Development of a decentralized multi-axis synchronous control approach for real-time networks

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Control Systems
• Real-Time Networked Systems
• Mechatronics

Background:

• Real-time network-based systems face challenges in synchronous control due to message scheduling and network-induced delays.
• Inertias and disturbances across different axes further complicate achieving precise synchronization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a decentralized multi-axis synchronous control approach for real-time network-based systems.
• To address and mitigate the impact of network delays on position synchronization accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Defined position synchronization error as a subset of preceding-axis pairs, considering network limitations.
• Designed a motion message estimator to reduce the effects of network delays.
• Developed a decentralized controller with delay compensation.

Main Results:

• Proven asymptotic convergence of position and synchronization errors to zero with the proposed controller.
• Demonstrated good position synchronization performance for multi-axis motion over real-time networks through simulations and experiments.

Conclusions:

• The developed decentralized control approach effectively achieves precise position synchronization in multi-axis motion systems operating over real-time networks.
• The motion message estimator and delay compensation strategy are crucial for overcoming network-induced challenges.