benefits, which include reduced fuel burn and maintenance cost, enhanced system flexibility, and improved management of fault detection and isolation. However, electromechanical actuation raises specific issues when being used for safetycritical aerospace applications like flight controls： huge reflected inertia to load, jamming-type failure, and increase of backlash with service due to wear and local dissipation of heat losses for thermal balance. This study proposes an incremental approach for virtual prototyping of EMAs. It is driven by a model-based system engineering process in order to enable simulation-aided design.Best practices supported by Bond graph formalism are suggested to develop a model＇s structure efficiently and to make the model ready for use（or extension） by addressing the above mentioned issues. Physical effects are progressively introduced, and the realism of lumped-parameter models is increased step-by-step. In particular, multi-level component models are architected to ensure continuity between engineering activities. The models are implemented in the AMESim simulation environment, and simulation responses are given to illustrate how they can be used for preliminary sizing, control design, thermal balance verification, and faults to failure analysis. The proposed best practices intend to provide engineers with fast, reusable, and efficient means to assess performance virtually and enhance maturity, performance, and robustness.

Application of a Robust Model Reference Adaptive Control Algorithm to a Nonlinear Automotive Actuator

Model reference adaptive control is a viable control method to impose the demanded dynamics on plants whose parameters are affected by large uncertainty. In this paper, we show by means of experiments that robust adaptive methods can effectively face nonlinearities that are common to many automotive electromechanical devices. We consider here, as a representative case study, the control of a strongly nonlinear automotive actuator. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the method to cope with unmodeled nonlinear terms and unknown parameters. In addition, the engineering performance indexes computed on experimental data clearly show that the robust adaptive strategy provides better performance compared with those given by a classical model-based control solution with fixed gains.

Artificial muscles driven by the cooperative actuation of electrochemical molecular machines.Persistent discrepancies and challenges

Here we review the persisting conceptual discrepancies between different research groups working on artificial muscles based on conducting polymers and other electroactive material.The basic question is if they can be treated as traditional electro-mechanical(physical)actuators driven by electric fields and described by some adaptation of their physical models or if,replicating natural muscles,they are electro-chemo-mechanical actuators driven by electrochemical reaction of the constitutive molecular machines:the polymeric chains.In that case the charge consumed by the reaction will control the volume variation of the muscular material and the motor displacement,following the basic and single Faraday’s laws:the charge consumed by the reaction determines the number of exchanged ions and solvent,the film volume variation to lodge/expel them and the amplitude of the movement.Deviations from the linear relationships are due to the osmotic exchange of solvent and to the presence of parallel reactions from the electrolyte,which originate creeping effects.Challenges and limitations are underlined.

Review on signal-by-wire and power-by-wire actuation for more electric aircraft

The huge and rapid progress in electric drives offers new opportunities to improve the performances of aircraft at all levels：fuel burn,environmental footprint,safety,integration and production,serviceability,and maintainability.Actuation for safety-critical applications like flight-controls,landing gears,and even engines is one of the major consumers of non-propulsive power.Conventional actuation with centralized hydraulic power generation and distribution and control of power by throttling has been well established for decades,but offers a limited potential of evolution.In this context,electric drives become more and more attractive to remove the natural drawbacks of conventional actuation and to offer new opportunities for improving performance.This paper takes the stock,at both the signal and power levels,of the evolution of actuation for safety-critical applications in aerospace.It focuses on the recent advances and the remaining challenges to be taken toward full electrical actuation for commercial and military aircraft,helicopters,and launchers.It logically starts by emphasizing the specificity of safety-critical actuation for aerospace.The following section addresses in details the evolution of aerospace actuation from mechanically-signaled and hydraulically-supplied to all electric,with special emphasis on research and development programs and on solutions entered into service.Finally,the last section reviews the challenges to be taken to generalize the use of all-electric actuators for future aircraft programs.