Printing robot system for labeling on the moving steel plate
This paper presents a Cartesian robot system for labeling on the moving steel plate. The heavy steel plate moves on the conveyor line with irregular speed and position. For the quality of print result, ink head has not to move along the steel plate precisely but to measure the exact position and angle of the moving plate. These two problems along with system integration are the main issues for the automation of labeling process. In this paper, configuration of the robot system, the function of each component and the methodologies of control are discussed.
Performance test of gas by-pass type thermal error controller
In accordance with the trend for high-speed and multi-axes of machine tools, thermal deformation has become an important factor in the accuracy of machine tools. It was analyzed that thermal deformation error accounts for about 70% of all errors made with machine tools. For precise temperature control, both cooling and heating should be done. A hot gas by-pass type of cooling method has a simplified structure and temperature control accuracy to with in plusmn0.1 degC. In this study, the operational characteristics of the thermal error controller, including temperature controllability according to hot gas flow and preset temperature sustainability according to heat load, were tested. It is expected that this study will contribute to the development and performance assessment of thermal error controllers, which could minimize thermal errors and improve the quality of semiconductor equipment, precision injection molds, and precision machine tools.
Model Predictive Control of Condensate Recycle Process in a Cogeneration Power Station
A model predictive control (MPC) system has been developed for application to the condensate recycle process of a 300 MW cogeneration power station of East-West Power Plant, Gyeonggido, Korea. Unlike other industrial processes where MPC has been dominantly applied, operation mode of the cogeneration power station changes continuously with weather and seasonal conditions. Such characteristic makes it difficult to find the process model for controller design through identification. To overcome the difficulty, process models for MPC design were derived for each operation mode from the material balance applied to the pipeline network around the concerned process. The MPC algorithm has been developed so that the controller tuning is easy with one tuning knob for each output and the constrained optimization is solved by an interior-point method. For verification of the MPC system before process implementation, a process simulator was also developed. Performance of MPC has been investigated first with the process simulator against various disturbance scenarios.