Real-time Microcontroller Research Articles

Design and development of robotic technology through microcontroller system with machine learning techniques

Through the integration of AI and IoT, the digital twin transforms industrial sectors by virtually portraying physical systems. Simulation and the application of lifecycle management improve decision-making. In this paper, a virtual prototype system a digital twin framework that integrates robotic devices is proposed. Created using debugging platforms, they track every robotic activity, supported by real-time microcontroller structural design systems. Machine learning methods are the fundamental engine of the digital twin system. Because of this connection, robotic actions may be seamlessly controlled and monitored, guaranteeing effectiveness and adaptability in changing contexts. Robotics has advanced significantly with the combination of digital twin technology, machine learning, and microcontroller systems, offering improved performance and versatility in a range of applications.

Multishape Task Scheduling Algorithm For Real Time Micro-Controller Based Application

Multishape Task Scheduling Algorithm For Real Time Micro-Controller Based Application

MPP Tracking with a Modified Duty Cycle Sweeping (MDCS) Algorithm for Various Environmental Irradiance Conditions

In this paper, a photovoltaic (PV) system based on modified duty cycle sweeping (MDCS) has been proposed to achieve the maximum power point tracking (MPPT). The disadvantages of perturb and observe (P&O), such as diverging tracking directions and the inability to detect the global peak during partial shading (PS), are intended to be overcome by this method (PS). An intelligent double identification and tracking method consistently tracks the global peak under partial shading and the MPP under rapid irradiance fluctuations. Strict dynamic irradiance and partial shading tests are imposed in MATLAB/Simulink@ and simulated to validate the suggested concept. Additionally, a laboratory prototype MPPT standalone PV system supported by Texas Instruments’ Code Composer Studio is operated by a SEPIC converter in conjunction with the C2000 real-time microcontroller in order to conduct an experimental validation study. The effectiveness of the method is compared with the other well-known MPPT techniques, conventional P&O. The suggested method successfully follows the global peak under various patterns of partial shading as compared to the conventional algorithms. The algorithm’s efficiency has been preserved at around 95-100%.

Piecewise Affine Modeling of Wound-Rotor Synchronous Machines for Real-Time Motor Control

High-performance control of Wound Rotor Synchronous Machines (WRSM) motor drives requires a nonlinear magnetic model that captures magnetic saturation and cross saturation. This research proposes a generalized Piece-wise Affine (PWA) magnetic and state-space model that divides the current and flux space into simplices. PWA functions are obtained from experimental or Finite Element Analysis (FEA) data leveraging the Delaunay triangulation. Error margins and memory requirements can be optimized for given applications by varying the number of PWA functions. The PWA domains can be irregular and an algorithm to optimize accuracy for a given number of PWA domains is proposed. The PWA performance is compared with a high-fidelity magnetic model. Irregular PWA functions have lower error than regularly gridded tables at reduced size: average error is improved from 15% to 1%; peak error is improved from 20% to 9%. Finally, the PWA state-space model is validated on an experimental testbench with a real-time Micro-Controller Unit (MCU). The state space equations are verified using steady-state and dynamic tests.

ANN-based State of Charge Estimation of Li-ion Batteries for Embedded Applications

The conventional state of charge (SOC) estimation model has several concerns, such as accuracy and reliability. In order to realize robust SOC estimation for embedded applications, this study focuses on three concerns of the existing SOC estimation model: accuracy, robustness, and practicality. In improving the estimation accuracy and robustness, this study took into account the dynamic of the actual SOC caused by the dynamic charging and discharging process. In practice, the charging and discharging processes have characteristics that must be considered to realize robust SOC estimation. The model-based SOC estimation developed based on the virtual battery model causes difficulties for real-time applications. Additionally, model-based SOC estimation cannot be reliably extrapolated to different battery types. In defining the behavior of various types of batteries, the model-based SOC estimation must be updated. Hence, this study utilized data-driven SOC estimation based on an artificial neural network (ANN) and measurable battery data. The ANN model, which has excellent adaptability to nonlinear systems, is utilized to increase accuracy. Additionally, using measurable battery data such as voltage and current signals, the SOC estimation model is suitable for embedded applications. Results indicate that estimating SOC with the proposed model reduced errors with respect to actual datasets. In order to verify the feasibility of the proposed model, an online estimation was out on the embedded system with the use of C2000 real-time microcontrollers. Results show that the proposed model can be executed in an embedded system using measurable battery data.

Special issue on “Optimal design and operation of energy systems”

Special issue on “Optimal design and operation of energy systems”

Dementia Disease Prediction By Using Internet of Things and Nodejs

Abstract: Dementia is not a single disease; it’s an overall term like heart disease that covers a wide range of specific medical conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease. Disorders grouped under the general term “dementia” are caused by abnormal brain changes. These changes trigger a decline in thinking skills, also known as cognitive abilities, severe enough to impair daily life and independent function. They also affect behaviour, feelings and relationships. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60 to 80 percent of cases. Vascular dementia, which occurs because of microscopic bleeding and blood vessel blockage in the brain, is the second most common cause of dementia. In order to overcome this problems and provide proper treatment to theelder people our project aims at developing an application for elderly age people dementia prediction where I can lively monitor the blood glucose, blood pressure, blood oxidation level which is measured using the sensors and if the condition is abnormal the SMS API will send a message to a mobile phone of the care taker or the old age home in-charge. The web application developed in this project displays the three parameters to the user on a computer that can be lively monitored using IoT. An efficient real time microcontroller is used to process the information and a Wi-Fi gateway is used to transmit the data wirelessly. Thus this project helps in taking care of the elder people at the right time and avoid difficulties. Keywords: MQTT protocol, Publishing, Subscribing, Web application module.

Real-time dc-link voltage control of 5-kW PMSG-based wind turbine generator through a test-rig

In this work unlike the usual grid side converter, the machine side converter is considered to control the dc-link voltage of a permanent magnet synchronous generator-based wind turbine generator. For this purpose, a discrete real-time laboratory test-rig is prepared for real-time application of the system. In the real-time test-rig, 5-kVA permanent magnet synchronous servo motor is driven by Unidrive SP variable frequency drive to emulate a standalone wind energy conversion system; GUASCH converter as a machine side converter and for implementing the designed PI controllers using pole placement technique combined with a symmetrical optimum criterion for real-time control of the dc-link voltage transient changes, Texas instrument TMS320F28069 digital signal processor discrete real-time microcontroller control card in a GUASCH board are used. Moreover, a simulation model of the system is prepared in MATLAB Simulink user-defined function blocks considering the dynamic mathematical equations of every part in the system. Achieved simulation and real-time test-rig results show that the designed dc-link voltage control of the system works properly at different transient load changes connected to the standalone WTG and dc voltage reference value changes. Moreover, the simulation results are properly validated by the real-time test-rig results and the PI controller designed using pole placement technique combined with a symmetrical optimum criterion method was ideal.

Adaptive Nonlinear Control of Unified Model of Fuel Cell, Battery, Ultracapacitor and Induction Motor Based Hybrid Electric Vehicles

The public awareness about global warming, emission of green-house gases and depletion of natural resources like oil and natural gas, are the main factors due to which fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles (FHEVs) have attained importance in automotive industry. Hard driving conditions like steep areas, slippery roads and rough terrains boost up the nonlinearities present in vehicle’s model. The considered unified mathematical model of FHEV is based on fuel cell as a primary source, ultracapacitor and battery as storage units as well as the induction motor dynamics. The variations in parameters like resistance, capacitance, inductance and the nonlinearities of the dynamical system have also been considered. Three adaptation based nonlinear controllers namely adaptive terminal sliding mode, adaptive terminal synergetic and adaptive synergetic controllers have been proposed for the regulation of DC bus voltage along with speed tracking when subjected to European extra urban driving cycle. Lyapunov stability theory has been used to ensure global asymptotic stability of the system. Proposed controllers have been simulated on MATLAB/Simulink, where their comparison has been presented with each other and with recently proposed nonlinear controllers in the literature. Furthermore, ATSMC has further been implemented on real-time microcontroller hardware in the loop setup. The experimental results show that it provides better performance.

Development of a Real-time Micro-controller Based Watering System

The developed system consists of a solenoid valve and water pump which are directly linked to a microcontroller (ATMEGA-328PU) unit through a transistor -network based relay switching unit. A soil moisture sensor linked to the soil senses the dryness and wetness of the soil. The microcontroller and soil moisture sensor utilizes a 5V power supply unit given through a regulated supply via a regulator called LM7805.A 12V power supply units activates the normally open units of the relay linked to the solenoid valve and the pump. Whenever the dryness of the soil is sensed, the microcontroller decodes and sends an instruction to the solenoid valve to open and the water pump to start driving the water which is sprinkled through the sprinkler. The performance of the system has been evaluated and the response time is fast.

Automatic System of Illumination of the Territory of the Enterprise

The work is devoted to the development of an intelligent lighting control system for adjacent territories.Every day more and more popular is the use of led lamps, they are more economical from outdated gas-discharge lamps or incandescent lamps, which are now commonly used. For comparison, a 40W incandescent lamp has a luminous flux of 400 lumens, the same luminous flux has a 5W led lamp. There are many outdoor lighting network management systems that have a wide range of management capabilities. The most common ones are LonWorks, DMX-512, DALI, DCI. They usually use motion sensors, light sensors, time relays, and other automation elements, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. These advantages and disadvantages have been analyzed in terms of application in the system being developed. The main requirements for the system were economic and ease of use. Taking into account these requirements, the existing methods of street lighting management and systems based on them were considered.A block diagram of the lighting control system for the adjacent territories of the enterprise was developed, which is shown in figure Fig. 1. The system is a network whose nodes are connected by a simple digital data bus DB. The digital data bus can be wired, wireless, or optical. Each network node consists of: an MSi motion sensor, an LLi led lamp, a microcontroller with a built-in MCi real-time clock, a light-sensitive LSI sensor, and IUI interface blocks. The light-sensitive sensor can be installed in one place, provided that the level of natural light in the coverage area of each local lighting system is approximately the same. When the level of external natural light decreases below a certain critical level, the light-sensitive sensor sends a signal to the microcontroller to turn on the local lighting system, after which each local zone is illuminated with individual specified parameters of the glow power. When the motion sensor is activated in the local area of the lighting system, the lamp switches to high power mode. Thanks to a real-time microcontroller, the moment when an object appears in this zone is recorded. As the object moves, it enters the coverage area of another local lighting system where the network uses a built-in real-time clock to record the moment when the object appears in another zone, this information is transmitted via a digital bus to the system, from which we can determine the direction of movement of the object.Based on the developed block diagram and based on the requirements for the system being developed, a microcontroller from the STM family was selected. This family of microcontrollers, due to their performance, architecture and low power consumption, is best suited for working with the hardware of the system being developed.

Development of typical "state" software patterns for Cortex­M microcontrollers in real time

There are real-time technical systems that require high speed of software solutions. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure the unification of the source code, the quality of software maintenance, and mathematical modeling at a relatively low cost of software and hardware solution. Such hardware can be implemented on the basis of mass microcontrollers of the Cortex-M architecture. The software part of these microcontrollers data could be implemented on the basis of a real-time operating system (RTOS). This study has found that the application of RTOS leads to a speed-related constraint. Simple software solutions are complex at unification, support, and have difficulties with mathematical modeling. To address these shortcomings, typical State software patterns have been developed for an auxiliary controller within a circuit of controlling mechanisms or sensors based on the Cortex-M architecture microcontroller in real time, in a procedural paradigm. A feature of these patterns is the higher speed of the software solution compared to the solutions based on RTOS. The developed patterns make it possible to unify the source code for the Cortex-M architecture microcontrollers from different manufacturers, improve maintenance, and adapt it to the mathematical model of the finite state machine. The study results were tested using the STM32F103 microcontroller employing the Cortex microcontroller software interface system (CMSIS) library. This allows the result obtained to be extended to MCs made by other manufacturers, which ensures the practical value of the developed patterns.

Research of electric drive systems with real time software configurable control

Subject of Research. The paper discusses design principles of educational laboratory bench for practical research of electric drive control systems. The laboratory bench provides training opportunities for students in “Control of Electrical Drives” course and is used to increase the efficiency of material acquisition. Method. The proposed solution was based on the method of mutual loading of electric machines powered by the power converters with a common direct current link. At that, one electric machine can be used as a tested one, and the other as a load one, and vice versa. The flow of power from a machine operating in generator mode to a machine operating in motor mode was ensured, which provides an energy-saving mode of operation when power is consumed only from the network to cover losses in power converters and the machine unit. To study the various structures of control systems for direct and alternating current motors, a method for software creation with a freely configurable structure was proposed. Main Results. The paper describes laboratory stands that contain a two-machine unit, where each electric motor receives power from its power semiconductor converter controlled by a real-time microcontroller control system. The software has been implemented for the synthesis of the control researched structure using the control system settings. The system setting is performed by a number of freely configurable control elements, which are then compiled into a control algorithm for the microcontroller. To ensure the safe execution of the experiment, the control algorithm works in conjunction with the main on-line software. Thus, protection for electric motors and power converters is provided. Thanks to the built-in protection software, it has become possible to achieve reliable operation of electric drives with the power of 1.5 kW, as well as to realize characteristics close to industrial ones. The paper describes in detail the features of laboratory equipment and software for the system of an induction motor field-oriented control. This example demonstrates the setting of control systems, compiling of executable code, an experiment procedure and evaluation of results. Practical Relevance. The considered approaches to the educational equipment creation can be used in the design of similar educational equipment in related disciplines. The results are applicable for scientific and research-pedagogical staff during the course of specialist training in the field of electric drive control systems. The presented equipment has been actively used for more than 5 years and can be of practical value in the educational process.

Energy-Efficient IoT-Health Monitoring System using Approximate Computing

Wireless Body Sensor Nodes (WBSN) are frequently used for real time IoT-based health monitoring of patients outside the hospital environment. These WBSNs involve bio-sensors to capture signals from a patient’s body and wireless transmitters to transmit the collected signals to a server located in private/public cloud in real time. These WBSNs include hardware for processing of signals before being transmitted to the cloud. Simultaneous occurrence of all these processes inside energy constrained WBSNs results in considerable amount of power consumption, thus limiting their operational lifetime. Due to the inherent error-resilience in signal processing algorithms, most of these data reaching the servers are redundant in nature and hence of not much clinical importance. Transmission and storage of these excess data result in inefficient usages of transmission bandwidth and storage capabilities. In this paper, we develop a real time encoding scheme that performs iterative thresholding and approximation of wavelet coefficients for sparse encoding of bio-signals (ECG signals), thereby reducing the energy and bandwidth consumption of the WBSN. The encoding scheme compresses bio-signals (ECG signals), while still maintaining the clinically important features. We optimize various process parameters to model a low power hardware prototype for the implementation of our algorithm on a real time microcontroller based IoT platform that operates as an end-to-end WBSN system in real time. Experimental results show a system-level energy improvement of 96% with a negligible impact on signal quality (2%).

Parallel power active filter new control technique based on modified p-q-r power theory

The paper presents the main advantages of using the instantaneous p-q-r power theory to construct high-speed control system for power active filters. It allows to realize both quasi-static and dynamic modes of operation of electric energy consumers with active filter-compensating devices powered by a three-phase four-wire utility grid. At the same time, it has been shown that the use of p-q-r coordinate’s transformations is due to the large number of mathematical calculations performed by the microcontroller in real time and require a high degree of performance of the hardware part of the control system. A new technique for controlling parallel power active filter combining the universal p-q-r power theory with cross-vector theory is proposed. The proposed technique should be used in control systems of power active filters operating for three-phase four-wire electrical systems with electrical load of any type, as well as in hybrid systems, when the power part of the converter can be used not only as a filter-compensating device, but as a voltage inverter. It is shown that the use of the proposed technique can significantly reduce the number of mathematical calculations performed by the control system microcontroller for the implementation of control signals by power transistor modules. The Matlab model of a real power supply system with a parallel power active filter to test the efficiency of the algorithm is synthesized. Comparing the simulation results for the three power active filter control technique allowed to evaluate the quality of the proposed algorithm and to confirm not only its efficiency but also the equivalence of the received power characteristics to the characteristics that were obtained when using the universal p-q-r instantaneous power theory.

Data acquisition and controls for a bat robot

Robotic reproductions of the dynamic and adaptive nature of the biosonar systems found in many bat species require a capable back-end that is capable of integrating mechanical, acoustical, electrical, and computational functions in an efficient manner. This is particularly true when mimicking bat species that change the shapes of their noseleaves and pinna as part of their biosonar behaviors. To address the challenge of replicating these highly integrated functions, a platform consisting of commercial, off-the-shelf components, centered around a microcontroller (Arduino Due) and a single-board computer (Raspberry Pi 3) has been designed. The real-time microcontroller has been delegated the signal generation for the ultrasonic pulses and data acquisition for the echoes, as well as all control operations for the mechanical periphery of the robotic bat head. This includes synthesizing output waveforms, conditioning measured data, and maintaining the state of the pneumatic actuation systems. Commands are issued directly by the computer, which is responsible for orchestrating overall “behaviors” and managing the relevant data. In addition, the control system acquires and stores meta data for the echoes such as geospatial location and acquisition time. Future improvements to this system will seek to establish closed loop control liking echo analysis to peripheral dynamics.

Real-time adaptive optical self-interference cancellation system for in-band full-duplex transmission

A real-time adaptive optical self-interference cancellation (RTA-OSIC) system is proposed and demonstrated for in-band full-duplex transmission. The RTA-OSIC system is controlled automatically by adaptive algorithm running on a real-time microcontroller STM32. Modified Hooke–Jeeves (MHJ) algorithm is proposed to search the optimal optical parameters more rapidly. Experimental results show that the MHJ algorithm requires 15–25 samples to find the optimal point. The RTA-OSIC system achieves more than 22 dB cancellation depth within 0-700 MHz frequency band. Compared with the existing adaptive OSIC system which uses the Nelder–Mead Simplex algorithm, there are 60% less samples for our RTA-OSIC system with MHJ algorithm.

Position servo controller design and implementation using low cost eddy current sensor for single axis active magnetic bearing

Eddy-current sensors are the most commonly used position sensors in a magnetic bearing application. Most commercial eddy current sensor outputs analog voltage of 0–2 V or 0–5 V in their measurement range. Such eddy current sensors are quite expensive and are in the price range of $2500 (USD). This paper presents a design of a $20 (USD) low-cost eddy current sensor capable of resolving displacements of 7 micron which is suitable for high-speed position control in active magnetic bearings. A novel method of directly converting the time period of the square wave signal from the eddy current sensor output for digital servo position feedback is employed in this design. This paper presents a scheme to implement digital position servo control algorithm on Texas Instruments C2000 real-time microcontroller to control the position of magnetically levitated object by controlling the magnetic actuator’s coil current. The magnetic actuators are electromagnetic coils that generate the magnetic force in the bearing.

Development of hardware and software of the complex for hypoxytherapy

The object of research is medical hardware and software for carrying out hypoxytherapy. One of the more problematic areas is the automation of assessing the condition of hemodynamics and the patient's respiratory system during sessions. During the development of the complex for carrying out hypoxytherapy, modern hardware (oxygen, carbon dioxide, pulse oximetry, etc.) and software methods for filtering signals are used. When developing software for medical staff, modern tools and programming technologies (C#, MySql, CLIPS) are used. A fundamentally new automated software and hardware complex designed to diagnose and treat patients is obtained. This is due to the fact that the proposed complex has a number of features for the implementation of its main blocks. In particular, the automated workplace of a specialist in hypoxytherapy is a dynamic expert system that receives data from the microcontroller in real time during sessions, so expert evaluation is done immediately. The system has a complete knowledge base for assessing diagnostic sessions and procedures for patients who already have developed hypoxia (e. g., with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and without it. This ensures: the possibility of obtaining the values of the patient's condition indicators (heart rate, blood saturation, respiration volume, respiratory rate, minute respiration volume) and the composition of the inhaled gas mixture (concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide); provision of expert evaluation of the patient's condition. In comparison with the known hypoxicators (Borey, AltiPower, CellAir One, ReOxy, etc.) developed hypoxicator provides such advantages: automated diagnostics and evaluation of the effectiveness of hypoxytherapy course; small overall dimensions for convenient use even at home; low and affordable cost of the complex for private and public hospitals, polyclinics, medical centers and sports complexes.

A Frequency Correcting Method Combining Bilateral Correction With Weighted Average for Vortex Flow Sensor Signal

The sinusoidal signal outputted by the vortex flow sensor is often superimposed with the white noise, which will affect the accuracy of spectrum correction. When the signal is truncated by rectangular window, a method (hereinafter referred to as RWBWFCR) combining bilateral correction with weighted average on the basis of Fourier coefficients ratio is proposed so as to improve the antinoise performance of the frequency correction. The correction principle of this method is presented. The effects on the frequency correction of changing the initial phase, the frequency deviation, the calculation points of fast Fourier transform, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are analyzed. The theoretical accuracy of this method when there is stationary Gaussian white noise is deduced and verified. This method has some advantages, such as less computation load, small storage space, high correction precision, strong anti-interference ability, and is easy to be implemented by a microcontroller in real time. RWBWFCR method is applied to the low-power and antivibration type vortex flowmeter with single sensor to improve the reliability of the digital signal processing method based on the frequency correction.