Self-tuning and Adaptive Control - M07MSE

- Coursework -
Lecturer: Dr Ivan Zajic
i.zajic@coventry.ac.uk

Submission date: 1 April 2017 (Online via Turnitin link on Moodle).

System Description
The block diagram representation of the controlled non-linear system is provided in Figure 1. The system
composes of a time varying gain Rk in a series connection with the linear dynamic sub-system. The gain
increases linearly from value 1 to 3 over the simulation time, while the dynamic sub-system is defined as
 
B(z) 4 b3 z 3 + b4 z 4
=Z e s0.2
= (1)
A(z) (s + 1)(s + 2) 1 + a1 z 1 + a2 z 2

To discretise the non-linear system for a control design purposes, discretise the linear dynamic sub-system (1)
only, while considering Rk being a constant of Rk = 1. Adopt a suitable discretisation method with sampling
time h = 0.1 [s].

ek

1
A(z)

uk yk
Rk B(z) +
A(z)

Figure 1: Block diagram of the open-loop system.

In figure 1 the signal uk denotes the system input, yk is the measured system output and ek denotes the
white, zero mean, noise signal with Gaussian amplitude distribution. The additive process noise is modelled by
the auto-regressive process [1/A(z)]ek , which corresponds to an ARX noise model set-up. The noise signal is
generated such that its standard deviation is SD = 0.02. When investigating your control designs use the last
three digits of your student identification number, denoted SID3 , as a seed value for the random noise generator
function. In the case of a single case study use the last three digits only, e.g. seed = SID3 = 123. In the case
of a Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation study the initial seed value should increase by one for every simulation, i.e.
seed = SID3 + 1, . . . , M, where M denotes the number of MC simulations.

To help you get started an accompanying Matlab script is provided. The script contains the implementa-
tion of the non-linear system including variables such as simulation time N and control set-point.

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Control Performance Measures
The following performance measures should be considered during the controller evaluation study
N
1 X
IAE = |rk yk | (2)
N N0
k=N0
N
1 X
IAC = |uk | (3)
N N0
k=N0

where N denotes the discrete-time simulation time, N0 denotes the start of evaluation and is set to N0 = 200
samples. The integral of absolute error, denoted IAE, expresses the average error between the measured
system output yk and the set-point rk . The integral of absolute control, denoted IAC, is then assumed to be
proportional to the overall control effort. You can also experiment with your own measures if necessary to
support your control performance analysis.

Question 1 - Pole-Placement Control [25 Marks]

Critically evaluate the control performance of a fixed-gain and self-tuning type pole-placement controllers. You
can consider any pole placement controller you know, e.g. PIP, PI, or PID, but choose only one. Note, that
due to a presence of time delay of three samples a Smith-Predictor may be required when considering a PID
controller. The controlled non-linear system model together with the considered control performance measures
are stated in the two preceding sections. In your control evaluation study consider the following:

Experiment with your control designs (focusing on control tuning) to achieve minimum integral of abso-
lute error (IAE) performance criterion and stable closed-loop control.

You may expect, that self-tuning control schemes will allow for aggressive control tuning, when controlling the
non-linear system, hence achieving low values of IAE criterion.

(A) Fixed-gain controller design [15 Marks]

Implement a fixed gain pole placement controller. Show single simulation case and also perform a compre-
hensive Monte-Carlo simulation study and tabulate the obtained results. You should consider at least 100
Monte-Carlo runs, i.e. M = 100. Consider two following control scenarios

i) The time varying system gain is unity, i.e. Rk = 1.

ii) The time varying system gain increases linearly from value 1 to 3 over the entire simulation time, while the
controller is designed based on assumption that Rk = 1.

(B) Self-tuning controller design [10 Marks]

The same control design requirements as stated in subsection (A) are considered, however in a self-tuning
framework. Consider only the case (ii), where the systems time varying gain increases linearly from value 1 to
3. A suitable on-line parameter estimation scheme should be selected with appropriate settings, e.g. recursive
least squares (RLS), RLS with fixed forgetting factor, constant trace covariance matrix RLS or Kalman filter
configured for parameter estimation. The selection of the suitable estimation scheme is an inherent part of the
considered analysis and is subject to full discussion (justify your choices).

Question 2 - Optimal Control [25 Marks]

Repeat tasks (A) and (B) in Question 1 using optimal controls. You are asked to apply Generalized Predictive
Controller (GPC) in a polynomial or state-space form. Select an appropriate cost weighting parameter which
constrains the control effort as well as control and prediction horizons. Provide appropriate graphical output to
show your results. Additionally, you are asked to apply one more, suitable, optimal controller of your choice,
e.g. Minimum Variance Controller, Generalised Minimum Variance Controller, or Linear-Quadratic (LQ) PIP
controller.

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Question 3 - Temperature control challenge [40 Marks]
Plant details
A zone temperature control problem is considered. A schematic diagram of the occupied zone is shown in
Figure 2 together with the control system. The zone temperature is measured at the return air duct having
temperature Tao (t) [K]. The zone temperature is controlled by regulating the inflow air mass-flow rate m(t)

[kg/s] by modulating the duct dumper. The inflow air temperature, denoted Tai [K], is kept constant and is
supplied by the air handling unit (AHU). In order to maintain the zone temperature at the set-point the inflow
air temperature must be higher then the demanded set-point and it must be hot enough to compensate for heat
losses through the zone walls. Note that the time varying variables are denoted by the time variable (t) in
rounded brackets, defined in seconds [s], while the variables and coefficients which are assumed to be constant
in this example are denoted without (t).

Occupied zone
supply air
from AHU
return air
Tai heat source Tao
damper q
m

T sensor
actuator Tf

Control

Figure 2: Schematic diagram of the controlled system.

The air mass-flow rate entering the zone, regulated by the duct damper, is modelled by the following
relationship
m(t)
= M (u(t)), (4)
where u(t) denotes the actuator control signal in a range of h0, 1i, where 0 corresponds to a fully closed and
1 to a fully open damper. M denotes the maximal available air mass-flow rate for a fully open damper, i.e.
u(t) = 1, and () represents the valve static characteristic.

System specifications
Based on the above presented plant details the following discrete-time Hammerstein-bilinear model is selected
to represent the system
1 exp(1 u(k))
f (u(k)) = (5a)
1 exp(1 )
1 exp(2 f (u(k)))
v(k) =(u(k)) = (5b)
1 exp(2 )
y(k) = ay(k 1) + b1 v(k d) + b2 q(k 1) + v(k d)y(k 1) (5c)
ym (k) =y(k) + e(k) (5d)
where u(k) is the system input, q(k) denotes the load disturbance input, y(k) is the system output, v(k) is an
intermediate input defined as v(k) = (u(k)), the measured system output is denoted by ym (k), e(k) is white,
zero mean, additive measurement noise with Gaussian amplitude distribution, and the system parameters are
defined as
1 3.54
2 3.04
a 0.9048
b1 3.2165
b2 0.55
0.03
d 3

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Additionally, there is a hard constraint on the system input so that the input signal can be in a range of h0, 1i
only. The system together with the designed control system is depicted in Figure 3. The system is implemented
in the attached Matlab script, which also contains load disturbance input, defined measurement noise, and
reference signal, denoted r(k).
q

saturation b2 z 1
delay e
u v 1
ym
() z d b1 1+az 1

r z 1
Control

Figure 3: Block diagram representation of the system and controller.

Note that the nonlinear models, where the system input is transformed by a static function followed in
a series by a linear dynamic submodel are named Hammerstein models. In the case of the considered zone
temperature model, the submodel is bilinear and not linear, forming the so called Hammerstein-bilinear model
structure, which is a flexible nonlinear model capable of approximating a wide range of physical phenomena.

Control requirements and performance criteria

There are three main control requirements, which, namely, are

1. Good set-point tracking.

2. Minimisation of energy utilisation.

3. Minimisation of actuation of moving control elements.

The demand of a good set-point tracking reflects the demand for a human comfort, so that the control system
is able to achieve demanded set-point and reject all the load disturbances acting on the system. The set-point
tracking is expressed by the following performance criterion
k1
1 X
IAE = |ym (k) r(k)| (6)
N
k=k0

where N is the number of data samples considered and discrete-time indices are k0 = 260 and k1 = 670.
It is assumed that the energy consumption by the heating system is directly proportional to the control action
applied, hence the following performance criterion is devised
k1
X
IAC = |u(k)| (7)
k=k0

In order to reduce wear and tear of the moving control components, such as the duct damper or the actuator,
it is demanded that the control signal is as steady as possible, which is reflected by the variance of the input
signal
k1
1 X 2
V AR = (u(k) u) (8)
M
k=k0

where u denotes mean value of signal u over the analysed time period N . Note, that some of the undesired
input signal variations are caused by transmitting the measurement noise on the input signal. Additionally,
some of the control requirements are contradicting each other, e.g. good set-point tracking may demand large
amount of energy plus for fast disturbance rejection the variance of input signal might be high as well.
For a good control performance all three performance criteria must be kept as low as possible.

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Coursework task
Design a control system, which can meet the above stated control requirements. You are encouraged to use
all the control techniques learned on this course and from the recommended (and other) literature. Part of
the control design is also the selection of control parameters, i.e. control tuning. When tuning your control
algorithm please do comment on your choices. You can assume that all the system parameters are known to
you and also that you can measure the load disturbance q(k) and use this information in your control design.
In an attached Matlab script a fixed-gain linear feedback type PIP controller is implemented, which serves
as a benchmark controller for you. Your control designs should outperform this linear controller.

IMPORTANT

Do derive and describe all the applied control schemes and numerically evaluate the feedback control gains
used in your simulations. When writing the report, it is not necessary to answer all question one-by-one as
stated in the assignment, but you can incorporate the individual answers into the coherent report. Present all
your results in an appropriate form, describe your observations and check if they match your expectations.
You are requested to produce a sample of the graphical output from MATLAB, tabulated results of all cases
and comprehensive conclusions. Do not provide exact copy of materials given in the lecture, hand-outs nor
books/articles. Please refer to any material properly (i.e. lecture notes and other sources of information e.g.
library books and published articles).