Advanced Control Design with Application to Electromechanical Systems

2017

Chapter 1

Introduction

Abstract

The primary objective of this book is to collect basic results pertaining to advanced control design approaches using convex optimization methods over linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) with applications to electromechanical systems. Hence, in this chapter, we will explore and study a mathematical approach aimed directly at dealing with several physical systems that are coupled in feedback. We are particularly interested in the class of electrical, mechanical, electromagnetic, and electromechanical systems. We will summarize the dynamic principles and interactions between the mechanical motion, circuit, and magnetic-state variables. We will also illustrate these principles with a few examples as well as provide some bibliography to more advanced references in electromechanics. We build up a definite path from basic theory to a complete description of mathematical models that are conveniently cast into the format of ordinary differential equations or the state-space format.

Keywords

Modeling concepts; State space; Mechanics paradigm; Electrical engineering paradigm; Control paradigm; Electromagnetic devices; Electromechanical systems; Feedback basis; Structural properties

1.1 Modeling concepts

In what follows, we provide an introduction to the concept of modeling and some basic material on two specific methods that are commonly used in feedback and control systems: differential equations and difference equations (DEs) [1]. Admittedly, a model is a precise representation of a system's dynamics used to answer questions via analysis and simulation. Models allow us to reason about a system and make predictions about how a system will behave. In this text, we will mainly be interested in models describing the input/output behavior of systems, often in the so-called state-space form.

Dynamical systems can be viewed in two different ways [2]:

A  The internal view, which attempts to describe the internal workings of the system and originates from classical mechanics. Models based on the internal view are called internal descriptions, state models, or white-box models.

B  The external view, which produces input/output characterization of the system and originates from electrical engineering. Models associated with the external view are named external descriptions, input/output models, or black-box models.

Throughout this book we will mostly use the words state models and input/output models.

1.1.1 Mechanics paradigm

Credit was lent to Newton, who embarked on an ambitious program to try to explain why the planets move in ellipses, and he found that the motion could be explained by his law of gravitation and the formula that force equals mass times acceleration. In the process he also invented calculus and differential equations. Building upon this, the state of a dynamical system was defined as a collection of variables that characterize the motion of a system completely for the purpose of predicting future motion. For a system of planets the state is simply the positions and the velocities of the planets. In the sequel, we call the set of all possible states the state space. A common class of mathematical models for dynamical systems is formed by the ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Mathematically, an ODE is written

(1.1)

is a vector of real numbers that describes the current state of the system, and model (1.1) describes the rate of change of the state as a function of the state itself.

The differential equation (1.1) is called an autonomous system because there are no external influences. Such a model is natural to use for celestial mechanics, because it is difficult to influence the motion of the planets. In many examples, it is useful to model the effects of external disturbances or controlled forces on the system. One way to capture this is to replace (1.1) by

(1.2)

where u represents the effect of external influences. Model . Adding the input makes the model richer and allows new questions to be posed.

A detailed layout of model (1.2) consists of a finite number of coupled first-order ODEs. We have

(1.3)

where n represents the number of states and m represents the number of controllable input. The connection between models (1.2) and (1.3) is summarized by

(1.4)

1.1.2 Electrical engineering paradigm

The input/output framework is used in many engineering systems since it allows us to decompose a problem into individual components, connected through their input and output. Thus, we can take a complicated electronic system and break it down into manageable pieces, such as the receiver, demodulator, amplifier, and speakers. Each of these pieces has a set of input and output and, through proper design, these components can be interconnected to form the entire system.

The input/output view is particularly useful for the special class of linear time-invariant (LTI) systems. Let a and b be real numbers. A system is linear is also an input/output pair. This is often called the principle of superposition. A system is time-invariant if the output response for a given input does not depend on when that input is applied.

1.1.3 The control paradigm

Historically, the approach to dynamics in the 1940s was strongly influenced by the electrical engineering view. A decade later, in the late 1950s, the approach was inspired by mechanics and the two different views were soon merged. Much of the classical development of dynamical systems then focused on autonomous systems. In control it is of course essential that systems can have external influences. The emergence of space flight is a typical example where precise control of the orbit is essential. Information also plays an important role in control because it is essential to know the information about a system that is provided by available sensors. The models from mechanics were thus modified to include external control forces and sensors. In control, the model given by (1.2) was

(1.5)

is a vector of measurements. This paradigm has added to the richness of the classical problems and led to new concepts. It is quite natural then to ask if possible states x in the state space can be reached with the proper choice of u (reachability) and if the measurement contains enough information to reconstruct the state (observability). The dimension of the state vector is called the order of the system. The system is called time-invariant because the functions f and g do not depend explicitly on time t. The model thus consists of two functions. The function f portrays the velocity of the state vector as a function of state x and control u and the function g describes the measured values as functions of state x and control u.

A system is called linear if the functions f and g are linear in x and u. A linear state-space system can thus be represented by

(1.6)

, and D are constant matrices. Such a system is said to be LTI. The matrix A is called the dynamics matrix, the matrix B is called the control matrix, the matrix C is called the sensor matrix, and the matrix D is called the direct term. Frequently systems will not have a direct term, indicating that the control signal does not influence the output directly.

In some circumstances, one has to express model (1.7) in the frequency domain and rely on the transfer-function description. Recalling that

where s can be expressed as

(1.7)

, the solution of (1.7) is given by

(1.8)

1.1.4 Discrete-time systems

, the question is how the state of the system changes for each k. By similarity to differential equations, we define the state to be those sets of variables that summarize the past of the system for the purpose of predicting its future. Systems described in this manner are referred to as discrete-time systems, which can be cast into the form

(1.9)

is the state of the system at time k are smooth mappings of the appropriate dimension. Frequently, we call . In line with model (1.7), a linear version of (1.9) can be written as

(1.10)

, and D , the solution of (1.10) is given by

(1.11)

In some respect, DEs are also useful as approximations of ODEs.

1.2 Principles of electrical circuits

A generic circuit element places a constraint between the classic variables of a circuit: voltage and current [2]. Voltage is electric potential and represents the push that drives electric charge from one place to another. What causes charge to move is a physical separation between positive and negative charge. A battery generates, through electrochemical means, excess positive charge at one terminal and negative charge at the other, creating an electric field. Voltage is defined across a circuit element, with the positive sign denoting a positive voltage drop across the element. When a conductor connects the positive and negative potentials, current flows, with positive current indicating that positive charge flows from the positive terminal to the negative. Electrons comprise current flow in many cases. Because electrons have a negative charge, electrons move in the opposite direction of positive current flow. Negative charge flowing to the right is equivalent to positive charge moving to the left.

Current flows through circuit elements and through conductors, which we indicate by lines in circuit diagrams. For every circuit element, we define a voltage and a current. The element has a v–i relation defined by the element's physical properties. In defining the v–i relation, we have the convention that positive current flows from positive to negative. Voltage has units of volts and current has units of amperes [3].

Voltages and currents also carry power . A positive value for power indicates that at time t the circuit element is consuming power; a negative value means it is producing power. With voltage expressed in volts and current in amperes, power defined this way has units of watts. Just as in all areas of physics and chemistry, power is the rate at which energy is consumed or produced. Consequently, energy is the integral of power. We have

Again, positive energy corresponds to consumed energy and negative energy corresponds to energy production. Note that a circuit element having a power profile that is both positive and negative over some time interval could consume or produce energy according to the sign of the integral of power. The units of energy are joules since a watt equals a joule/s.

1.2.1 Electrical circuit elements

The elementary circuit elements—the resistor, capacitor, and inductor (see Fig. 1.1)— impose linear relationships between voltage and current. The electrical voltage and current sources are depicted in Fig. 1.2.

• Resistor The resistor is the simplest circuit element, where the voltage is proportional to the current. We have

(1.12)

with the constant of proportionality R, known as the resistance, having units of ohms, Ω. When resistance is positive, as it is in most cases, a resistor consumes power. A resistor's instantaneous power consumption can be written in two ways. We write

As the resistance approaches infinity, we have what is known as an open circuit: no current flows but a nonzero voltage can appear across the open circuit. As the resistance becomes zero, the voltage goes to zero for a nonzero current flow. This situation corresponds to a short circuit. A superconductor physically realizes a short circuit.

• Capacitor. The constant of proportionality, the capacitance, has units of farads (F). As current is the rate of change of charge, the v–i relation can be expressed in differential or integral form. We write

(1.13)

If the voltage across a capacitor is constant, then the current flowing into it equals zero. In this situation, the capacitor is equivalent to an open circuit. The power consumed/produced by a voltage applied to a capacitor depends on the product of the voltage and its derivative. We have

This result means that a capacitor's total energy expenditure up to time t is concisely given by

This expression presumes the fundamental assumption of circuit theory: all voltages and currents in any circuit were zero in the far distant past