Niranjan Saikumar

Linda Chen, Niranjan Saikumar, Simone Baldi et al.

In this paper a novel reset control synthesis method is proposed: CRONE reset control, combining a robust fractional CRONE controller with non-linear reset control to overcome waterbed effect. In CRONE control, robustness is achieved by creation of constant phase behaviour around bandwidth with the use of fractional operators, also allowing more freedom in shaping the open-loop frequency response. However, being a linear controller it suffers from the inevitable trade-off between robustness and performance as a result of the waterbed effect. Here reset control is introduced in the CRONE design to overcome the fundamental limitations. In the new controller design, reset phase advantage is approximated using describing function analysis and used to achieve better open-loop shape. Sufficient quadratic stability conditions are shown for the designed CRONE reset controllers and the control design is validated on a Lorentz-actuated nanometre precision stage. It is shown that for similar phase margin, better performance in terms of reference-tracking and noise attenuation can be achieved.

Linda Chen, Niranjan Saikumar, S. Hassan HosseinNia

In this paper, a framework for the combination of robust fractional order CRONE control with non-linear reset is given for both first and second generation CRONE control. General design rules are derived and presented for these CRONE reset controllers. Within this framework, fractional order control allows for better tuning of the open-loop responses on the one hand. On the other, reset control enables a reduction in phase lag and a corresponding increase in phase margin compared to linear control for similar open loop gain profile. Hence, the combination of the two control methods can provide well-tuned open-loop responses that can overcome the fundamental linear control limitation of Bode's gain-phase relationship. Moreover, as established loop-shaping concepts are used in the controller design, CRONE reset can be highly compatible with the industry. The designed CRONE reset controllers are validated on a one degree-of-freedom Lorentz-actuated precision positioning stage. On this setup, CRONE reset control is shown to provide better tracking performance compared to linear CRONE control, which is in agreement with the predicted performance improvement.

Niranjan Saikumar, Rahul Kumar Sinha, S. Hassan HosseinNia

This paper presents a novel nonlinear (reset) disturbance observer for dynamic compensation of bounded nonlinearities like hysteresis in piezoelectric actuators. Proposed Resetting Disturbance Observer (RDOB) utilizes a novel Constant-gain Lead-phase (CgLp) element based on the concept of reset control. The fundamental limitations of linear DOB which results in contradictory requirements and in a dependent design between DOB and feedback controller are analysed. Two different configurations of RDOB which attempt to alleviate these problems from different perspectives are presented and an example plant is used to highlight the improvement. Stability criteria are presented for both configurations. Performance improvement seen with both RDOB configurations compared to linear DOB is also verified on a practical piezoelectric setup for hysteresis compensation and results analysed.

Lennart van Duist, Gijs van der Gugten, Daan Toten et al.

A novel toolbox named FLOreS is presented for intuitive design of fractional order controllers (FOC) using industry standard loop shaping technique. This will allow control engineers to use frequency response data (FRD) of the plant to design FOCs by shaping the open loop to meet the necessary specifications of stability, robustness, tracking, precision and bandwidth. FLOreS provides a graphical approach using closed-loop sensitivity functions for overall insight into system performance. The main advantage over existing optimization toolboxes for FOC is that the engineer can use prior knowledge and expertise of plant during design of FOC. Different approximation methods for fractional order filters are also included for greater freedom of final implementation. This combined with the included example plants enables additionally to be used as an educational tool. FLOreS has been used for design and implementation of both integer and fractional order controllers on a precision stage to prove industry readiness.

Bas Kieft, S. Hassan HosseinNia, Niranjan Saikumar

Reset control is known to be able to outperform PID and the like linear controllers. However, in motion control systems, quantization can cause severe performance degradation. This paper shows the application of time regularization to mitigate this practical issue in reset control systems. Numerical simulations have been conducted in order to analyze the cause of the quantization induced performance degradation and the effectiveness of time regularization to mitigate this degradation; with tuning guidelines for the time regularization parameter also provided. Moreover, a robustness analysis is performed. The solution is also tested experimentally on a high precision motion system for validation. It is estimated by numerical simulations that time regularization can reduce quantization induced performance degradation by almost 10 dB. Experiments have similarly shown a reduction of several dB for the high precision motion stage.

Bas Kieft, S. Hassan HosseinNia, Niranjan Saikumar

Reset control has emerged as a viable alternative to popular PID, capable of outperforming and overcoming the linear limitations. However, in motion control systems, quantization can cause severe performance degradation. This paper investigates this degradation in practical systems and re-purposes the reset band condition in order to mitigate the same. Numerical simulations have been conducted on a mass based positioning system to analyze the cause of the quantization induced performance degradation. Moreover, a performance and robustness analysis was performed with the proposed solution. Finally, novel tuning guidelines are provided for estimating the required reset band parameter. Additionally, practical experiments have been conducted on a high precision motion system for validation. The experiments show by example that the reset band can reduce the error in the problematic region by up to 285% and hence shows the need and effectiveness of the proposed solution.

Karst Brummelhuis, Niranjan Saikumar, Jan-Willem van Wingerden et al.

This paper presents a novel adaptive feedforward controller design for reset control systems. The combination of feedforward and reset feedback control promises high performance as the feedforward guarantees reference tracking, while the non-linear feedback element rejects disturbances. To overcome inevitable model mismatches, the feedforward controller adapts to increase precision in reference tracking. Where linear existing adaptive feedforward controllers do not guarantee convergence in the presence of reset, this work presents a novel adaptive law based on converging and diverging regions of adaptation to achieve good tracking. Experimental results demonstrate the claimed advantage of the novel method.

Niranjan Saikumar, Kars Heinen, S. Hassan HosseinNia

The ever-growing demands on speed and precision from the precision motion industry have pushed control requirements to reach the limitations of linear control theory. Nonlinear controllers like reset provide a viable alternative since they can be easily integrated into the existing linear controller structure and designed using industry-preferred loop-shaping techniques. However, currently, loop-shaping is achieved using the describing function (DF) and performance analysed using linear control sensitivity functions not applicable for reset control systems, resulting in a significant deviation between expected and practical results. We overcome this major bottleneck to the wider adaptation of reset control with two contributions in this paper. First, we present the extension of frequency-domain tools for reset controllers in the form of higher-order sinusoidal-input describing functions (HOSIDFs) providing greater insight into their behaviour. Second, we propose a novel method which uses the DF and HOSIDFs of the open-loop reset control system for the estimation of the closed-loop sensitivity functions, establishing for the first time - the relation between open-loop and closed-loop behaviour of reset control systems in the frequency domain. The accuracy of the proposed solution is verified in both simulation and practice on a precision positioning stage and these results are further analysed to obtain insights into the tuning considerations for reset controllers.

Niranjan Saikumar, Rahul Kumar Sinha, S. Hassan HosseinNia

This work presents a novel 'Constant in gain Lead in phase' (CgLp) element using nonlinear reset technique. PID is the industrial workhorse even to this day in high-tech precision positioning applications. However, Bode's gain phase relationship and waterbed effect fundamentally limit performance of PID and other linear controllers. This paper presents CgLp as a controlled nonlinear element which can be introduced within the framework of PID allowing for wide applicability and overcoming linear control limitations. Design of CgLp with generalized first order reset element (GFORE) and generalized second order reset element (GSORE) (introduced in this work) is presented using describing function analysis. A more detailed analysis of reset elements in frequency domain compared to existing literature is first carried out for this purpose. Finally, CgLp is integrated with PID and tested on one of the DOFs of a planar precision positioning stage. Performance improvement is shown in terms of tracking, steady-state precision and bandwidth.

Arun Palanikumar, Niranjan Saikumar, S. Hassan HosseinNia

Industrial PID consists of three elements: Lag (integrator), Lead (Differentiator) and Low Pass Filters (LPF). PID being a linear control method is inherently bounded by the waterbed effect due to which there exists a trade-off between precision \& tracking, provided by Lag and LPF on one side and stability \& robustness, provided by Lead on the other side. Nonlinear reset strategies applied in Lag and LPF elements have been very effective in reducing this trade-off. However, there is lack of study in developing a reset Lead element. In this paper, we develop a novel lead element which provides higher precision and stability compared to the linear lead filter and can be used as a replacement for the same. The concept is presented and validated on a Lorentz-actuated nanometer precision stage. Improvements in precision, tracking and bandwidth are shown through two separate designs. Performance is validated in both time and frequency domain to ensure that phase margin achieved on the practical setup matches design theories.