Advanced robust nonlinear control and its applications to remotely controlled electro-mechanical systems

In control engineering, achieving high performance of electro-mechanical systems is highly demanding, in application areas such as aerospace, manufacturing, transportation and health care services. The proposed project addresses one of the main integrated challenges and opportunities for control engineering: nonlinear control theory for real remotely controlled electro-mechanical systems. The research on advanced nonlinear control is an important theoretical area in the worldwide control systems society. The main challenge for research on remotely controlled electro-mechanical systems is the need to achieve the desired control performance where one additional communication loop is involved in the system. Most existing literature deals with the remote control of linear systems while nonlinear remote control systems have received little attention due to its complexity and system uncertainties. This proposal targets on developing robust nonlinear optimal control, robust nonlinear repetitive control, robust estimation and prediction based control approaches and the applications to various remotely controlled electro-mechanical systems. Remote control systems would have potential applications in various industrial environments where the work place is inaccessible to humans such as outer space, undersea, hazardous environments and remote sites. In this structure, the operating tasks can be executed in distant sites and automation is realizable by modern technology. The proposed research will first help the applicant to establish a research laboratory for mechatronics, control and robotics, which will expose the students to the latest techniques in these research areas and then help to bridge the gap between theoretical research and engineering practice.