Modern methods for position control of systems : real-world and simulated application to a time variant pneumatic actuator

The Ph.D. programme arose naturally from the fundamental questions remaining after completing MPhil research at UWR in a very similar subject area. which was in achieving effective proportional position control of a linear pneumatic actuator. There are many challenging reasons for using pneumatic systems for control in certain important potential application areas, i.e., their numerous and multiple applications in modern industry due to their extensive beneficial characteristics. The still-unsolved problem of robust long-term proportional control of pneumatic actuators keeps the continuous research interest of engineers high. It is believed that when the operation time increases, so does the temperature inside the cylinder body.Any increase in temperature affects the system performance. For example, one effect is that the piston rubber expands and the contact area becomes greater; hence the frictional forces are affected. The rubber seal, which is between the piston and the cylinder body, also deforms according to air pressure increase. These long-term effects were the major cause of the problems that existed during all of the author's MPhil experimentation, using any kind of control method; the result was that frequent retuning of the controller could not be avoided.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo