Improving the Control and Reliability of an Electromechanical Actuator

Authors:	Dixon Roger, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Pike A.W., ALSTOM Power Technology Centre, United Kingdom
Topic:	6.4 Safeprocess
Session:	Electromechanical Applications of Fault Diagnosis and Fault Tolerant Control
Keywords:	actuators, model-based control, monitoring, fault detection, parameter estimation

Abstract

By combining the disciplines of control design, condition monitoring and faultdetection identification and accommodation, it should be possible to provide actuatorsthat possess: consistent and tuneable closed-loop performance, a tolerance to sensorfaults and the ability to detect actuator deterioration early. This will lead to improvedreliability and availability of the actuator. This paper discusses research carried-out toenable the inclusion of advanced control design, fault detection and conditionmonitoring schemes in an electro-mechanical actuator. The results in the paper wereobtained on a laboratory scale actuator in test laboratories at the ALSTOM PowerTechnology Centre, Whetstone, UK.