Control & Software: Distribution of the electricity grid of a tiny house community

This thesis shows the detailed design of the control and software of a DC microgrid of a tiny house community on the roof of a high-rise building in the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, consisting of twelve tiny houses powered by solar and wind energy. This thesis is part of a project with two other subgroups, focusing on the microgrid...

Stabilization of Visually Guided Robotic Lampreys

This thesis contains two contributions to the stabilization of visually guided robotic lampreys: the head stabilization method and the head-led target tracking design. Both approach the problem that camera inputs, attached to the head segment, are disturbed due to the participation of the head in the locomotion gait of the robot. Head...

Dynamic behaviour of a propulsion plant and its controller: with Hardware In the Loop

The shipping industry is forced to reduce its emissions and underwater radiated noise in order to decrease the impact on the environment and limit global warming. Moreover, a low acoustic signature can be lifesaving for a navy ship, especially during submarine on mine threats. To be able to operate as flexible as possible under these threats, a...

A Convex Economic Model Predictive Control Framework for Hydraulic-Drivetrain Wind Turbines and Farms

In the mission to slow down global warming, the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy resources is key. A tipping point in the adoption of renewable energy resources is notable, as they are becoming economically more viable. Offshore wind energy is considered essential in realizing the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. However...

Encode: Improving reaction wheel performance using a capacitive sensing encoder

With the maturization of the cubesat market, the requirements for finer control over satellite attitude drives the development of higher performance Attitude Determination and Control Systems. (ADCS)<br/><br/>The ADCS uses reaction wheels as an actuation method, which in turn use brushless DC (BLDC) motors to rotate a heavy rotor wheel. BLDC...

Controlling grip force by maintaining a constant frictional safety margin to improve robotic grasping

Manipulating soft and fragile objects is a challenging task in robotic grasping. The key challenge for robotic grasping is to exert enough grip force to prevent slipping while being gentle enough to prevent damage to an object. Existing grippers used for processes like automatic harvesting of fruits, either apply excessive grip force leading to...

An investigation into DIC using free vortex wake methods: Identifying the optimal dynamic induction control law to trigger effective wake mixing in a two turbine system

Wind farm control is an area of research that looks to maximise the performance of individual but most importantly the collective performance of wind farms. The performance of turbines located in a wind farm is heavily dependent on the effects of turbine wakes, and improving the efficiency of wind farms by mitigating the wake effects is an...

Control Algorithm Design for a High Power Electronic Speed Controller

This thesis focuses on finding a control algorithm that, based on a list of requirements, is most suitable for driving the 25 A permanent magnet synchronous motor and propeller that are provided by Fusion Engineering. Various control algorithms are investigated, and basic implementations are simulated. Based on the investigation, it was decided...

The Elephant In-Between

Within an area that presents edges with very different characteristics, surveilled and controlled to various extents, the proposal will focus on designing an intervention that will exercise control over the user through the qualities and through the use of the designed space.<br/>In addition, because the site presents the zone of the lagoon...

Optimization study of a hybrid powertrain: Optimization of the system components and energy management of a zero-emission hydrogen powered boat

The company H2 Marine Solutions has designed a zero-emission hydrogen powered boat. This boat is compared to its fossil fuel counterpart more than twice as heavy. The reason for this is that the system components that are used in the hybrid powertrain of the hydrogen powered boat are heavier. The main question of this research is: How can we...

Aerocapture Guidance and Control at Venus

This thesis explores the feasibility of aerocapture manoeuvres at Venus, focusing on the challenges for an autonomous Guidance and Control (G&amp;C) system, including a partial Navigation system simulation. Aerocapture leverages atmospheric drag for orbit insertion and presents a cost-effective alternative to traditional propulsive methods. The...