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Volume 50,  Number 3, June 2003           Access to the journal on IEEE XPLORE     IE Transactions Home Page


 

Special Sections on Industrial Informatics

1.     A.C. Weaver, M.W. Condry, "Distributing Internet services to the network's edge," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 404- 411, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In the context of industrial information technology, the Internet and World Wide Web increasingly are seen as a solution to the problem of providing "anywhere, anytime" services. In the classical view of an Internet-enabled IT infrastructure, services are requested and consumed by a user (e.g., a human requesting plant production data from his or her desktop) and data are provided by an origin server (e.g., a Web server located in a plant that can authenticate users, implement encryption, serve data, and source multimedia streams). This rather simplistic view works well if the number of users is small, the complexity of services required is modest, and the real-time response requirements are lax. However, it fails to scale when one accounts for the complexities of modern networking: many simultaneous users, potentially operating in multiple languages; many complex data types, including incompatible display formats; many differing schemes for implementing privacy and security through many combinations of authentication and encryption. In this paper we propose an alternative-a client/edge server/origin server architecture that can distribute some complex data processing and device interface tasks to a network edge device, the NetEdge. We show how this device can support services thought to be useful to the industrial environment, such as language translation, image transcoding, access device adaptation, virus scanning, content assembly, local content insertion, and caching. The proposal is a win-win situation for all participants: industrial content providers need maintain only one copy of their content, yet consumers are provided with richer services and device-independent interfaces. Although the services provided define the utility of the product, the heart of the NetEdge is its rule engine. Rules specify which service requests, crossing specified processing points, invoke which service callouts. We explore how a proxylet interface connects the rule engine, through Java and C APIs, to the callout engine. We close with performance measurements of the NetEdge throughput and latency characteristics.

2.     A. Speck, "Reusable industrial control systems," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 412- 418, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Industrial control hardware may be reused for several purposes. The same industrial PC type may control the drives of a portal system, act as a programmable logic controller, or control any other device. Moreover the same piece of hardware may control different device types at the same time in concurrency. In this paper, we discuss four successive software engineering approaches to exploit the possibilities provided by the control hardware: an object-oriented architecture, an architectural pattern, a control framework, and an architectural model for component-based frameworks. Each of these approaches provides means of different levels to structure a system and to reuse concepts, patterns, or real code. All presented approaches are used to build control systems controlling different types of robot arms and other devices. Additionally, in the component-based system a new component has been introduced to enable a network connection of the control system.

3.     G. Cena, A. Valenzano, "A protocol for automatic node discovery in CANopen networks," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 419- 430, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The correct operation of the CANopen protocol relies on the assumption that each node in the network be identified uniquely. To this extent, the CANopen specifications provide a means to remotely configure the addresses of the slave devices attached to the CAN bus. This technique, however, requires that each device has to be connected separately to a configuration tool. CANopen, in fact, does not have a mechanism to identify, in an efficient and reliable way, the nodes that do not have an associated address when they have already been connected to the network. In this paper, we present a new automatic node discovery protocol, which is able to eliminate such drawbacks. Our technique can be used to identify the nonconfigured nodes directly in the final system and is conceived as an extension of the basic layer setting services of CANopen, so as to provide a very good degree of compatibility with the existing devices.

4.     Jin-Shyan Lee, Pau-Lo Hsu, "Remote supervisory control of the human-in-the-loop system by using Petri nets and Java," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 431- 439, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : For Internet-based remote control systems, certain human operations may violate desired safety requirements and result in catastrophic failure. For such human-in-the-loop systems, this paper proposes a systematic approach to developing supervisory agents which guarantee that remote manual operations meet safety specifications. By applying the mutual exclusion concept, the Petri net approach is used to model, design, and verify a supervisory system which prevents human errors. Then, Java technology is adopted to implement the supervisor as an intelligent agent for online supervision of the remote control system. To demonstrate the feasibility and practicability of the developed supervisory approach, we apply it to a rapid thermal processor controlled over the Internet.

5.     V.M. Sempere, J. Silvestre, "Multimedia applications in industrial networks: integration of image processing in Profibus," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 440- 448, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper analyzes the transmission of images through Profibus for applications concerned with the processing of images integrated in control systems, by means of a detailed study of two real cases with different bandwidth requirements. We analyze the special features of an artificial vision system making use of Profibus as a transport system, the scheduling of the traffic in order to guarantee the delivery of the images and the control traffic before their deadlines, the protocol used, and the compression techniques usable in this kind of system, which enable us to reduce the necessary bandwidth for the applications without degrading the operation of the image processing application. We prove that this integration is currently viable in applications with medium-sized bandwidth requirements, above 17 Mb/s, and coexisting with control traffic, while current control techniques prevent its use in systems with greater bandwidth requirements, in particular in the application with 53 Mb/s requirements.

6.     L.H.W. Yeung, W.K.S. Tang, "A hybrid genetic approach for garment cutting in the clothing industry," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 449- 455, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A hybrid genetic approach is proposed for the cutting operation in the clothing industry. Garment cutting is a typical strip-packing problem, which is considered to be NP-complete. With a combination of genetic algorithm (GA) and a novel heuristic algorithm, "lowest-fit-left-aligned," the cutting problem is transformed into a simple permutation problem which can be effectively solved by the GA and the searching domain is greatly reduced. From the simulation results, it is demonstrated that the optimal results can be obtained in a reasonably short period of time.
 

 Drive Control



7.     Faa-Jeng Lin, Tzann-Shin Lee, Chih-Hong Lin, "Robust H/sub /spl infin// controller design with recurrent neural network for linear synchronous motor drive," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 456- 470, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In this paper, a robust controller design with H/sub /spl infin// performance using a recurrent neural network (RNN) is proposed for the position tracking control of a permanent-magnet linear synchronous motor. The proposed robust H/sub /spl infin// controller, which comprises a RNN and a compensating control, is developed to reduce the influence of parameter variations and external disturbance on system performance. The RNN is adopted to estimate the dynamics of the lumped plant uncertainty, and the compensating controller is used to eliminate the effect of the higher order terms in Taylor series expansion of the minimum approximation error. The tracking performance is ensured in face of parameter variations, external disturbance and RNN estimation error once a prespecified H/sub /spl infin// performance requirement is achieved. The synthesis of the RNN training rules and compensating control are based on the solution of a nonlinear H/sub /spl infin// control problem corresponding to the desired H/sub /spl infin// performance requirement, which is solved via a choice of quadratic storage function. The proposed control method is able to track both the periodic step and sinusoidal commands with improved performance in face of large parameter perturbations and external disturbance.

8.     C. Guarino Lo Bianco, R. Zanasi, "Smooth profile generation for a tile printing machine," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 471- 477, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In this paper a digital filter is proposed for the generation of smooth set points for motion control systems. The proposed nonlinear filter produces profiles with bounded velocity and acceleration starting from rough reference signals (steps and ramps). An actual implementation of the filter for a tile printing machine is presented and experimental results are reported.

9.     X.M. Ren, A.B. Rad, P.T. Chan, Wai Lun Lo, "Identification and control of continuous-time nonlinear systems via dynamic neural networks," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 478- 486, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In this paper, we present an algorithm for the online identification and adaptive control of a class of continuous-time nonlinear systems via dynamic neural networks. The plant considered is an unknown multi-input/multi-output continuous-time higher order nonlinear system. The control scheme includes two parts: a dynamic neural network is employed to perform system identification and a controller based on the proposed dynamic neural network is developed to track a reference trajectory. Stability analysis for the identification and the tracking errors is performed by means of Lyapunov stability criterion. Finally, we illustrate the effectiveness of these methods by computer simulations of the Duffing chaotic system and one-link rigid robot manipulator. The simulation results demonstrate that the model-based dynamic neural network control scheme is appropriate for control of unknown continuous-time nonlinear systems with output disturbance noise.

10.     L. Romeral, A. Arias, E. Aldabas, M.G. Jayne, "Novel direct torque control (DTC) scheme with fuzzy adaptive torque-ripple reduction," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 487- 492, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Investigations were carried out on a novel direct torque control system, which not only reduces the undesirable torque ripple by up to 98% by means of introducing a modulation between the selected active state and a zero state, but also maintains constant switching frequency. Additionally, this two-state modulator is fuzzy adaptive and may be applied to any induction motor. Simulation and the results of experiment illustrate the operation and performance of the proposed fuzzy-logic-based controller.

11.     Mei-Yung Chen, Ming-Jyh Wang, Li-Chen Fu, "Modeling and controller design of a Maglev guiding system for application in precision positioning," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 493- 506, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In this paper, the authors analyze the dynamics of a magnetic guiding system and derive its analytical model with full degrees of freedom (DOFs). Then, an adaptive controller which deals with unknown parameters is proposed to regulate the five DOFs in this system. The guiding system, including sensors and driver subsystems, has actually been implemented. Based on the experimental results, satisfactory performance including stiffness and resolution has been achieved. This validates the design of the system hardware and demonstrates the feasibility of the developed controller.

12.     Feipeng Da, Wenzhong Song, "Fuzzy neural networks for direct adaptive control," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 507- 513, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : It is well known that sliding-mode control is simple and insensitive to uncertainties and disturbances. However, control input chattering is the main problem of the classical sliding-mode controller (SMC). In this paper, a fuzzy neural network SMC (FNNSMC) is presented for a class of nonlinear systems. The FNNSMC can eliminate the chattering, unlike the SMC, but there is larger rising time in the FNNSMC than in the SMC. In some cases, small rise time is important. To decrease the rising time of the FNNSMC, an adaptive controller is proposed where the SMC and the FNNSMC are incorporated by a smooth transformation. This adaptive control scheme can improve the dynamical performance and eliminate the high-frequency chattering in the control signal. The system stability is proved by using the Lyapunov function. The simulation results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed adaptive controller.
 

Power Electronics



13.     Z. Leonowicz, T. Lobos, J. Rezmer, "Advanced spectrum estimation methods for signal analysis in power electronics," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 514- 519, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Modern frequency power converters generate a wide spectrum of harmonic components. Large converters systems can also generate noncharacteristic harmonics and interharmonics. Standard tools of harmonic analysis based on the Fourier transform assume that only harmonics are present and the periodicity intervals are fixed, while periodicity intervals in the presence of interharmonics are variable and very long. A novel approach to harmonic and interharmonic analysis, based on the "subspace" methods, is proposed. Min-norm harmonic retrieval method is an example of high-resolution eigenstructure-based methods. The Prony method as applied for signal analysis was also tested for this purpose. Both high-resolution methods do not show the disadvantages of the traditional tools and allow exact estimation of the interharmonics frequencies. To investigate the methods several experiments were performed using simulated signals, current waveforms at the output of a simulated frequency converter, and current waveforms at the output of an industrial frequency converter. For comparison, similar experiments were repeated using the fast Fourier transform (FFT). The comparison proved the superiority of the new methods. However, their computation is much more complex than FFT.

14.     Yungtaek Jang, M.M. Jovanovic, "A contactless electrical energy transmission system for portable-telephone battery chargers," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 520- 527, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A high-performance contactless electrical energy transmission (CEET) technique which employs the inductive energy transmission principle is described. The proposed technique enables the implementation of high-efficiency high-power-density fully regulated CEET systems suitable for applications with a wide input and load range. A high efficiency of the system is achieved by recovering the energy stored in the leakage inductances of the transformer by incorporating them in the operation of the circuit, and by employing high-frequency-inverter and controlled-rectifier topologies that allow a controlled bidirectional power flow through the transformer. In addition, a feedforward variable-switching-frequency control of the inverter is used to maintain approximately constant power transfer through the transformer with the input voltage changes, whereas the output-side rectifier employs a local pulsewidth-modulation control to achieve a tight regulation of the output in the presence of load variations. Specifically, the described CEET system is suitable for use in universal-input battery chargers.

15.     Ching-Tsai Pan, Yi-Shuo Huang, Tai-Lang Jong, "A constantly sampled current controller with switch status dependent inner bound," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 528- 535, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In this paper, a constantly sampled current-controlled pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) strategy is proposed such that the controlled current can follow the command within a specified error bound to guarantee the desired good power quality. According to different previous switch statuses, a different inner bound is proposed for current error comparison to add the zero-mode control at the proper time to further reduce the switching frequency. Moreover, an analytic expression of the upper bound of the constant sampling period for the current controller to guarantee the desired performance is derived and some design criteria are given for proper coordination among the circuit parameters. Finally, some simulation and experimental results are given to demonstrate the validity of the proposed current-controlled PWM scheme.

16.     Feel-Soon Kang, Sung-Jun Park, Cheul-U Kim, "A novel AC-PDP sustain driver based on dual resonance in sustaining mode operation," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 536- 545, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A novel sustain driver employing an energy recovery faculty is proposed for efficient driving of a plasma display panel (PDP) in the sustaining mode operation. The proposed driver uses dual resonance. One is a main resonance between an inductor and an external capacitor to produce alternative pulses and the other is a subresonance between an inductor and a panel to recover the energy consumption by the capacitive displacement current of the PDP. The operational principle and design procedure of the proposed circuit are presented with theoretical analysis. The validity of the proposed sustain driver is verified through the simulated and experimental results based on a 7.5-in diagonal panel with 200-kHz operating frequency.

17.     G. van Schoor, J.D. van Wyk, I.S. Shaw, "Training and optimization of an artificial neural network controlling a hybrid power filter," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 546- 553, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A hybrid power compensator (HPC) consisting of a static VAr compensator and a dynamic compensator needs to be optimally controlled during the compensation of nonlinear loads. The HPC must be controlled to meet minimum requirements in terms of power factor and harmonic distortion, while at the same time minimizing its total cost. An artificial neural network (ANN) is used to control the HPC amidst a very dynamic power system environment. The performance of a reference ANN is evaluated while controlling an HPC connected to a typical nonlinear industrial load. The training and performance of the ANN is then optimized in terms of training set size, training set packing and ANN topology and the performance compared to the reference ANN. This paper highlights the importance of optimising the mentioned ANN parameters to achieve optimum ANN training and modeling accuracy. The results obtained reveals that the application of an ANN in controlling an HPC is feasible given that the ANN parameters are chosen appropriately.

18.     Kun-Ming Lee, Chern-Lin Chen, Shin-Tai Lo, "Resonant pole inverter to drive the data electrodes of AC plasma display panel," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 554- 559, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper proposes the use of a resonant pole inverter (RPI) as the control circuit to drive the data electrodes of an ac plasma display panel (PDP). This new application of RPI simplifies the circuit design by using fewer components, and has lower power losses than conventional driver circuits. The circuit employs two resonant MOSFETs and zero-voltage-switching technique to generate an asymmetric pulse train with moderate rising and falling time to drive the data electrodes of a PDP. The circuit also recovers the reactive energy from the PDP, like conventional energy recovery circuits. Power losses are further reduced by adding a dc offset voltage to the pulse train. The power consumptions of different driving circuits are assessed. The proposed circuit is tested on a dual-scan 42-in SVGA ac plasma display panel and is found to be practical.

19.     S.N. Vukosavic, E. Levi, "Robust DSP-based efficiency optimization of a variable speed induction motor drive," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 560- 570, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper proposes a practical digital-signal-processor (DSP)-based algorithm for the online efficiency optimization of induction motor drives. The algorithm combines good features of the search control and loss-model-based control, while simultaneously eliminating their major drawbacks. It ensures very fast convergence without the need for any a priori knowledge of the motor loss-related parameters. The minimum loss operating point is decided from a functional approximation of the motor and the power converter losses, in the form of a suitably defined loss function. The loss function parameters are obtained online from input power measurement and a dedicated identification routine acting in conjunction with the common drive control functions. Proposed online identification of the loss function parameters relies upon the signals and states readily available within the drive controller memory and does not involve the user entry nor the initialization procedure. The proposed controller is coded into a conventional low-cost 16-bit DSP and verified on a 2.2-kW induction motor drive prototype.

20.     A.I. Maswood, Lim Keng Song, "Design aspects of planar and conventional SMPS transformer: a cost benefit analysis," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 571- 577, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The intent of this paper is to design a high-frequency transformer that is to be incorporated into the DC/DC pulsewidth-modulated switch-mode power supplies by two different technical approaches: a conventional wound-coil magnetic using copper wires, and a planar magnetic with layered copper tracks on laminated printed circuit board. Comparisons will be made between the two approaches in terms of profile: mounting height and surface area, and performance: power losses and efficiency. Other indicators like temperature rise and leakage inductance that causes electromagnetic interference, and cost, materials, and process fluency are also to be looked into. A sandwiched configuration for primary and secondary windings is proposed for the planar type. Issues arising and typical phenomena encountered will be discussed in detail. Primarily, the dominating factor in performance, cost effectiveness, or circuit compactness that restrains the choice of a particular type is to be evaluated.
 

Emerging Technology



21.     Xianrong Chang, V. Cocquempot, C. Christophe, "A model of asynchronous machines for stator fault detection and isolation," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 578- 584, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper presents a new model of asynchronous machines. This model allows one to take into account unbalanced stator situations which can be produced by stator faults like short circuits in windings. A mathematical transformation is defined and applied to the classical abc model equations. All parameters which affect this new model can be known online. This makes the model very useful for control algorithms and fault detection and isolation algorithms. The model is checked by comparing simulation data with actual data obtained from laboratory experiments.

22.     M.R.G. Meireles, P.E.M. Almeida, M.G. Simoes, "A comprehensive review for industrial applicability of artificial neural networks," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 585- 601, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper presents a comprehensive review of the industrial applications of artificial neural networks (ANNs), in the last 12 years. Common questions that arise to practitioners and control engineers while deciding how to use NNs for specific industrial tasks are answered. Workable issues regarding implementation details, training and performance evaluation of such algorithms are also discussed, based on a judiciously chronological organization of topologies and training methods effectively used in the past years. The most popular ANN topologies and training methods are listed and briefly discussed, as a reference to the application engineer. Finally, ANN industrial applications are grouped and tabulated by their main functions and what they actually performed on the referenced papers. The authors prepared this paper bearing in mind that an organized and normalized review would be suitable to help industrial managing and operational personnel decide which kind of ANN topology and training method would be adequate for their specific problems.

23.     G. Papa, B. Korousic-Seljak, B. Benedicic, T. Kmecl, "Universal motor efficiency improvement using evolutionary optimization," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 602- 611, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : We present a new design procedure that improves the efficiency of a universal motor, the type of motor that is typically used in home appliances and power tools. The goal of our optimization was to find the independent geometrical parameters of the rotor and the stator with the aim of reducing the motor's power losses, which occur in the iron and the copper. Our procedure is based on a genetic algorithm (GA) and by using this procedure we were able to significantly improve the motor's efficiency-the ratio of the motor's output power to its input power. The GA proved to be a simple and efficient search-and-optimization method for solving this day-to-day design problem in industry. It significantly outperformed a conventional "direct" design procedure that we had used previously.


Robotics and Vision
24.     Jang Myung Lee, K. Son, M.C. Lee, J.W. Choi, S.H. Han, Man Hyung Lee, "Localization of a mobile robot using the image of a moving object," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 612- 619, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper proposes a new approach for determining the location of a mobile robot using the image of a moving object. This scheme combines data from the observed position, using dead-reckoning sensors, and the estimated position, using images of moving objects captured by a fixed camera to determine the location of a mobile robot. Using the a priori known path of a moving object and a perspective camera model, the geometric constraint equations that represent the relation between image frame coordinates for a moving object and the estimated robot's position are derived. Since the equations are based on estimated position, measurement error may exist. However, the proposed method utilizes the error between the observed and estimated image coordinates to localize the mobile robot, and the Kalman filtering scheme is used for the estimation of the mobile robot location. The proposed approach is applied for a moving object on the wall to show the reduction of uncertainty in the determining of mobile robot location.

25.     Meng Joo Er, Yang Gao, "Robust adaptive control of robot manipulators using generalized fuzzy neural networks," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 620- 628, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper presents a robust adaptive fuzzy neural controller (AFNC) suitable for motion control of multilink robot manipulators. The proposed controller has the following salient features: (1) self-organizing fuzzy neural structure, i.e., fuzzy control rules can be generated or deleted automatically according to their significance to the control system and the complexity of the mapped system and no predefined fuzzy rules are required; (2) fast online learning ability, i.e., no prescribed training models are needed for online learning and weights of the fuzzy neural controller are modified without any iterations; (3) fast convergence of tracking errors, i.e., manipulator joints can track the desired trajectories very quickly; (4) adaptive control, i.e., structure and parameters of the AFNC can be self-adaptive in the presence of disturbances to maintain high control performance; and (5) robust control, where asymptotic stability of the control system is established using the Lyapunov theorem. Experimental evaluation conducted on an industrial selectively compliant assembly robot arm demonstrates that excellent tracking performance can be achieved under time-varying conditions.


Letter to the Editor
26.     P. Stewart, V. Kadirkamanathan, "Commutation of permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors for military and traction applications," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 629- 630, June 2003.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A commutation method for the permanent-magnet AC motor is presented, which combines a Hall-effect encoder with a quadratic extrapolation scheme, and reduced-order state estimation in order to satisfy the design constraints prescribed by certain military and traction applications.