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Comprehensive Overview of Real-Time Controllers: Capabilities, Uses, and Key Systems

Real-time controllers integrate control and data acquisition with dedicated hardware, ensuring high speed, reliability, and versatility. This overview illustrates their roles in the automotive and aerospace industries, detailing systems such as xPC Target, dSpace, and CompactRIO. Advantages include compactness and rapid prototyping, while challenges involve costs and learning curves. Applications span prototype electronic control units (ECUs) to complex simulations for flight loads and autonomous robotics. This guide explores their capabilities and practical uses across various research and industrial sectors.

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Comprehensive Overview of Real-Time Controllers: Capabilities, Uses, and Key Systems

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  1. Real-Time Controllers Brian Phillips

  2. Real-Time Controllers • Overview and capabilities • Use in industry • System details • Products • xPC Target • dSpace • CompactRIO • Use in research • Concluding remarks

  3. Real-Time Controllers • Overview and capabilities • Use in industry • System details • Products • xPC Target • dSpace • CompactRIO • Use in research • Concluding remarks

  4. Overview • Basic idea: combines control and data acquisition with dedicated, fast hardware • Advantages: speed, reliability, and versatility • Disadvantages: cost, mess of buzzwords, steep learning curve • Current status: used extensively throughout automotive and aerospace industry and somewhat in communication, power, and automation

  5. Definition: The process of quickly assembling a working model to evaluate portions of the design. Aimed at reducing risk and cost. Definition: Ratio of simulation time to actual time is 1:1 Capabilities • Efficient computing facilitates real-time control • Dedicated devices can be more compact and portable than desktop computers • Many flexible alternatives available with expandable and interchangeable I/O cards and panels • Allow for rapid prototyping of system using combination of numerical and analytical components • Simulation of complex environment for exhaustive testing of existing component

  6. Prototyping System of Interest System of Interest Simulation

  7. Real-Time Controllers • Overview and capabilities • Use in industry • System details • Products • xPC Target • dSpace • CompactRIO • Use in research • Concluding remarks

  8. Uses in Automotive • Prototype electronic control unit (ECU) for design and testing • Engine control unit • Climate control unit • Speed control unit • Anti-lock brakes, etc • Simulate road conditions for exhausting virtual testing of ECUs (virtual plant) • Complications of alternative fuel cars Prototype: ECU Plant: Car

  9. Uses in Aerospace • Simulate flight loads on components • Evaluate pressure and climate control strategies • Prototype vibration control strategies

  10. University of Adelaide EDGAR University of Paderborn Magnetic Driven Railway Shuttles University of Linz Autonomous Bipedal Robot Other Uses • Rail control systems • Self balancing scooters • Autonomous robots

  11. Real-Time Controllers • Overview and capabilities • Use in industry • System details • Products • xPC Target • dSpace • CompactRIO • Use in research • Concluding remarks

  12. Definition: Simulation technique where an embedded system (actual electronic or physical component of interest) is tested in real-time with a plant simulation (numerical model of the remaining system components) Apply Excitation • Simulink • Labview Code Generation Experiment Target PC Host PC Measure Feedback Monitor Results Typical Components for Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation • Host computer • Real-time target computer • I/O Cards

  13. Inner Workings of a Real-Time Controller CompactRIO Data Flow Diagram, courtesy of NI

  14. Real-time controller types • Single card • Fits inside host computer • Require I/O panel • Dedicated Unit • Modular • Full scale • Industrial level application • Very large

  15. Real-Time Controllers • Overview and capabilities • Use in industry • System details • Products • xPC Target • dSpace • CompactRIO • Use in research • Concluding remarks

  16. xPC Target • Produced by the MathWorks, the same company as Matlab • Focused around engineer friendly Matlab • Designed to work with Simulink and Real Time Workshop Laptop host with compact target

  17. xPC Target Advantages • Target system may be any computer, utilizing over 250 standard I/O boards, including NI • Inexpensive, on the order of $5,000, depending on types of I/O cards xPC Target Disadvantages • The Mathworks does not manufacture hardware • User must create target PC to suit their own needs, requiring familiarity with signal conditioning A/D conversion, computer hardware, etc. • Arguably the least proven real-time control system of the three

  18. dSpace • Produced by dSpace, headquartered in Germany • Designed to work with Simulink and Real Time Workshop • Large footprint in the automotive and aerospace industry Mid-Size Dedicated Unit

  19. dSpace Advantages • Experienced company, founded in 1988 (Germany) and 1991 (North America) • Very proven system, especially in the automotive sector (13,000 systems worldwide) • Clients range from Boeing to Volkswagen • Numerous success stories • Extensive array of software, simulation packages, visualization tools, hardware options dSpace Disadvantages • Expensive, on the order of $30,000 for basic system

  20. CompactRIO • Produced by National Instruments • Designed to work with LabVIEW Real-Time applications • Focus on standalone hardware device CompactRIO

  21. CompactRIO Advantages • NI heavily pushing CompactRIO • Rugged construction (50 g shock protection!) • LabVIEW derivatives at core of modeling • Moderately priced at $15,000 for basic system CompactRIO Disadvantages • Can use Simulink and Real-Time Workshop, but in a roundabout way • Requires both knowledge of Simulink and LabVIEW

  22. Real-Time Controllers • Overview and capabilities • Use in industry • System details • Products • xPC Target • dSpace • CompactRIO • Use in research • Concluding remarks

  23. Research Applications • Hybrid Testing • Embedded system: experimental substructure • Plant simulation: numerical substructure • Prototyping of structural control algorithms • Active energy dissipation devices • Active mass dampers, actuators • Semi-active energy dissipation devices • Variable orifice dampers, MR dampers

  24. Force Factor Servo Control Loop G Ground Motion Discrete State-Space Structure of Interest Experimental Stiffness m k2 k1 k1 k2 Numerical Stiffness c Application in Hybrid Testing Real-Time Controller Key Acceleration Force Displacement

  25. LaboratoryApplication Servo Control Loop I/O Panel Servo Controller Servovalve Specimen LVDT dSpace Computer Load Cell Real-Time Controller Actuator Experiment

  26. Real-Time Controllers • Overview and capabilities • Use in industry • System details • Products • xPC Target • dSpace • CompactRIO • Use in research • Concluding remarks

  27. Conclusions • Technology readily available for real-time control • Requires some detailed investigation • Choice of system depends on • Budget, number of channels, sample rate, comfort • Advances will lead to wider use • Increase sampling rate • Increase number of I/O channels • Potentially increase number of competitors • Decrease cost

  28. Main References • dSPACE • http://www.dspaceinc.com/ • The Mathworks • http://www.mathworks.com/products/xpctarget/ • National Instruments • http://www.ni.com/compactrio/

  29. Thank you

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