Real-time implementation of feed rate active force control of a syringe fluid dispenser

• Main Authors: Sharif, S. K. B., Mailah, M.
• Format: Article
• Published: Penerbit UTM Press 2017
• Subjects: TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/76704/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85021177109&doi=10.11113%2fjt.v79.10527&partnerID=40&md5=7b036ecf767f2280ef717550eea3898f
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

For precise application, it is imperative to provide accurate and stable performance. The feed flow rate of a syringe fluid dispensing system is regulated through a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) and Active Force Control (AFC) control scheme that was actuated using a DC servo motor considering a real-time implementation. The focus of this study is to control the speed of a DC motor by implementing an AFC strategy in rejecting the disturbance in the system. The AFC is implemented by cascading its control loop with the outer PID controller loop to form a two degree-of-freedom (DOF) controller. The performance of the proposed PID with AFC control scheme was investigated considering both the theoretical simulation and experimental works. The simulation was performed in MATLAB/Simulink computing platform while the real-time experimentation was done by utilising the Arduino MEGA 2560 microcontroller with MATLAB/Simulink driver for the data acquisition, interface and control implementation. The results implies the robustness of the AFC-based system in controlling the feed flow rate of the fluid in the dispenser. The best performance is obtained for 100% AFC with the disturbance due to vibration almost completely compensated via the proposed scheme in comparison to the PID counterpart.