Title: A distributive approach for position control of clamps in a reconfigurable assembly fixture

Authors: Olayinka Olabanji; Khumbulani Mpofu; Olga Battaia

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria; Department of Industrial Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria West, South Africa ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria West, South Africa ' Institut Suprieur de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace (SUPAERO), Universite Federale Toulouse Midi-Pyrenees, France

Abstract: Hydraulic actuator is a type of clamp used in a reconfigurable assembly fixture for exact positioning and effective immobilisation of workpiece during the assembly process. However, due to their nonlinearity, there is a need to design a control system for their effective performance. This study presents a distributive approach to mathematical modelling and position control of multiple hydraulic actuators used as a clamping system in a reconfigurable assembly fixture. The electrohydraulic system is verified experimentally in order to observe the synchronisation of the hydraulic actuators. The mathematical model of the system is developed in the Simulink environment. A Simulink model of the system is developed from the mathematical model and simulated with a fuzzy-PID controller in order to obtain the response of all the actuators and other operating characteristics of the system. Simulation results are shown graphically in order to verify the theoretical development.

Keywords: electrohydraulic system; EHS; position control; fuzzy-PID controller; hydraulic actuator; reconfigurable assembly fixture; RAF; distributive modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAAC.2020.103804

International Journal of Automation and Control, 2020 Vol.14 No.1, pp.34 - 51

Received: 12 Oct 2017
Accepted: 07 Apr 2018
Published online: 29 Nov 2019 *

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