Friday 28/09/2012
09:15 – 11:30
B.1. Control & Automation Session
Chair: C. Alafodimos – D. Dimogianopoulos – D. Kalligeropoulos – S. Vassiliadis
B.1.1. Case study: Test-Rig for shape-shifting aircraft control surfaces.
Manufacturing process of the Test-Rig
Chris Cabouris (1), Nicolas Cabouris (2)
(1) Technological Educational Institute of Piraeus, Department of Electronic &
Computer
Systems, 250 Thivon avenue, Athens, 122-44, Greece, aims_021@yahoo.com,
(2) Stakam s.a., Advanced Industrial Manufacturing Systems
55-57 Adigonis str. Athens, 104-42, Greece, stakam@stakam.gr
Abstract
The scope of the current paper is to illustrate the manufacturing details of a completed
construction from the field of aeronautical research. The case study refers to the
manufacturing of a Test-Rig which will be used for the assessment of aircraft flaps or
ailerons implementing morphing materials. This is a part of a large European
Community research project. Shape-shifting or morphing surfaces are of great interest
to EC academic institutes as well as the aviation industry since they commonly pursue
the incorporation of greener technologies in flights.
The flaps undergo a series of stress tests that recreate the loads during a number of
full flight cycles; a flight cycle includes take-off, cruise and landing. Stress tests
comprise of different combinations of static and dynamic loads, since a key
component of a flap assessment is the characterisation of its vibrational behavior.
The rig receives all the test loads. It is designed to withstand them, with the minimum
interference in the measurement processes. Furthermore, the rig is scheduled to
participate in tests in different laboratories across Europe. Two of the key
specifications have been the ease of disassembly - transportation (by air or ground
vehicles) - assembly, and assuring that assembly accuracy is maintained. Naturally,
another key issue has been the cost.
3D CAD and CAE software tools have been extensively used for the design.
Informatics helped to speed up the creation and the validation of a test-rig model,
indicating that the rig behaves under load according to requirements. And yet, one of
the most crucial aspects of the development phase is the “design for
manufacturability” issue. Requiring expertise and skills, “designing for
manufacturability” still remains an engineer's duty, even though software tools have
evolved exponentially. This paper presents the manufacturing process of the test rig
highlighting a few of the important points where “manufacturability” is involved.
From a systemic point of view, this paper addresses the subject of closing the design
loop, from concept to implementation.
Keywords : Test-Rig, design for manufacturability, precision alignment.
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B.1.2. Aeronautics R&D on the ground: CAD & CAE tools facilitate the
structural design of an experimentation platform. 3D software assisted modelling
and analysis of the load bearing structure
Chris Cabouris (1), Nicolas Cabouris (2)
(1) Technological Educational Institute of Piraeus, Department of Electronic &
Computer
Systems, 250 Thivon avenue, Athens, 122-44, Greece, aims_021@yahoo.com,
2
( ) Stakam s.a., Advanced Industrial Manufacturing Systems
55-57 Adigonis str. Athens, 104-42, Greece, stakam@stakam.gr
Abstract
Novel architectures for aircraft control surfaces (flaps, ailerons, stabilizers, canards,
rudders, etc.) have been a major focal point of the aeronautic research & development
community. In our times, prototypes are initially rendered on computer screens where
they undergo static and dynamic analysis among other tests. After a series of
refinements, a prototype is actually constructed and submitted in a number of tests,
since its characteristics and behavior must be assessed and compared against
specifications and expectations.
The present document reports the main information about a test rig that will be used
for measuring and assessing the characteristics of aircraft flap prototypes. Being itself
a prototype, the test rig has been developed and studied with the use of CAD systems.
The inputs of the design process in the initial phases have been the flap dimensions,
expected aerodynamic loads on flap, nature of tests to be conducted and required
access space. During the design process, a number of possible implementations has
been suggested and studied with the help of CAD and CAE tools. Finally, the
candidates have been narrowed to one, which, after thorough examination, has got
approved for construction. A brief selection of the final 3D model drawings,
manufacturing drawings, of the static analysis & modal analysis results, appear in the
paper.
Furthermore, the paper offers examples on how CAD software helps detect weak
areas and points-out the areas that need improvement. In this sense, CAD platforms
act as decision-support tools, long before the implementation phase, i.e. before any
single part is constructed.
Keywords : Test-Rig, Airplane flaps, Static Analysis, Modal Analysis, 3
Dimensional design platforms.
B.1.3. Energy Savings & Power Quality in dc Motor Driving Systems in the
Hellenic Territory: Methodology & Early Results
G.Ch. Ioannidis1, C.S. Psomopoulos1, S.D. Kaminaris1, G.A.Vokas2, P. Pachos1 and
S.Tsiolis1
1
Department of Electrical Engineering, TEI of Piraeus, P. Ralli & Thivon 250, 122 44
Egaleo, Greece, Tel: +30 5381578, Fax: +30 5381578, E-mail: gioan@teipir.gr
2
Department of Electronics Engineering, TEI of Piraeus, P. Ralli & Thivon 250, 122
44 Egaleo, Greece, Tel: +30 5381180, Fax: +30 5381180, E-mail: gvokas@teipir.gr
Abstract
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In this paper a research work and its preliminary results exploring the possibility of
energy savings in existing dc drive systems in Greece are presented. The purpose of
this research is to develop a new motor drive system and its respective control
technique to upgrade existing dc drive systems in order to reduce power consumption
and at the same time effectively control their speed and torque characteristics. In
addition, the new high-voltage low loss semiconductor switches relying on silicon
carbide (SiC) are studied, and compared to the existing silicon (Si) semiconductor
switches. Furthermore, the possibility of applying H∞ or/and fuzzy logic theory to
optimize the control of the dc drive system and the application of a reduced losses dc
converter will be considered. Moreover, the harmonic distortion due to the use of
rectifiers will be investigated and the methodology for the measurement of the low
order harmonics and related disturbances emitted to the network is presented.
B.1.4. Simulation of magnetohydrodynamic stability control with high-frequency
electromagnetic waves in nuclear fusion experiments
Ioannis Kakogiannos, Department of Automation, Technological Educational Institute
of Piraeus250, Petrou Ralli & Thivon str., Egaleo, 122 44 Athens, Greece, E-mail:
gkakogiannos@gmail.com
Christos Tsironis , School of Electrical & Computer Engineering, National Technical
University of Athens 9, Iroon Polytechneiou str., Zografou, 157 80 Athens, Greece, Email: ctsiron@mail.ntua.gr (also at: ctsiron@teipir.gr)
Iordanis K. Giannopoulos, Department of Automation, Technological Educational
Institute of Piraeus 250, Petrou Ralli & Thivon str., Egaleo, 122 44 Athens, Greece,
E-mail: iogian@teipir.gr
Dimitrios Kalligeropoulos, Department of Automation, Technological Educational
Institute of Piraeus 250, Petrou Ralli & Thivon str., Egaleo, 122 44 Athens, Greece,
E-mail: dkal@teipir.gr
Abstract
Controlled thermonuclear fusion, still in experimental stage, is a prospect for a viable
and environment-friendly solution to the energy problem. Necessary for optimizing
tokamak device operation is to develop automatic control systems that implement the
entire loop from the diagnostic sensors to the actuators, in order to control multiple
plasma parameters connected to the magnetic equilibrium, stability and machine
safety. The main actuators involved in tokamak control schemes are magnetic coils,
electromagnetic waves and gas puffs, where high-power microwave sources are used
for handling plasma instabilities and for measuring the plasma state. In present-day
experiments the implemented control schemes are rather simple, however in ITER
more sophisticated control design will be required, involving realistic closed-loop
control simulations, modern control concepts and real-time estimation in terms of
computationally feasible plasma models. In this work we present the current status in
the development of a block system design for the simulation of
magnetohydrodynamic instability control. The control design is developed in
Simulink and includes: (a) the open-loop system dynamics, coming from an
established physics model for the instability evolution, (b) the model for the wave
actuation, which involves the steerable mirror guiding the beam to the plasma, the
motor controlling the mirror rotation and the plasma wave propagation, (c) the effect
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of the diagnostic sensors, based on the physics processes in the measurement of the
instability parameters, and (d) controller design based on classical and modern control
tools. We identify the characteristics of the control problem regarding the transient
response and the steady-state error of the closed-loop system under realistic
conditions, as well as the effect of the system parameters and the input on the
controller design.
Keywords: Controlled thermonuclear fusion, electromagnetic waves, tokamak
control simulations.
B.1.5. Acceleration of Finite Impulse Response Filter Algorithms with Hardware,
to Embedded System in a Programmable Device
I.Maltezos1, V. Adrianoupolitou2
1
Computer Systems & Networks Laboratory, 7th School Laboratory Center, Pireaus,
Greece
Tel: 2109937947, E-mail: johnmaltezos@hotmail.com
2
HELLENIC SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION FOR TECHNICAL - VOCATIONAL
EDUCATION
AND
TRAINING,
Athens,
Greece
Tel: 2108053539, E-mail: a_vassia@hotmail.com
Abstract
The target of the reported study is the design of a Digital System on Programmable
Chip, aiming at the optimized output, from side of time, of a digital finite impulse
response filter. This is achieved by two ways, with the addition of hardware
accelerator that collaborates in the realization of the filter algorithm with the NIOS II
processor of ALTERA, and with the addition of special instructions in the processor
instruction set.
It is done bibliographic examination in the subject of special purpose processors in
order the reader to know the design techniques of the system. A special purpose
processor is designed for an application or for group of applications with common
characteristics. The success of the design lies to the most optimal exploitation of
particular characteristics of applications, so the requirements in speed, surface, and
consumption of power are satisfied. For this purpose, the effort is focused in the
optimization of intensive, computational, calculating tasks that are critical for the total
performance of the processor.
The system is based on the soft-core processor NIOS II of ALTERA and on hardware
IP cores that are provided, thus we are analyze completely the technical
characteristics and the utilization method for the above cores.
Before the stage of system realization, it was useful to report the fundamental
mathematics of digital signal processing, on which we based in order to design the
hardware accelerator system and the hardware on what we execute the special
instruction of digital finite impulse response filter. For reasons of realistic approach in
the design methodology for the software system, was used the Real Time Operating
System FreeRTOS, wich runs all realization processes for digital signal processing
algorithms, as much as the processes that are used to display the measurements on
screen and the operational validation of the system. In the stage of hardware
realization, are presented analytically the design process of the accelerator and the
way to import the special instruction, as well as the results of optimization that we
achieve from the above approaches.
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The case study objectives which were achieved are: the important acceleration for
implementing a digital finite impulse response filter algorithm, about 40 times with
use of hardware accelerator, and 100 times with use of special instruction that is
embedded in the instruction set of processor NIOS II, the investigation of a way to
design software with use of Real Time Operational System for processor NIOS II and
the presentation of a methodology for design other corresponding systems that
requires acceleration of execution time. In order of the methodology practical
appliance, were imported, sound, and numerical data, in order to be evaluated for the
output and the validation of the designed system.
Key-words: Embedded Systems, Systems on Programmable Chip, HardwareSoftware Co-Design, Real Time Operating Systems, Application Specific Instruction
Processors
B.1.6. Programming the Solar Station in LabVIEW: A study in the Design and
Development of a Complete Measurement System
Argyris Konstantinos1, Michalis Loukas2, Panetsos Spyros3 and Vandoulakis
Antonios4
1
Lecturer, Department of Electronics Engineering, ASPETE, kargiris@aspete.gr
2
External Labs Staff, ASPETE, lmichali@otenet.gr
3
Associate Professor, Department of Electronics Engineering, ASPETE,
s.panetsos@aegean.gr
4
Technical Engineer, Epsilon Metrix, a.vandoulakis@emetrix.gr
Abstract
Computers have been built and programs have always been written to process data.
Numerical and text data would be read from the screen or from files, in the
computer’s hard disk and the output of the processing would similarly be written on
the screen or in various files, in the computer’s disk.
As processors have become both smaller and faster, the computer’s range of
applications has become broader. The types of data and the form of processing have
grown more complex to include the processing of speech, images, video and the
production of motor action. The source of data that used to be constrained to manual
input from the keyboard and file I/O operations from the computer’s hard disk, has
expanded as sensors and measurement devices get connected to the computer and
directly feed data, images and measurements into its processing unit (Figure 1).
The processor inside a computer takes the form of a microprocessor or a
microcontroller. In that form, it runs the programs and applications in mobile phones
and household appliances. It controls various systems, like the ABC system in cars,
functions as the executive center of robots and becomes part of measurement systems,
reading and processing measurements and producing various actions in response to
those measurements, by operating motors and the switches in measurement organs.
Microprocessors and microcontrollers serve as the basis to build embedded systems.
They are connected to sensors, measurement organs and motors to form DAQ
systems. Different processors can be combined across networks to form distributed
systems. As the processor is embedded into real time modules, new methods have
emerged for programming those more complex systems: the GPIB protocol, FPGA
and Graphical programming.
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In this paper we examine the common component, underlying embedded,
measurement systems and robotics. The hardware and the programming environments
and methods that we use to develop the extended programs that control those systems,
reading data form sensors and measurement organs, processing that data and
producing the appropriate motor action.
We examine the programming of measurement and embedded systems, by
programming the NXT solar station (Figure 2), in LabVIEW. The solar station is built
out of the Lego Mindstorms NXT pieces. It consists of a solar panel, sensors tracking
and detecting a light source and motors that can rotate the solar panel in the three
dimensional space to track the movement of the light source.
In the paper / presentation, we will show how we can program in LabVIEW, the solar
station to track a moving light source that changes its position, matching the sun’s
daily movement. The objective is to build a stable and robust solar tracker that can
take into account and compensate for seasonal variations in the sun’s movement. That
can track the light’s movement under various conditions, as when a surface
temporarily obstructs the light, corresponding to clouds hiding the sun, gradually
building a real world system, made of sensors and motors that could control and guide
the movement of an actual solar panel.
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B.1.7. Increasing the efficiency through optimize production parts enrollment
Böhm Gabriella, Doble Liliana, Pop Mirela
Abstract
This paper aims to show how the work of MD Best Nest program in achieving the
fastest and best classification of a product templates. MD Best Nest is a program
designed to optimize framing textiles, realizing fully automatic framing, improving
their time granted by the user (maximum 2 minutes). Also it is possible to achieve and
framing manually, or automatically combining the manual framing with that. [X] [Y].
Placement efficiency achieved automatically by MD Best Nest exceeds the efficiency
obtained mostly through manual classification in conditions of impeccable quality and
placement of related parts to reduce the time allocated to achieve them.
Framing is the operation by which all parts of a product template which is placed on
corresponding material, taking account by restrictive rules. The main objective of
framing is rational use of surface material. After framing are obtained some indicators
that give us information about the material recovery efficiency, and thereby cause
some changes in the constructive design of product. To the achievement of framing
should be considered the restrictive conditions which are imposed, mainly by specific
nature and material, required features by the model and by technological operations to
be used in the cutting operation [ST-HZ].
Keywords: patterns, employment, product reference, restrictive conditions, material
recovery.
B.1.8. Increasing production efficiency of garments industry using new
automated systems
Doble L.; Bohm G. ; Cicarac (Muresan) D. A.
Abstract
Robotics have changed the financial circumstances increasing the volume of industrial
fixed assets, improving production conditions, which will increase the reliability of
operational, executive and management systems. With the introduction of new robotic
technologies, organizational training activities are activities with the highest
importance.
The advances achieved in information technology, expansion of electronic computers,
office computers and personal information enhances the statement of the importance
of economic growth and development resource, a consumer good and with social
value.
Until recently it was thought that automating processes of production was profitable
only to achieve high range products. Today, this have broad applicability and
implementation by products of small series or for achieving of so-called "on order"
production.
Advances in microelectronics and information processing have resulted in new
models of sewing machines and microprocessors. It is distinguished by: specific
features of graphics memory variants sewing, sewing variants change, adaptation
from sewing to the next version, automation of fixing, sewing operations, unloading /
loading parts, production and display of shutdowns.
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Keywords: Robotics, microelectronics, manufacturing system, control system,
database.
B.1.9. Robust Distributed Fuzzy Tracking For Swarm Based UAV Missions
Under Unknown Environmental Conditions
Georgios P. Kladis
Hellenic Army, Nikolaou Floutzi Str., 12461, Chaidari, Athens, Hellas
E-mail: klamouf@gmail.com, gk110@leicester.ac.uk
Abstract
This paper focuses on a systematic analysis for the tracking problem in swarm-based
missions for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with linear and angular velocity
constraints flying under unknown wind information. A distributed Takagi-Sugeno
(TS) framework design is adopted for the representation of the nonlinear model of the
dynamics for the swarm of UAVs. The distributed control law introduced is
composed of both node and network level information. Firstly feedback gains are
synthesised, using a Parallel Distributed Compensation (PDC) control law structure,
for the isolated UAVs while ignoring communications among the swarm. The
resulting common Lyapunov matrix is utilised at network level, to incorporate into the
control law the relative differences in the states of the agents, to induce cooperative
behaviour. Eventually stability is guaranteed for the entire swarm. The control
synthesis is all performed using tools from linear control theory where criteria are
posed as Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). An illustrative example based on a UAV
tracking scenario is included to outline the potential of the analysis.
Keywords: Graph theory, Multi-agent systems, Consensus, Parallel Distributed
Compensation, Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model, Linear Matrix Inequalities, Robust
control.
B.1.10. A Graphical User Interface for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Missions For
Navigation Purposes
Georgios P. Kladis
Control Group, Department of Engineering
University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, United Kingdom
E-mail: klamouf@gmail.com, gk110@leicester.ac.uk
Abstract
The aim of this report is the development of a Graphical User Interface (GUI)
platform to be used for general case fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
missions. This is capable to aid the operator for navigation purposes for the UAV
mission under nominal conditions and in case there is loss or failure of the Global
Positioning System (GPS). The common practice for navigation purposes is the use of
GPS or onboard sensors in the UAV, or other hybrid approaches which have their
limitations and drawbacks. Thus the demand is towards an approach that can be fully
autonomous, immune to exogenous disturbances, is decoupled from information
broadcasted to the Aerial Vehicle (AV), can perform real-time while in flight, and
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rely on robust and efficient sensors that are embedded in the payload of the vehicle. In
the literature, such an efficient approach utilises the information content of the terrain
in order to estimate the position of the UAV. This is termed Terrain Aided Navigation
(TAN) and a statistical approach (Particle Filters-PFs) is adopted for the sollution of
the localisation of the UAV in this report.
The platform developed, includes tools to assist the operator for the UAV mission
such as the mission planification, the motion planning, the tracking module, and the
estimation of position in the event of GPS loss etc. Thus a more complete, user
friendly, and close to reality platform is outlined. The potential of the analysis is
illustrated through a mission scenario where the UAV is deployed over the region of
Arcadia.
Keywords: Terrain Based Navigation, Particle filters, Graphical user interface,
Control, Takagi Sugeno fuzzy model, Linear matrix inequalities, Graph theory.
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