Hybrid Sensor Actuator Control via Virtual Signal Fusion
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing actuator control systems in manufacturing facilities face challenges with sensor precision and accuracy, particularly under dynamic conditions, and are prone to oscillations and hidden errors, leading to potential catastrophic failures and reduced performance.
Innovation Solution
The development of hybrid sensors that fuse data from physical and virtual sensors to enhance actuator control, using a processor to combine real and virtual sensor signals, apply periodic corrections, and employ a forgetting factor to mitigate errors and detect sensor failures, allowing for continued operation even during partial sensor failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If single element feedback sensors are used to monitor actuators, then the system is simple and easy to operate, but the precision and accuracy under dynamic conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sensor types (real physical sensors and virtual sensors) into a hybrid sensor system. The virtual sensor estimates actuator position by integrating control signals, while the real sensor provides actual position feedback. These two sources are merged to produce a more accurate and reliable position measurement that works effectively under both dynamic and static conditions, resolving the contradiction between system simplicity and measurement precision.
2Measurement precision
If closed loop feedback systems are used to control actuators, then control precision is improved, but oscillations occur when sensor noise levels are near the signal level
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a hybrid sensor as an intermediary between the actuator and the control system. This hybrid sensor processes and filters position information by combining real sensor data with virtual sensor estimates, effectively reducing the impact of noise on the feedback signal. This intermediary processing maintains control precision while preventing oscillations caused by noisy sensor signals.
3Measurement precision
If real sensors are used for actuator feedback, then accurate position monitoring is achieved, but sensor failures lead to total loss of feedback and system shutdown
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a virtual sensor that continuously estimates actuator position by integrating control signals as a backup mechanism. This virtual sensor acts as a cushion against real sensor failures - when the real sensor fails, the system can seamlessly transition to using the virtual sensor for feedback, preventing total loss of position monitoring and avoiding system shutdown, thus maintaining reliability while preserving accurate position monitoring capability.
4Stability of the object's composition
If control deadbands are widened to reduce oscillations, then system stability is improved, but control precision and response time deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters of the feedback signal itself by introducing a hybrid sensor that combines real and virtual sensor data. This transformation of the feedback parameter quality allows the system to maintain narrow control deadbands (preserving precision and response time) while the enhanced signal quality from the hybrid sensor prevents oscillations, thus improving stability without sacrificing control precision.
Data Source
AI summary
Information from a real sensor and a virtual sensor are fused to form a hybrid sensor. Control signals (and/or the absolute value of the control signals) applied to an actuator are accumulated and converted to a position the actuator should be in based on the accumulated control signals to form the virtual sensor. The actuator position from the virtual sensor is fused with an actuator position from a real sensor to form the hybrid sensor. Small periodic corrections can be made to the accumulating control signals to maintain or achieve, if possible, correlation between the virtual sensor and the real sensor over time. The corrections slowly decrement errors in the actuator position indicated by the virtual sensor. Accumulating numerical errors in the accumulating control signals are reduced and the significance of long past events is de-emphasized by a forgetting factor (kff) used at defined periods of time (tff).