Advanced control methods for precise payload pointing of flexible spacecraft

Nowadays, many space missions require highly accurate pointing for Earth observation or cosmic vision purposes. However, the vibration environment from a spacecraft's structure and reaction wheels can cause disturbances in its line-of-sight stability and severely impact image quality. Additionally, these effects are not known precisely due to...

Pointing analysis and fine pointing controller design for a CubeSat laser communication system

For any space mission, the communication subsystem is an indispensable part of the satellite that carries the payload. Traditionally, on-board antennas transmitting Radio Frequency (RF) waves to the receiver have been used. Nowadays, laser communications is becoming increasingly popular due to its potential to become a license-free, secure and...

Correct-by-Design Synthesis of Neural Network Controllers

The use of artificial neural networks is becoming ever more ubiquitous as the computational power available to use grows. The widespread implementation of neural networks as controllers in the field of systems and control is however being hindered by the lack of verifiability of these controllers. One type of controller that does not lack...

Evaluation of Force Controllers for a Gravity-Compensating Upper Limb Soft Exoskeleton

For assistive exoskeletons, researchers have introduced soft exoskeletons (exosuits) because they tend to be lightweight, easily worn and mobile for daily use. However, most existing devices have not introduced closed-loop control methods that users can intuitively learn and use during activities of daily living. The goal of this pilot study is...

Design of the European Lunar Penetrator (ELUPE) Descent Module Controller

To obtain unambiguous ground truth of water-ice residing in permanently shaded regions of the Moon and to characterise the local regolith, ESA considers a mission involving an instrumented penetrator implanted there by high-speed impact. Released into lunar orbit, the European Lunar Penetrator (ELUPE) Descent Module will autonomously traverse a...

Oculus inTouch: Designing a Controller for Compelling VR Experiences Through Touch

Arthur C. Clarke said: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” and cutting edge Virtual Reality (VR) certainly is quite the illusion. VR opens to us a near infinite set of worlds and possibilities. Comprehensive, Immersive, Virtual Environments (IVEs) will change the way we shop, explore, love and live. They’ll...

Novel digital controller for boost PFC

LED lighting, as the fourth-generation lighting technology, is developing rapidly over the past years due to its high energy efficiency, longer life span and sustainability compared to incandescent light bulbs and CFLs. Today’s stand-alone LED drivers for professional lighting systems contain two cascaded power converters: an input and an output...

Reliable Wind Turbine Control Design: A Study of Achievable Control Performance under Design Uncertainty

Wind power has proven to be one of the most versatile forms of renewable energy. Similarly, offshore wind is currently emerging as the most promising method of meeting the global target for low cost of renewable energy production, given the massive potential of wind at sea. However, from the wind turbine design point of view, the requirement of...

Control Design for Robust Limit-Cycle Walking

Within the field of humanoid robotics, stability and robustness during gait is a reoccurring challenge. In particular for limit-cycle walkers, like the humanoid robot TUlip, robustness poses a problem. To improve the robustness of limit-cycle walking, an add-on control method is proposed, which adjusts step length. The control method tries to...

Controller design for a magnetically levtitated spindle system

In this thesis, a complete design strategy is presented for the control of a magnetically levitated spindle. The spindle is levitated by electromagnets located at the spindle ends. Two approaches are used in obtaining a stabilizing control system for this naturally unstable plant. The first approach is to model the spindle as two independently...