S. Dormido-Canto

Development of a Web-Based Control Laboratory for Automation Technicians: The Three-Tank System

This paper introduces a Web-based control laboratory for experimentation on a nonlinear multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) system: the three-tank plant. Using this application, automation technician students can learn in a practical way many fundamental aspects of control processes. The client-side of the virtual laboratory has been developed using the programming support provided by Easy Java Simulations (EJS), an open-source tool for teachers with limited programming skills who want to create Java applications and applets. The lab has been integrated in the collaborative Web-based experimentation environment eMersion which provides more flexibility for the students performing the laboratory experiments.

A Systematic Two-Layer Approach to Develop Web-based Experimentation Environments for Control Engineering Education

This paper introduces the systematic approach currently used by the Department of Computer Science and Automatic Control of the Spanish University of Distance Learning (UNED) to develop Web-based laboratories for distance learning of topics with high technical contents such as control engineering. This approach differentiates two layers in the construction of web- based laboratories: the experimentation layer and the e-learning layer. For the experimentation layer, LabVIEW and data acquisition boards from National Instruments are used to create the server-side applications and Easy Java Simulations for the client-side interfaces. For the e-learning layer, the eMersion environment is used to support the required flexible educational scheme. This paper describes the programming techniques implemented and the design considerations that justify these particular choices. As an llustrative case-study, an example of development of a web-based application is discussed, in which an electrical drive servo-motor is introduced as a convenient setup to practice with motion control applications. Other significant examples of web-based experiments developed by the authors are also reported.

AN INTERACTIVE TOOL FOR INTRODUCTORY NONLINEAR CONTROL SYSTEMS EDUCATION

Abstract In this paper a new interactive tool for control education is presented. With this tool, developed in SysQuake (Piguet, 2000), the student can easily assimilate some concepts of introductory courses in nonlinear control such as the behaviour of piecewise linear systems, stable and unstable limit cycles and the describing function method. Furthermore, the basis of more sophisticated fields such as bifurcation theory applied to control systems can also be acquired. Three application examples are included in order to show the possibilities of the tool.

An Integrated Virtual and Remote Control Lab: The Three-Tank System as a Case Study

Internet-based technologies can supplement traditional laboratories with remote or simulated experimentation sessions. The authors describe their virtual and remote laboratory, which uses a nonlinear system that students can run from anywhere on the Internet. The implementation integrates both open source and commercial software tools.

TJ-II wave forms analysis with wavelets and support vector machines

Since the fusion plasma experiment generates hundreds of signals, it is essential to have automatic mechanisms for searching similarities and retrieving of specific data in the wave form database. Wavelet transform (WT) is a transformation that allows one to map signals to spaces of lower dimensionality. Support vector machine (SVM) is a very effective method for general purpose pattern recognition. Given a set of input vectors which belong to two different classes, the SVM maps the inputs into a high-dimensional feature space through some nonlinear mapping, where an optimal separating hyperplane is constructed. In this work, the combined use of WT and SVM is proposed for searching and retrieving similar wave forms in the TJ-II database. In a first stage, plasma signals will be preprocessed by WT to reduce their dimensionality and to extract their main features. In the next stage, and using the smoothed signals produced by the WT, SVM will be applied to show up the efficiency of the proposed method to dea...

Adaptive high learning rate probabilistic disruption predictors from scratch for the next generation of tokamaks

The development of accurate real-time disruption predictors is a pre-requisite to any mitigation action. Present theoretical models of disruptions do not reliably cope with the disruption issues. This article deals with data-driven predictors and a review of existing machine learning techniques, from both physics and engineering points of view, is provided. All these methods need large training datasets to develop successful predictors. However, ITER or DEMO cannot wait for hundreds of disruptions to have a reliable predictor. So far, the attempts to extrapolate predictors between different tokamaks have not shown satisfactory results. In addition, it is not clear how valid this approach can be between present devices and ITER/DEMO, due to the differences in their respective scales and possibly underlying physics. Therefore, this article analyses the requirements to create adaptive predictors from scratch to learn from the data of an individual machine from the beginning of operation. A particular algorithm based on probabilistic classifiers has been developed and it has been applied to the database of the three first ITER-like wall campaigns of JET (1036 non-disruptive and 201 disruptive discharges). The predictions start from the first disruption and only 12 re-trainings have been necessary as a consequence of missing 12 disruptions only. Almost 10 000 different predictors have been developed (they differ in their features) and after the chronological analysis of the 1237 discharges, the predictors recognize 94% of all disruptions with an average warning time (AWT) of 654 ms. This percentage corresponds to the sum of tardy detections (11%), valid alarms (76%) and premature alarms (7%). The false alarm rate is 4%. If only valid alarms are considered, the AWT is 244 ms and the standard deviation is 205 ms. The average probability interval about the reliability and accuracy of all the individual predictions is 0.811 ± 0.189.

Development of an efficient real-time disruption predictor from scratch on JET and implications for ITER

Prediction of disruptions from scratch is an ITER-relevant topic. The first operations with the new ITER-like wall constitute a good opportunity to test the development of new predictors from scratch and the related methodologies. These methodologies have been based on the Advanced Predictor Of DISruptions (APODIS) architecture. APODIS is a real-time disruption predictor that is in operation in the JET real-time network. Balanced and unbalanced datasets are used to develop real-time predictors from scratch. The discharges are used in chronological order. Also, different criteria to decide when to re-train a predictor are discussed. The best results are obtained by applying a hybrid method (balanced/unbalanced datasets) for training and with the criterion of re-training after every missed alarm. The predictors are tested off-line with all the discharges (disruptive/non-disruptive) corresponding to the first three JET ITER-like wall campaigns. The results give a success rate of 93.8% and a false alarm rate of 2.8%. It should be considered that these results are obtained from models trained with no more than 42 disruptive discharges.

Search and retrieval of plasma wave forms: Structural pattern recognition approach

Databases for fusion experiments are designed to store several million wave forms. Temporal evolution signals show the same patterns under the same plasma conditions and, therefore, pattern recognition techniques can allow identification of similar plasma behaviors. Further developments in this area must be focused on four aspects: large databases, feature extraction, similarity function, and search/retrieval efficiency. This article describes an approach for pattern searching within wave forms. The technique is performed in three stages. Firstly, the signals are filtered. Secondly, signals are encoded according to a discrete set of values (code alphabet). Finally, pattern recognition is carried out via string comparisons. The definition of code alphabets enables the description of wave forms as strings, instead of representing the signals in terms of multidimensional data vectors. An alphabet of just five letters can be enough to describe any signal. In this way, signals can be stored as a sequence of ch...

A Mobile Robots Experimental Environment with Event-Based Wireless Communication

An experimental platform to communicate between a set of mobile robots through a wireless network has been developed. The mobile robots get their position through a camera which performs as sensor. The video images are processed in a PC and a Waspmote card sends the corresponding position to each robot using the ZigBee standard. A distributed control algorithm based on event-triggered communications has been designed and implemented to bring the robots into the desired formation. Each robot communicates to its neighbors only at event times. Furthermore, a simulation tool has been developed to design and perform experiments with the system. An example of usage is presented.

Developing and Implementing Virtual and Remote Labs for Control Education: The UNED pilot experience

Last years, research efforts on the development of virtual and remote laboratories in control engineering education have been reported in many conferences, workshops and journals. However, it is observed that pilot experiences about the utilization of web-based laboratories are not habitual practices. In this paper it is described the pilot experience of the Department of Computer Science and Automatic Control of the Spanish University of Distance Learning (UNED) about the introduction of three web- based laboratories in a course on process control. This experience begins with descriptions of the tools employed to develop client and server-sides and the collaborative environment used to publish the labs in Internet. Attention is due to the concept of task protocol. It consists essentially of an ordered list of activities that students must execute in the virtual and remote mode of each one of the three web-based laboratories. To conclude, results of the pilot experience are given by means of evaluation questionnaires.