Continuous Manufacturing using Linear Quadratic Regulator in the Context of Cyber-Physical Systems

Abstract

Continuous manufacturing represents a flow production method in which the processed materials are in continuous movement between the interconnected operating units involved in the production process. This method has been adopted in many industries, e.g., electrical components, automotive or food production due to increased needs and higher quality of the resulting products. Continuous manufacturing is a first step towards transforming industrial processes into cyber-physical systems (CPSs). In case of pharma industry, recent studies revealed the benefits of transforming batch production into continuous manufacturing, related to product quality, lower fabrication costs and reduced production times. Among the advantages of continuous manufacturing, regardless of industry, is an increase in efficiency, enabled by maximum automation through the interconnection of operation units. As such, this paper proposes a control strategy based on Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) with Integral action (LQI) for the production of pharmaceutical tablets. Moreover, the control architecture has been extended by using an observer to estimate the unknown states of the system. The simulation results obtained on a Matlab/Simulink-based pilot plant and the performance analysis prove that this method is suitable for the dry granulation process.