Novel intelligent real-time position tracking system using FPGA and fuzzy logic

Area of Science:

• Control Engineering
• Embedded Systems
• Mechatronics

Background:

• Real-time control systems require precise position tracking.
• Software-based platforms can face limitations in deterministic performance.
• Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) offer potential for high-speed, parallel processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the position tracking performance of a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) implemented on an FPGA versus a soft real-time platform.
• To quantify the performance gains achievable with an FPGA-based controller.

Main Methods:

• A Multi-state Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) was designed and implemented on a Xilinx Virtex-II FPGA and a NI CompactRIO soft real-time platform.
• Both implementations utilized the same sampling time for fair comparison.
• Performance was evaluated using a servo-pneumatic actuation system with a 6.2 kg mass.

Main Results:

• The FPGA-based FLC achieved steady-state errors below 4 μm.
• Significant performance improvements were observed with the FPGA implementation: up to 16x reduction in steady-state error, up to 27x reduction in overshoot, and up to 19.5x improvement in settling time compared to the software-based FLC.

Conclusions:

• FPGAs provide superior position tracking performance compared to soft real-time platforms for control applications.
• FPGA implementation of FLCs offers substantial gains in accuracy, speed, and stability for mechatronic systems.