Robust Sliding Mode Control for Tokamaks

Nuclear fusion has arisen as an alternative energy to avoid carbon dioxide emissions, being the tokamak a promising nuclear fusion reactor that uses a magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. However, different kinds of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities may affect tokamak plasma equilibrium, causing severe reduction of particle confinement and leading to plasma disruptions. In this sense, numerous efforts and resources have been devoted to seeking solutions for the different plasma control problems so as to avoid energy confinement time decrements in these devices. In particular, since the growth rate of the vertical instability increases with the internal inductance, lowering the internal inductance is a fundamental issue to address for the elongated plasmas employed within the advanced tokamaks currently under development. In this sense, this paper introduces a lumped parameter numerical model of the tokamak in order to design a novel robust sliding mode controller for the internal inductance using the transformer primary coil as actuator.

Effective and Robust Generalized Predictive Speed Control of Induction Motor

14 p.

Optimally robust shortcuts to population inversion in two-level quantum systems

19 p.

Robust speed control for a variable speed wind turbine

Modern wind turbines are designed in order to work in variable speed opera-tions. To perform this task, these turbines are provided with adjustable speed generators, like the double feed induction generator (DFIG). One of the main advantages of adjustable speed generators is improving the system efficiency compared with _xed speed generators, because turbine speed can be adjusted as a function of wind speed in order to maximize the output power. However, this system requires a suitable speed controller in order to track the optimal reference speed of the wind turbine. In this work, a sliding mode control for variable speed wind turbines is proposed. The proposed design also uses the vector oriented control theory in order to simplify the DFIG dynamical equations. The stability analysis of the proposed controller has been carried out under wind variations and pa-rameter uncertainties using the Lyapunov stability theory. Finally, the simulated results show on the one hand that the proposed controller provides a high-performance dynamic behavior, and on the other hand that this scheme is robust with respect to parameter uncertainties and wind speed variations, which usually appear in real systems.

A robust position control for induction machines

ICEM 2010

Testing the performance and feasibility of Bluetooth communications in pervasive systems

Smart and mobile environments require seamless connections. However, due to the frequent process of ''discovery'' and disconnection of mobile devices while data interchange is happening, wireless connections are often interrupted. To minimize this drawback, a protocol that enables an easy and fast synchronization is crucial. Bearing this in mind, Bluetooth technology appears to be a suitable solution to carry on such connections due to the discovery and pairing capabilities it provides. Nonetheless, the time and energy spent when several devices are being discovered and used at the same time still needs to be managed properly. It is essential that this process of discovery takes as little time and energy as possible. In addition to this, it is believed that the performance of the communications is not constant when the transmission speeds and throughput increase, but this has not been proved formally. Therefore, the purpose of this project is twofold: Firstly, to design and build a framework-system capable of performing controlled Bluetooth device discovery, pairing and communications. Secondly, to analyze and test the scalability and performance of the \emph{classic} Bluetooth standard under different scenarios and with various sensors and devices using the framework developed. To achieve the first goal, a generic Bluetooth platform will be used to control the test conditions and to form a ubiquitous wireless system connected to an Android Smartphone. For the latter goal, various stress-tests will be carried on to measure the consumption rate of battery life as well as the quality of the communications between the devices involved.

Economic Efficiency, Environmental Effectiveness and Political Feasibility of Energy Efficiency Rebates: The Case of the Spanish Energy Efficiency 'Renove' Plan

29 p.

Magnetic Cross-Linked Enzyme Aggregates (mCLEAs) of Candida antarctica Lipase: An Efficient and Stable Biocatalyst for Biodiesel Synthesis

Enzyme-catalyzed production of biodiesel is the object of extensive research due to the global shortage of fossil fuels and increased environmental concerns. Herein we report the preparation and main characteristics of a novel biocatalyst consisting of Cross-Linked Enzyme Aggregates (CLEAs) of Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) which are covalently bound to magnetic nanoparticles, and tackle its use for the synthesis of biodiesel from non-edible vegetable and waste frying oils. For this purpose, insolubilized CALB was covalently cross-linked to magnetic nanoparticles of magnetite which the surface was functionalized with –NH2 groups. The resulting biocatalyst combines the relevant catalytic properties of CLEAs (as great stability and feasibility for their reutilization) and the magnetic character, and thus the final product (mCLEAs) are superparamagnetic particles of a robust catalyst which is more stable than the free enzyme, easily recoverable from the reaction medium and reusable for new catalytic cycles. We have studied the main properties of this biocatalyst and we have assessed its utility to catalyze transesterification reactions to obtain biodiesel from non-edible vegetable oils including unrefined soybean, jatropha and cameline, as well as waste frying oil. Using 1% mCLEAs (w/w of oil) conversions near 80% were routinely obtained at 30°C after 24 h of reaction, this value rising to 92% after 72 h. Moreover, the magnetic biocatalyst can be easily recovered from the reaction mixture and reused for at least ten consecutive cycles of 24 h without apparent loss of activity. The obtained results suggest that mCLEAs prepared from CALB can become a powerful biocatalyst for application at industrial scale with better performance than those currently available.

Solutions for New Terrestrial Broadcasting Systems Offering Simultaneously Stationary and Mobile Services

221 p.

Nonperturbative dynamical decoupling with random control

Parametric fluctuations or stochastic signals are introduced into the rectangular pulse sequence to investigate the feasibility of random dynamical decoupling. In a large parameter region, we find that the out-of-order control pulses work as well as the regular pulses for dynamical decoupling and dissipation suppression. Calculations and analysis are enabled by and based on a nonperturbative dynamical decoupling approach allowed by an exact quantum-state-diffusion equation. When the average frequency and duration of the pulse sequence take proper values, the random control sequence is robust, fault-tolerant, and insensitive to pulse strength deviations and interpulse temporal separation in the quasi-periodic sequence. This relaxes the operational requirements placed on quantum control devices to a great deal.

Robust Sliding Control of SEIR Epidemic Models

This paper is aimed at designing a robust vaccination strategy capable of eradicating an infectious disease from a population regardless of the potential uncertainty in the parameters defining the disease. For this purpose, a control theoretic approach based on a sliding-mode control law is used. Initially, the controller is designed assuming certain knowledge of an upper-bound of the uncertainty signal. Afterwards, this condition is removed while an adaptive sliding control system is designed. The closed-loop properties are proved mathematically in the nonadaptive and adaptive cases. Furthermore, the usual sign function appearing in the sliding-mode control is substituted by the saturation function in order to prevent chattering. In addition, the properties achieved by the closed-loop system under this variation are also stated and proved analytically. The closed-loop system is able to attain the control objective regardless of the parametric uncertainties of the model and the lack of a priori knowledge on the system.