Discrete-time adaptive backstepping control: Application to pumping station

What is it about?

This article proposes an application of a discrete-time adaptive backstepping control strategy for a hydraulic process pumping station. The proposed solution leads to improved control system performances in terms of pressure and flow tracking in transient and standstill operation and improvement of pressure response time. The proposed design methodology is based on accurate model for pumping station, which is developed in previous works using fuzzy-C means algorithm. The control law design is based on discrete-time adaptive backstepping control, which is developed in the sense of Lyapunov stability theory using sign function, in order to satisfy various objectives of a stable pumping station like the asymptotic stability of the tracking error. To validate the proposed solution, simulation and experimental tests are made and analyzed. Compared to the conventional proportional–integral approach, the results show that the discrete-time adaptive backstepping control allows exhibiting excellent transient response over a wide range of operating conditions and especially is easier to be implemented in practice.

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Photo by Philip Swinburn on Unsplash

Photo by Philip Swinburn on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Performances of a new method for high-performance pumps’ pressure control using backstepping technique that achieves global asymptotic pressure tracking for the pumping station are presented. The findings of our research are quite convincing, and thus the following conclusions can be drawn: the control methodology has been performed for a variable reference pressure profile. The elaborated backstepping control is simple and it uses simplified expression compared to other controllers. After having developed the theoretical aspects of the DABsC, the complete control scheme of the pumping station incorporating the DABs controller was experimentally implemented using a digital signal processor (DSP) board DS1104. The proposed DABs controller gave satisfactory results in terms of pressure reference tracking and minimization of the response time of pressure and flow, which show the effectiveness of pressure control for DABsC of pumping station. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the research in the DABsC technique has been very successful and can be implemented in any pumping station, which can increase the performance of pumping stations and will be the objective of other research. On the basis of the promising findings presented in this article, work on the remaining issues is continuing and will be presented in future papers.