Soufiene Bouallegue

Rapid Control Prototyping and PIL Co-Simulation of a Quadrotor UAV Based on NI myRIO-1900 Board

In this paper, a new Computer Aided Design (CAD) methodology for the Processor-In-the-Loop (PIL) co-simulation and Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP) of a Quadrotor Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) type of Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) is proposed and successfully implemented around an embedded NI myRIO-1900 target and a host PC. The developed software (SW) and hardware (HW) prototyping platform is based on the Control Design and Simulation (CDSim) module of LabVIEW environment and an established Network Streams data communication protocol. A dynamical model of the Quadrotor UAV, which incorporates the dynamics of vertical and landing flights and aerodynamic forces, is obtained using the Newton-Euler formalism. PID and Model Predictive Control (MPC) approaches are chosen as examples for experiment prototyping. These control laws, as well as the dynamical model of the Quad, are implemented and deployed as separate LabVIEW Virtual Instruments (VI) on the myRIO-1900 target and the host PC, respectively. Several demonstrative co-simulation results, obtained for a 3D LabVIEW emulator of the Quadrotor, are presented and discussed in order to improve the effectiveness of the proposed Model Based Design (MBD) prototyping methodology

Modeling and SIL simulation of a Tidal Stream device for marine energy conversion

This paper deals with the development and simulation of a MATLAB/Simulink model of a Tidal Stream Converter (TSC) to be installed in the breakwater at the harbour of Mutriku on the Basque coast in Spain. The developed model is that of a three-bladed tidal turbine connected to a Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) for marine energy convertion. A Software-In-the-Loop (SIL) simulation of the established TSC model has been investigated using the NI VeriStand tool. This is achieved in order to prepare for the Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) implementation of the studied marine energy converter based on an NI Compact RIO real-time target. All simulation results, obtained by MATLAB/Simulink within a Model-In-the Loop (MIL) simulation framework and by NI VeriStand within SIL simulation one, are analyzed and compared in order to validate the developed TSC model.

Modeling and SIL simulation of an oscillating water column for ocean energy conversion

In this paper, an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) device, installed in the breakwater at the harbor of Mutriku on the Basque coast in Spain has been modeled and simulated within Model-In-the-Loop (MIL) and Software-In-the-Loop (SIL) frame-works. The developed OWC model is formed by a Wells turbine and a Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) for wave energy converting. The established nonlinear model of the OWC device has been simulated in MAT-LAB/Simulink environment within a MIL framework. The SIL emulation of the OWC converter has been investigated using the NI VeriStand tool in order to prepare for its Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) implementation based on a NI CompactRIO real-time target. All simulation results, obtained with MATLAB/Simulink and NI VeriStand, are analyzed and compared in order to validate the developed OWC model.

Stalling-Free Control Strategies for Oscillating-Water-Column-Based Wave Power Generation Plants

The rising use of renewable power generation plants is highlighting the need for an integrated research combining multiple disciplines in order to achieve a commercially competitive technology stage. The demonstrative NEREIDA wave power plant installed in the northern coast of Spain constitutes a good example of this effort. This paper deals with the design, modeling, and control of the oscillating-water-column-based wave energy converter in order to maximize the power output of the NEREIDA power plant. The power optimization relies on two control strategies proposed to avoid the stalling behavior, a characteristic drawback of the Wells turbine, which limits the systems power. The first control strategy is an airflow control using a PID controller tuned by the particle swarm optimization algorithm and its recent memetic variant called fractional particle swarm optimization memetic algorithm. This controller will control a throttle valve to regulate the airflow in the turbine duct. The second one consist of adequately controlling the rotational speed of the generator by means of the rotor-side converter of the back-to-back converter connected to the doubly fed induction generator to provide a swift way to respond to the rapid variations in the turbine speed. The results show that both controls provide a higher power generation compared to the uncontrolled case.

Terminal Sliding Mode Controller Design for a Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

This chapter deals with the modeling and the control of a Quadrotor type of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) using a Terminal Sliding Mode Control (TSMC) approach. The objectives of this proposed nonlinear control strategy are the stabilization and path tracking of the altitude and the attitude of such an aircraft. The TSMC structure is designed to overcome several problems occur with the classical SMC one such as the chattering phenomenon. With this TSMC approach, it is guaranteed that the output tracking error converges to zero in a finite time unlike the classical SMC. The main structural difference between all proposed SMC structures, i.e. classical and terminal variants, is defined at the sliding surface form that determines the states dynamics of the controlled Quadrotor by chosen the suitable parameters of this surface. High performances of the proposed TSMC controllers are showed through the tracking of a desired flight path. Demonstrative simulation results are carried out in order to show the effectiveness of the proposed normal SMC and TSMC approaches.

Model Predictive Control design for a convertible Quad Tilt-Wing UAV

This paper deals with the design of a Model Predictive Control (MPC) approach for the altitude and attitude stabilization and tracking of a Quad Tilt Wing (QTW) type of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). This Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft can take-off and landing vertically such as helicopters and is convertible to the fixed-wing configuration for horizontal flight using a tilting mechanism for its rotors/wings. A nonlinear dynamical model, relating to the vertical flight mode of this QTW, is firstly developed using the Newton-Euler formalism, in describing the aerodynamic forces and moments acting on the aircraft. This established model, linearized around an equilibrium operating point, is then used to design a MPC approach for the stabilization and tracking of the QTW attitude and altitude. In order to show the performance superiority of the proposed MPC technique, a comparison with the known Linear Quadratic (LQ) strategy is carried out. All simulation results, obtained for both MPC and LQ approaches, are presented and discussed.

Co-simulation and rapid prototyping of fuzzy supervised PID controllers based on FPGA-Nexys2 board

In this paper, a new CAD methodology for the Processor-In-the-Loop (PIL) co-simulation and rapid prototyping of fuzzy supervised PID controllers is proposed and successfully implemented using the FPGA-based SPARTAN-3E board and a host PC. The developed software (SW) and hardware (HW) co-design platform is based on the Xilinx System Generator (XSG) interface of MATLAB/Simulink and the Xfuzzy/Xfvhdl tool. The designed fuzzy supervised PID controller, described by its generated VHDL description under Xfvhdl workflow of Xfuzzy software, is implemented as a MATLAB/XSG model. This hardware model will be deployed on the FPGA-based Nexys2 target within a PIL co-simulation framework. The proposed FPGA-based CAD fuzzy supervision approach is applied to a DC motor speed control. All obtained SW/HW co-simulation results are compared and discussed in order to improve the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy co-design methodology.

Water cycle algorithm–based airflow control for oscillating water column–based wave energy converters

The stalling behavior is a feature of the Wells turbine that limits the generated output power of power plants using this turbine. The NEREIDA wave power plant installed in the harbor of Mutriku in the northern Spanish shoreline constitutes an excellent example of this phenomenon. This article deals with the modeling, simulation and control of an oscillating water column unit within the NEREIDA wave power plant. The stalling behavior is investigated and two control strategies are proposed to avoid it. The first control approach is the airflow control which aims to adjust the airflow in the turbine duct using a proportional–integral–derivative controller tuned with the water cycle algorithm. The second control approach is the rotational speed control adjusting the rotor speed using the rotor-side converter of the back-to-back converter which is wired to the doubly fed induction generator. Results of comparative studies show a power generation improvement even relative to the real measured data.

Modelling and airflow control of an oscillating water column for wave power generation

This paper deals with the modelling, simulation and control of a wave power plant installed in the northern cost of Spain. This plant is an onshore Oscillating Water Column (OWC) composed of a Wells turbine coupled to a Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG). The power generated by the OWC is limited by the stalling behavior, a feature of the Wells turbine; therefore an airflow control is proposed in order to avoid the stalling phenomenon. This is achieved by regulating the airflow in the turbine duct by means of the throttle valve. The proposed control is based on a Proportional Integral (PI) controller. The results shows that the proposed control strategy provides a significant improvement of the generated power.

Modeling and MPPT control of a Tidal stream generator

This paper deals with the design, modeling and control of a Tidal Stream Generator (TSG) system including a tidal turbine, a rotor shaft and a Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG). Below high tidal speed the system is regulated so that for every tidal velocity reaches the maximum power. A rotational speed control based-Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) for a TSG is investigated to provide the suitable rotational speed to the system in order to track the maximum power and thus keeping the pitch angle null. Two study cases were proposed to test the performance of the control strategy. The obtained results show that the proposed control provide satisfactory tracking of the MPPT reference.