Simulating a fuzzy level controller for flotation columns

Level control in flotation columns is an important factor that influences the recovery and the grade of concentrate from the column. A flotation column is a nonlinear, multi-variable problem with changeable parameters that traditional methods have difficulty controlling. We have applied fuzzy control methods to the flotation column and tested the performance of the design by Matlab/Simulink simulation. The simulations show that level control in the flotation column becomes smoother and more rapid with the fuzzy controller. Compared to PID control methods the overshoot in valve position, the adjustment time, and the robustness of the controller are all improved. This indicates that it is suitable to model fuzzy controllers in applications for the study of automatic control of flotation column.

Application of Fuzzy Logic Controller to Level Control of Twin-Roll Strip Casting

An intelligent fuzzy-PID controller consisting of fuzzy logic controller and PID controller was developed to control the molten steel level of twin-roll strip caster.Additionally,a feedforward differential PID controller was used for stopper position control in order to avoid differential kick.It is proved by simulation that the proposed intelligent controller is able to obtain zero steady state error asymptotically and the control system is robust due to its fuggy behavior of the controller.

Experimental analysis on adjusting performance of vapor-liquid two-phase flow controller

The vapor-liquid self-adjusting controller is an innovative automatic regulating valve.In order to ensure adjusted objects run safely and economically,the controller automatically adjusts the liquid flux to keep liquid level at a required level according to physical properties of vapor-liquid two-phase fluid.The adjusting mechanics,the controller’s performance and influencing factors of its stability have been analyzed in this paper.The theoretical analysis and successful applications have demonstrated this controller can keep the liquid level steady with good performance.The actual application in industry has shown that the controller can satisfactorily meet the requirement of industrial production and has wide application areas.

Fuzzy Sliding Mode Control for the Vehicle Height and Leveling Adjustment System of an Electronic Air Suspension

The accurate control for the vehicle height and leveling adjustment system of an electronic air suspension(EAS) still is a challenging problem that has not been effectively solved in prior researches. This paper proposes a new adaptive controller to control the vehicle height and to adjust the roll and pitch angles of the vehicle body(leveling control) during the vehicle height adjustment procedures by an EAS system. A nonlinear mechanism model of the full?car vehicle height adjustment system is established to reflect the system dynamic behaviors and to derive the system optimal control law. To deal with the nonlinear characters in the vehicle height and leveling adjustment processes, the nonlinear system model is globally linearized through the state feedback method. On this basis, a fuzzy sliding mode controller(FSMC) is designed to improve the control accuracy of the vehicle height adjustment and to reduce the peak values of the roll and pitch angles of the vehicle body. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed control method more accurately, the full?car EAS system model programmed using AMESim is also given. Then, the co?simulation study of the FSMC performance can be conducted. Finally, actual vehicle tests are performed with a city bus, and the test results illustrate that the vehicle height adjustment performance is effectively guaranteed by the FSMC, and the peak values of the roll and pitch angles of the vehicle body during the vehicle height adjustment procedures are also reduced significantly. This research proposes an effective control methodology for the vehicle height and leveling adjustment system of an EAS, which provides a favorable control performance for the system.

Hybrid Level of Detail Algorithm for Real-Time Rendering of Large-Scale Terrain

Hybrid level of detail （LOD） （HLOD） algorithm based on discrete LOD and continuous LOD is presented for real-time rendering of large-scale terrains. There are n HLOD models created off-line, which form a pyramid with n layers. Each of these models contains countless versions of the model at various levels of detail. When rendering, the corresponding models in some layer will be chosen. As the viewer＇s moves, either the continuous LOD algorithm will be applied to the selected models, or the visible models in another layer will be selected. An experiment on a triangular irregular network（TIN） terrain model was performed respectively using discrete LOD, continuous LOD and HLOD. The experimental results show that the HLOD algorithm exceeds the other two kinds of LOD in frame rate without reduction of terrain＇s fidelity.

The Main Biological Hazards in Animal Biosafety Level 2 Facilities and Strategies for Control

Concern about the biological hazards involved in microbiological research, especially research involving laboratory animals, has increased in recent years. Working in an animal biosafety level 2 facility （ABSL-2）, commonly used for research on infectious diseases, poses various biological hazards. Here, the regulations and standards related to laboratory biosafety in China are introduced, the potential biological hazards present in ABSL-2 facilities are analyzed, and a series of strategies to control the hazards are presented.

Algorithm of Dynamic Operation Process of Hydraulic Automatically Operated Canals with Constant-Downstream Level Gates

On the basis of analysis the governing process of downstream water level gates AVIO and AVIS, a mathematical model for simulation of dynamic operation process of hydraulically automated irrigation canals instalIed with AVIO and AVIS gates is presented, the main point of this rnathematical model is firstly applying a set of unsteady flow equations （St. Venant equations here） and treating the condition of gate movement as its dynamic boundary, and then deeoupling this interaction of gate movement with the change of canal flow. In this process, it is necessary to give the gateg open-loop transfer function whose input is water level deviation and output is gate discharge. The result of this simulation for a practical reach has shown it has satisfactory accuracy.

Strategy for Controlling the Level in a Dissolved Air Flotation Chamber

The aim of the present study was to implant an efficient strategy for controlling the level of the effluent-oily foam interface in a DAF （dissolved air flotation） chamber of a pilot-scale prototype. DAF has been successfully used in the treatment of oily water, which is one of the main environmental problems in different industrial facilities. Along with important operational parameters, such as microbubble size and flow rate, the control strategy for the automation of a DAF chamber may be an important tool for increasing efficiency. Controlling the level was the strategy chosen to enhance the separation efficiency in a pilot-scale DAF prototype, with monitoring performed using a computational program in LabVIEW （laboratory virtual instrument engineering workbench）. The findings demonstrate that it is possible to maintain the level of the fluid at a reference value established by the operator using the software program through the application of classic proportional integral derivative controllers. Using this control tool, the efficiency of water-oil separation in the pilot flotation chamber prototype was increased to nearly 98%.

Non-Linear Tank Level Control for Industrial Applications

Tank level control is ubiquitous in industry. The focus of this paper is on accurate liquid level control in single tank systems which can be actuated continuously and modulation of the level setpoint is also required, for example in cascade control loops or supervisory Model Predictive Control (MPC) applications. To avoid common problems encountered when using fixed gain or adaptive/gain scheduled schemes, an accurate technique based around feedback linearization and Proportional Integral (PI) control is introduced. This simple controller can maintain linear performance over the full operating range of a uniform tank. As will be demonstrated, the implementation overhead compared to a regular PI controller is negligible, making it ideal for industrial implementation. Implementation details and parameter identification for adaptive implementation are discussed. Simulations coupled with experimental results using a large-scale laboratory level control system using commercial industrial control equipment validate the approach, and illustrate its effectiveness for both level tracking and disturbance rejection.

Primary Function of Microcontroller EM78P458 and Research on Applications of Its ADC on Chip

The build-in structure of microcontroller EM78P458 and its application in supervising the water level of solar water heater are introduced. The circuit and the flow chart of AD conversion program are depicted. In the end, the design of assembly language program about the AD conversion is introduced.

A leveling mechanism for the platform based on booms-constraint control of aerial vehicle

In order to achieve an automatic leveling function for work platforms of aerial vehicles with mixed-booms( MAV) in full elevating domain,an auto-leveling mechanism for the platform is proposed based on a control method of booms-constraint,where mixed-boom structures and elevating characteristics are considered. Three models of constraint strategies include non-constraint model,elevating constraint model and lowering constraint model,which is designed to meet the leveling requirements in full working extent. Through the hydro-mechatronic unified modeling,a virtual prototype model is set up based on the auto-leveling mechanism,and leveling performances of the platform are studied during booms elevating to the maximum working height and extent. Simulation results show that the control method of booms-constraint can realize auto-leveling of the platform under two typical working conditions,meanwhile a leveling deviation appears at the constrained point,but the platform inclination is adjusted in the permissible range. The control method does not only restrict booms' freedom elevating to a certain extent,but also impacts the booms extending to the maximum working range. Experimental results verify that the auto-leveling mechanism based on booms-constraint control is valid and rational,which provides an effective technology approach for development of the platform leveling of MAV.

Parameter Method Data Processing for CPⅢ Precise Trigonometric Leveling Network

In view of the limitation of the difference method,the adjustment model of CPⅢprecise trigonometric leveling control network based on the parameter method was proposed in the present paper.The experiment results show that this model has a simple algorithm and high data utilization,avoids the negative influences caused by the correlation among the data acquired from the difference method and its accuracy is improved compared with the difference method.In addition,the strict weight of CPⅢprecise trigonometric leveling control network was also discussed in this paper.The results demonstrate that the ranging error of trigonometric leveling can be neglected when the vertical angle is less than 3 degrees.The accuracy of CPⅢprecise trigonometric leveling control network has not changed significantly before and after strict weight.

Effect of Rural Sewage Irrigation Regime on Water-Nitrogen Utilization and Crop Growth of Paddy Rice in Southern China

Reclaimed water irrigation has become an effective mean to alleviate the contradiction between water availability and its consumption worldwide.In this study,three types of irrigation water sources(rural sewage’s primary treated water R1 and secondary treated water R2,and river water R3)meeting the requirements of water quality for farmland irrigation were selected,and three types of irrigation water levels(low water levelW1 of 0–80 mm,medium water level W2 of 0–100 mm,and high water level W3 of 0–150 mm)were adopted to carry out research on the influence mechanismS of different irrigation water sources and water levels on water and nitrogen use and crop growth in paddy field.The water quantity indicators(irrigation times and irrigation volume),soil ammonium nitrogen(NH4+-N)and nitrate nitrogen(NO3−-N),rice yield indicators(thousand-grain weight,the number of grains per spike,and the number of effective spikes),and quality indicators(the amount of protein,amylose,vitamin C,nitrate and nitrite content)of rice were measured.The results showed that,the average irrigation volume under W3 was 2.4 and 1.9 times of that under W1 and W2,respectively.Compared with R3,the peak consumption of rice was lagged behind under R1 and R2,and the nitrogen form in 0–40 cm soil layers under rural sewage irrigation was mainly NH4+-N.The changes of NO3−-N and NH4+-N in the 0–40 cm soil layer showed the trend of declining and then increasing.The water level control only had a significant effect on the change of NO3−-N in the 60–80 cm soil layer.Both irrigation water use efficiency and crop water use efficiency were gradually reduced with the increase of field water level control.The nitrogen utilization efficiency under rural sewage irrigation was significantly higher than that under R3.Compared with the R3,rural sewage irrigation could significantly increase the yield of rice,and as the field water level rose,the effect of yield promotion was more obvious.It was noteworthy that the grain of rice under R1 monitored the low nitrate and nitrite content,but no nitrate and nitrite was discovered under R2 and R3.Therefore,reasonable rural sewage irrigation(R2)and medium water level(W2)were beneficial to improve nitrogen utilization efficiency,crop yield and crop quality promotion.

Conical tank level control using fractional order PID controllers： a simulated and experimental study

In this paper, simulated and experimental results on the conical tank level control are presented. PI/PID controllers of integer order （IO） as well as of fractional order （FO） are studied and compared. The tuning parameters are obtained first by using root locus （RL） and Ziegler and Nichols methods, for comparison purposes. Next, particle swarm optimization （PSO） is employed to determine the optimal controllers＇ parameters using as fitness function the integral of the absolute value of tracking error （IAE）. From the experimental results it is concluded that PI/FOPI are the controllers presenting the lowest IAE indexes, whereas PID/FOPID controllers present the lowest energy consumption by the control signal.

Reservoir-induced landslides and risk control in Three Gorges Project on Yangtze River,China

The Three Gorges region in China was basically a geohazard-prone area prior to construction of the Three Gorges Reservoir （TGR）. After construction of the TGR, the water level was raised from 70 m to 175 m above sea level （ASL）, and annual reservoir regulation has caused a 30-m water level difference after impoundment of the TGR since September 2008. This paper first presents the spatiotemporal distribution of landslides in six periods of 175 m ASL trial impoundments from 2008 to 2014. The results show that the number of landslides sharply decreased from 273 at the initial stage to less than ten at the second stage of impoundment. Based on this, the reservoir-induced landslides in the TGR region can be roughly classified into five failure patterns, i.e. accumulation landslide, dip-slope landslide, reversed bedding landslide, rockfall, and karst breccia landslide. The accumulation landslides and dip-slope landslides account for more than 90%. Taking the Shuping accumulation landslide （a sliding mass volume of 20.7 × 106 m^3） in Zigui County and the Outang dip-slope landslide （a sliding mass volume of about 90 × 106 m^3） in Fengjie County as two typical cases, the mechanisms of reactivation of the two landslides are analyzed. The monitoring data and factor of safety （FOS） calculation show that the accumulation landslide is dominated by water level variation in the reservoir as most part of the mass body is under 175 m ASL, and the dip-slope landslide is controlled by the coupling effect of reservoir water level variation and precipitation as an extensive recharge area of rainfall from the rear and the front mass is below 175 m ASL. The characteristics of landslide-induced impulsive wave hazards after and before reservoir impoundment are studied, and the probability of occurrence of a landslide-induced impulsive wave hazard has increased in the reservoir region. Simulation results of the Ganjingzi landslide in Wushan County indicate the strong relationship between landslide-induced surge and water variation with high potential risk to shipping and residential areas. Regarding reservoir regulation in TGR when using a single index, i.e. 1-d water level variation, water resources are not well utilized, and there is also potential risk of disasters since 2008. In addition, various indices such as 1-d, 5-d, and 10-d water level variations are proposed for reservoir regulation. Finally, taking reservoir-induced landslides in June 2015 for example, the feasibility of the optimizing indices of water level variations is verified.

Design and Realization of Mineral Feeding SCADA System

The grinding process in concentration plants of the metallurgical industry is of great importantce.. A mineral feed- ing SCADA system in the grinding process was designed with the idea of integrating management and control functions. A detailed design and realization method of control and supervisory control levels in the system was introduced. At the control level, with an algorithm of a separate integrated PID, four mineral feeding machines are run in turn. The supervisory control level can generate process flow graphs, statistical report forms, historical trends and at the same time, it has the functions of alarm, system administration, user login, etc. After the mineral SCADA system has been started, the mineral feeding is very stable, the workstation completely supervises and controls the entire process of mineral feeding, and at the same time histori- cal data is shown and questions can be answered conveniently. The system runs well in the MeiShan Concentration Plant of the Shanghai Bao Shan Steel Group.

Simulation and analysis of a Truck Model’s ride comfort based on fuzzy adaptive control theory

This paper tried to analyse and verify the fuzzy adaptive control strategy of electronic control air suspension system for heavy truck. Created the seven-freedoms vehicle suspension model, and the road input model; with Matlab/Simulink toolboxes and modules, built dynamical system simulation model for heavy truck with air suspension, fuzzy adaptive control model, height control model for air spring, and intelligent control and analyse on root mean square value of acceleration of gravity center of the vehicle under excitation of road. Results show that the fuzzy control had less help to the body vibration on the better pavement, but had the better benefit on the bad road, and the vehicle’s root mean square value of acceleration of gravity center is less than passive suspension’s obviously.

Advanced Control System Development on the Basis of Festo Training Laboratory ＂Compact Workstation＂

This article describes the development of automatic control system on the basis of Festo ＂Compact Workstation＂ training stand. Such control systems are used in different branches of industry and infrastructure including oil industry, chemical industry, water treatment, canalization and others. The stand allows realizing level, flow, pressure and temperature control systems, using pump, valves, discrete and analog sensors. Level control system is described in this work. PID （proportional integral derivative） controllers are used in these systems. Control is switched on and off and the parameters of control systems are changed by means of SCADA （supervisory control and data acquisition） system. During real technological processes, these actions are performed by the operator. The algorithm of the control system is realized using PLC （programmable logic controller）. At the end of the article conclusions about the research are drawn.

Vehicle height and leveling control of electronically controlled air suspension using mixed logical dynamical approach

Vehicle height and leveling control of electronically controlled air suspension(ECAS) still poses theoretical challenges for researchers that have not been adequately addressed in prior research. This paper investigates the design and verification of a new controller to adjust the vehicle height and to regulate the roll and pitch angles of the vehicle body(leveling control) during the height adjustment procedures. A nonlinear mechanism model of the vehicle height adjustment system is formulated to describe the dynamic behaviors of the system. By using mixed logical dynamical(MLD) approach, a novel control strategy is proposed to adjust the vehicle height by controlling the on-off statuses of the solenoid valves directly. On this basis, a correction algorithm is also designed to regulate the durations of the on-off statuses of the solenoid valves based on pulse width modulated(PWM) technology, thus the effective leveling control of the vehicle body can be guaranteed. Finally, simulations and vehicle tests results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed control methodology.

Risk analysis of dynamic control of reservoir limited water level by considering flood forecast error

Flood control forecast operation mode is one of the main ways for determining the upper bound of dynamic control of flood limited water level during flood season. The floodwater utilization rate can be effectively increased by using flood forecast information and flood control forecast operation mode. In this paper, Dahuofang Reservoir is selected as a case study. At first, the distribution pattern and the bound of forecast error which is a key source of risk are analyzed. Then, based on the definition of flood risk, the risk of dynamic control of reservoir flood limited water level within different flood forecast error bounds is studied. The results show that, the dynamic control of reservoir flood limited water level with flood forecast information can increase the floodwater utilization rate without increasing flood control risk effectively and it is feasible in practice.