Control Processor Research Articles

A Maximum Power Loading Factor (MPLF) Control Strategy for Distributed Secondary Frequency Regulation of Islanded Microgrid

Microgrids rely on both primary and secondary frequency control techniques to maintain system stability. Secondary frequency control effectively minimizes frequency fluctuations by adjusting the active power reference in each power inverter, but requires complex and costly interequipment communication. In this paper, we propose a distributed secondary frequency control strategy for microgrids containing multiple virtual synchronous generator (VSG) units based on a new maximum power loading factor (MPLF) concept. The MPLF algorithm facilitates power sharing by dynamically identifying the maximum VSG loading factor at each time instance, and then using this value as a unified reference signal for all the VSGs in the microgrid. The active power reference for each VSG will be adjusted based on the unified reference signal, subsequently the secondary frequency control can be realized. The proposed strategy does not require high-bandwidth communication since the MPLF data are transmitted among the VSGs using low-bandwidth communication. We also develop small-signal models for the control architecture to analyze the influence of major proportional–integral control parameters and communication latency. The MPLF control strategy is implemented using custom digital signal processor controllers, and experimentally validated using hardware in loop simulations. Finally, the new control paradigm demonstrates significant tolerance for communication delay or failure, which we purposely introduced in our investigation.

Research and Design of Rod Control Cabinet in Nuclear Power Plants Based on Digital Control

There are disadvantages such as poor applicability, slow dynamic response of load output and poor anti-interference ability of the rod control power supply cabinet in operation. This paper redesigns a new type of power cabinet based on programmable logic controller (PLC) and digital signal processing (DSP) technology which adopts fast energy absorption loop and double closed-loop control method in the main circuit. Then the coordination test in the cold and hot states between the designed cabinet and ACP1000 control rod drive mechanism(CRDM) is carried out. The test result proves that the function of the cabinet satisfies the application requirements of generation-III nuclear plants and effectively solves the disadvantages of the existing cabinet.

When a ‘Like’ Is not a ‘Like’: A New Fragmented Approach to Data Controllership

In Fashion ID, the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) held that an operator of a website featuring a Facebook ‘Like’ button is a data controller under EU Directive 95/46 (‘Directive’) jointly with Facebook in respect of the collection and transmission of the personal data of website visitors to Facebook, but Facebook alone is a data controller for any subsequent data processing. While the CJEUs expansive interpretation of joint controllership aims to leave ‘no gaps’ in the protection of individuals, we question whether the proposed solution to ‘fragment’ controllership into different stages of processing helps to achieve that goal. We argue that CJEUs ‘fragmented’ approach is incompatible with the GDPR, as it does not reveal the intended purposes of data processing, and thus negates informed and specific consent. We suggest that such ‘fragmentation’ undermines the consistency, predictability and transparency of EU data protection law by obscuring the pervasiveness of data commodification in the digital economy.

Design and Hardware Implementation of New Adaptive Fuzzy Logic-Based MPPT Control Method for Photovoltaic Applications

An adaptive fuzzy logic (FL)-based new maximum power point (MPP) tracking (MPPT) methodology for controlling photovoltaic (PV) systems is proposed, designed, and implemented in this paper. The existing methods for implementing FL-based MPPTs lack for adaptivity with the operating point, which varies in wide range in practical PV systems with operating irradiance and ambient temperature. The new proposed adaptive FL-based MPPT (AFL-MPPT) algorithm is simple, accurate, and provides faster convergence to optimal operating point. The effectiveness and feasibility verifications of the proposed AFL-MPPT methodology are validated with considering various operating conditions at slow and fast change of solar radiation. In addition, the simplified implementation of the proposed algorithm is carried out using C-block in PSIM software environment, wherein the proposed algorithm and system are simulated. Additionally, experimental results are performed using a floating-point digital signal processing (DSP) controller (TMS320F28335) for verifying the feasibility of the proposed AFL-MPPT methodology. The results of simulations and experimental prototypes show great consistency and prove the capability of the new AFL-MPPT methodology to extract MPPT rapidly and precisely. The new proposed AFL-MPPT method achieves accurate output power of the PV system with smooth and low ripple. In addition, the new proposed AFL-MPPT method benefits fast dynamics and it reaches steady state within 0.01 s.

Implementation of application specific soft-core architecture for switching converters

Application Specific Processors (ASPs) are used in many areas. In this paper, an application specific soft-core processor for control of switching power converters is designed and implemented. The proposed designed architecture is constructed based on fixed-point arithmetic with minimal functional units. The control algorithm, which is used in this architecture, is Finite-Set Model Predictive Control (FS-MPC). The proposed soft-core processor is coded in VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) and implemented on Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) platform. This architecture consists of minimum functional unit with only two adders and two multipliers, a control unit and a selection unit. The designed architecture is general and low cost and can be used in any type of converters. In this paper the functionality of the processor is examined by three types of converters namely three-phase inverters, dual transistor forward converter and active front end rectifier. In comparison with other controllers, output results indicate the accuracy of proposed architecture.

Design and Analysis of Robot PID Controller Using Digital Signal Processing Techniques

Recently robotic is a playing vital role in the life In our modern society, the usage of robotic arms are increasing and much of the work in the industry is now performed by robots. As robots begin to behave like humans in an intelligent manner, control system becomes a major concern. In this paper, design and analyses of the pick and place robot due to control, the forearm, wrist, desired turntable and desired bicep is introduced to construct a closed system with four degrees of freedom (4DOFs). The main performance specifications are the accuracy and stability of the input system for obtaining a good system performance. Implementation of the control system using PID parameters for stability, minimum steady state error, minimum overshoot and faster system response has been carried out. The design of two degree of freedom PID(2DoFPID) to control robotic arm along with first order low pass filter(LPF) to compensate the unwanted signal is improved. To be able to implement such a precise and effective system, feedback system has to be made to improve the overall performance specifications. The digital signal processing controller (Arduino Uno) is used as it is active, cheap , it has open source code and easy to use in the software and hardware applications.Experimental set up developed in addition to the Matlab/Simulink implementation of the complete system. The results and the communication signals test ensure smooth operation of the control system and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.  Â

Q-PULS, a new quasi-physiological pulsatile extracorporeal model to simulate heart function.

The invention of new surgical procedures requires testing at different stages including animal models. To facilitate this process, we have developed a computer-controlled extracorporeal circulation system for testing of an explanted porcine heart simulating a variety of physiological parameters. Mitral valve function can be assessed before and after induced valve insufficiency and after valve repair. Accordingly, techniques and instruments can be modified at early stages of prototype development. In the diastole, the left atrium is passively filled through the reservoir. The loading pressure of the atrium and flow rates can be widely adjusted. To simulate the systole, a linear motor-driven piston pump promotes volume into the left ventricle and the aorta. An additional circulatory pump compensates for undesired total emptying of the heart chambers. The processor control of the linear pump allows for various settings of flow rate, velocity and even irregular rhythm. Twenty-one isolated porcine hearts were used. The leaflet movement was filmed using a universal serial bus (USB)-probe camera. With 80 mm stroke and 1 m/s speed, a volume of 150 ml can be pumped at a heart rate of up to 73 bpm. Cardiac outputs of up to 10.9 l/min can be achieved. Constant visualization and continuous measurements of the pressure gradients before and after the induction of mitral insufficiency and after repair allowed quantitative verification of repair quality under beating-heart conditions. This model allows a controllable pulsation, loading and unloading of a porcine heart in a wide range. Thus, the function of the leaflets and repair results can be qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated under quasiphysiological conditions.

Internet of Things for Smart Manufacturing System: Trust Issues in Resource Allocation

In industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications for smart manufacturing system, efficient allocation of the carrier and computing resources is crucial. However, existing resource assignment schemes in smart manufacturing system cannot provide timely provision of resources to the inherently dynamic and bursty user demands. To reflect real-time supply and demand for smart manufacturing resources, several research results on auction-style resource assignments have been introduced; however, security, privacy, and trust computing related issues are not actively discussed in the results. The resources should be assigned to devices according to the system policy, which depends on the information provided by IIoT devices. If there are any resource demanding devices, they can report manipulated malicious information for their own interest to obtain more resources. That is, the smart manufacturing system may be vulnerable due to selfish smart manufacturing devices’ behaviors. This reduces the efficiency of the entire system and moreover ceases the plant-wide process. While many research contributions related to the trust computing aim at detecting malicious nodes, this paper presents a novel view of trust computing by showing why devices inside the smart manufacturing system have to act honestly. In this paper, a Vickrey–Clarke–Groves auction-based hierarchical trust computing algorithm is proposed for: 1) computing carrier resources required for wireless communication between IIoT devices and gateways and 2) distributing CPU resources for processing data at central processing controller. Last, simulation results demonstrate that the utilities of each participant are maximized when the IIoT devices and gateways are trustful.

Adaptive Sliding Mode Control of Standalone Single-Phase Microgrid Using Hydro, Wind, and Solar PV Array-Based Generation

This paper presents an adaptive sliding mode control (ASMC) of an improved power quality standalone single phase microgrid system. The proposed microgrid system integrates a governor-less micro-hydro turbine driven single-phase two winding self-excited induction generator with a wind driven permanent magnet brushless dc generator, solar photo-voltaic (PV) array and a battery energy storage system. These renewable energy sources are integrated using only one single-phase voltage source converter (VSC). The ASMC-based control algorithm is used to estimate the reference source current which controls the single-phase VSC and regulates the voltage and frequency of the microgrid in addition to harmonics current mitigation. The proposed ASMC estimates the reference real and reactive powers of the system, which is adaptive to the fluctuating loads. The sliding mode control is used to estimate the reference real power of the system to maintain the energy balance among wind, micro-hydro, solar PV power, and BESS, which controls the frequency of standalone microgrid. The proposed microgrid is implemented in real time using a digital signal processor controller. Test results of proposed microgrid shows that the grid voltage and frequency are maintained constant while the system is following a sudden change in loads and under intermittent penetration of wind and solar energy sources.

Parallel point-to-point tracking for agricultural Wide-Span Implement Carrier (WSIC)

An automatic guidance and control system for the stationary operating mode of an agricultural Wide-Span Implement Carrier (WSIC) was developed and tested on a robotic experimental platform. Control algorithms for the parallel point-to-point tracking problem (forward point tracking and periodic operation process) were designed. Two robots were instrumented with a dual-rover Real-Time Kinematic Global Positioning System, inertial measurement units, XBee-PRO wireless communication modules, and control processors. The experimental platform executes the control sequence in a master-slave cooperative manner. Results of the single point tracking experiments show that the designed velocity and steering angle control laws can effectively guide the robots from a start point to a target. The average and root-mean-square of the offset errors were less than 0.04 m for both the 2-m and 3-m implement width experiments. The lateral and orientation errors were less than 0.16 m and 11° respectively. The sequential point-to-point tracking experiments confirmed the overall effectiveness of the point tracking control and the master-slave cooperative control. The motions of the master and slave robots were in good synchronization, which can permit high efficiency during autonomous WSIC operations.

Wireless sensor network development: Targeting and control system for semi-ballistic vehicle for rapid and precise search and rescue applications

This paper considers the vast development in the technology of sensor such as embedded system, Global Position- ing System (GPS) wireless communications and wireless sensor applications. In recent years an efsicient design of a Wireless Sensor Network has become a leading area of research for semi-ballistic unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). A network of sensor is a device that responds and detects some type of input from both the physical or environmental conditions, such as pressure, heat, light, etc. The output of the sensor is generally an electrical con- ditions that is transmitted to controller for further processing. Wireless sensor network has been widely used and its design has become an important sield of control engineering in addition to providing real-time communication system in surveillance, tracking, and monitoring applications. In this paper, development of wireless sensor net- work for targeting and control system of a semi-ballistic UAV for rapid and precise search and rescue operations is being presented and discussed. The developed system is composed of two sections: Air Section and Ground Section. The Air Section consists of Magnetic Compass Sensor, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Sensors (MEMs), GPS, Camera, Servo Motor and Parachute Controllers and the latter is consist of Video Recording, Receiver and Moni- toring. The system will helps in locating the exact location at centralized level. In effect, it increases the response efsiciency. Furthermore, this system helps in controlling and protecting naval, ground and arm forces in any lo- cation for the search and rescue operations. The wireless sensor network system is capable of collecting, storing and analyzing data from several devices embedded in the vehicle. Results show that the multi-sensor fusion and integration plays a critical role in the overall design and performance enhancement of the semi-ballistic unmanned aerial vehicle being developed.

Internet-of-Things-aided energy management in smart grid environment

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) have turned into a main area for research. A sensor is a gadget that reacts and recognizes some kind of contribution from both physical and other environmental conditions, for example pressure, heat, light and so on. The yield of the sensor is, by and large, an electrical signal that is transmitted to a controller for processing. WSN can be chosen as per application demands. Smart grid is meant for efficient electricity transmission with low cost of electricity rates and high security. Accordingly, solar cells and wind turbines are the standard distributed renewable power generators. However, compared to the traditional energy production situation, it is difficult to predict the demand–supply drawback. Voltage fluctuations and grid instabilities are the main problems caused by low-voltage power grid. Extension of a smart grid is needed to find a path way for effective applications such as wireless energy management. In this paper, the researcher proposes a skilled monitoring system for power generation. The load-side power is kept on observation and the data sent to the monitoring unit. The connected solar panels are controlled based on the demand for current supply. The faulty solar panel is exposed by enabling web browser application with IoT. Every 2 s, data in the utility and generation units are sent to the web page for processing. In the experimental section a voltage of about 5 V and 25 V is obtained while variations from 0 to 5 V in the output voltage by the voltage sensor are seen. Dynamic power source solar panels are connected and disconnected based on the load capacity. Variations in dynamic load can be made in the grid. Power source can be varied according to the load present in the grid. The power source retained in the grid will be load capacity + 50% more to enable with standing sudden variations in the load. When variations in any load current vary close to 15% of the total capacity of the grid, another power source is added to the grid. Total power source is designed to the maximum load capacity, and dynamic power source is connected according to the load present in the grid. As per the result achieved by the data, it is proven that the proposed mechanism is far better than the existing traditional systems.

Configurable simulator for computer architecture and organization

AbstractThis paper presents a novel visual educational configurable simulator for computer architecture and organization (COCONUT). By using the simulator students can create their own processor with an arbitrary architecture and simple organization on the register transfer level, write an assembly program to be executed on the processor and observe the instruction execution phases of the program on the processor. The students can create their processor by using the simulator of a computer system with fixed and configurable parts. The configurable part allows students to use the simulator for defining the instruction decoding of the processor operation unit and the content of the microprogram memory of the processor control unit. The simulator's usage was evaluated at the University of Belgrade—School of Electrical Engineering on two courses for two consecutive school years. The evaluation results showed that 80% of the students stated that the simulator helped them to better understand the course material and that they had a positive user experience with the simulator.

Estimation of engine CO2 and NOx emissions and their correlation with the not-to-exceed zone for a tractor ploughing fields of various sizes

Abstract In agriculture, the engines of working tractors burn large quantities of fuel and emit combustion gases into the environment. Fuel consumption in field operations depends on a number of factors such as, mainly, soil properties, but also the configuration, technical properties, and management of the machinery and the selected operating modes. Therefore, a problem arises in the selection of a method for the proper estimation of the impact of tractors and economic activity on the environment. Conventional methods for estimating and monitoring the impact of economic activities on the environment do not include analysis of engine emissions for specific operation periods of tractors or for actual agricultural operations. The purpose of this study was to analyse the potential of using the information stored in tractor control processors for estimating the CO2 and NOx emissions of engines and to determine their relationship with the Not-To-Exceed (NTE) engine control zone during cultivation (ploughing) operations in fields of various lengths. It has been determined that for a tractor engaged in soil cultivation (ploughing) operations, the emissions do not fall into the NTE control zone when the engine is running at low rotational frequency and has developed a low torque. The shorter the field to be cultivated, the lower the amount of exhaust gases that falls into the NTE control zone. To estimate the amount of tractor engine emissions more accurately, it is necessary to analyse maps of actual operational parameters. Also, by applying the factor of a tractor's operation time efficiency in the estimation of the field size, it is possible to assess a tractor's negative impact on the environment more accurately in relation to the fuel consumption and emissions for soil cultivation in fields of various sizes.

VLSI Design of AMBA Based AHB2APB Bridge

The Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture (AMBA) is an open System-on-Chip bus protocol for highperformance buses to communicate with low-power devices. In the AMBA Advanced High Performance bus (AHB) a system bus is used to connect a processor, a DSP, and high-performance memory controllers where as the AMBA Advanced Peripheral Bus (APB) is used to connect (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) UART. It also contains a Bridge, which connects the AHB and APB buses. Bridges are standard bus-to-bus interfaces that allow IPs connected to different buses to communicate with each other in a standardized way. So AHB2APB bridge is designed, implemented using VERILOG tool and tested using Verilog testbench and is reported in this paper. A synthesizable RTL code of a complex interface bridge between AHB and APB is developed and known as AHB2APB Bridge. The simulated AHB2APB Bridge results are promising and can be further tested for its verstality by writing a verification program using UVM in future.

Parallel Memory Accessing for FFT Architectures

The current paper introduces an efficient technique for parallel data addressing in FFT architectures performing in-place computations. The novel addressing organization provides parallel load and store of the data involved in radix-r butterfly computations and leads to an efficient architecture when r is a power of 2. The addressing scheme is based on a permutation of the FFT data, which leads to the improvement of the address generating circuit and the butterfly processor control. Moreover, the proposed technique is suitable for mixed radix applications, especially for radixes that are powers of 2 and straightforward continuous flow implementation. The paper presents the technique and the resulting FFT architecture and shows the advantages of the architecture compared to hitherto published results. The implementations on a Xilinx FPGA Virtex-7 VC707 of the in-place radix-8 FFT architectures with input sizes 64 and 512 complex points validate the results.

Vector Control of Piezoelectric Transducers and Ultrasonic Actuators

This paper presents the implementation of a novel vibration amplitude control and resonant frequency tracking for piezoelectric transducers (PTs) and ultrasonic motors (USMs). It is based on a generalization of the vector control method to the PT and the USM, which is explained in the first part. We show that two independent controllers with a similar structure are required: one tracks the resonant frequency and the second controls the amplitude. We then present the implementation into a low-cost digital signal processing controller with a sampling period of 200 $\mu$ s. Experimental results on a Langevin transducer achieved a time response of 20 ms approximately, and the generality of the method is further demonstrated on a 2-D tactile stimulator at the end of this paper.

The Detection of Spoiled Fruits on a Conveyor Belt Using Image Processing Techniques and OPC Server Software

Quality plays a key role in the marketing of vegetables and fruits. There is a reason that the agricultural products you see in the store usually aren’t rotten. Someone at a sorting facility has already looked over all the products coming in from the fields, and taken out the spoiled ones. This method does not exactly meet the standards of quality and it causes time and labour force loss. Moreover, it has seen that the use of conveyor belt systems are increasing rapidly in today’s industry. These systems, designed to meet the developing needs of the industry, are used to categorize objects with different characteristics. This research was conducted to develop a system for detecting the rottenness on apples on a conveyor belt using image processing techniques, PLC and OPC server. Morphological image processing techniques were used for detecting spots or rottenness emerged on apples and Matlab software was used for image processing. Image processing algorithm developed to detect the characteristics of the apples. Overall conveyor belt system was controlled by PLC. OPC server was used for communication between image processing part and controller part. In this study; image processing algorithm, OPC server and PLC algorithm were tested in real time and results were studied.

A 9-mm2 Ultra-Low-Power Highly Integrated 28-nm CMOS SoC for Internet of Things

This paper gives an overview of the Blackghost 1.0 system-on-chip (SoC) from Qualcomm Research, which was our first test chip that paved the way toward the commercialization of Qualcomm’s most recent ultra-low-power Blackghost SoC family. Specifically designed for battery powered Internet of Things, sensor fusion, wearables, and e-medical applications, this highly integrated SoC delivers high-power efficiency through low-power innovations in architecture and circuit domains. It integrates a small footprint sensor control processor based on ARM Cortex-M0, a vision classifier processor, a streaming DSP hardware accelerator, an ultra-low-power analog-front-end, and an on-die power management unit with direct Li-Ion battery attach capability. The die size of this prototype chip is $3\times 3$ mm2 in a 28LP CMOS process technology. To date, this SoC family has successfully progressed to the mass production of near-threshold computing. The logic computation operates at near-threshold voltages ( $9~\mu $ A/MHz from the directly attached battery.

Controlling the size and movement of droplet using fuzzy logic controller and image processing inside the capillary inside capillary in microfluidic Network

Controlling the size and movement of droplet using fuzzy logic controller and image processing inside the capillary inside capillary in microfluidic Network