Control design of an electro-pneumatic gearbox actuator

The paper deals with the model-based control of an electro-pneumatic gearbox actuator. Electro-pneumatic systems have many advantages, such as long lifetime and high operational safety, but their nonlinear behavior makes predicting and controlling them difficult. The objective of the research is to design an optimal control of an electro-pneumatic gearbox actuator. In order to control a nonlinear system with linear control methods a multi-state state-space representation of the system is presented. Based on a preliminary comparison an open-loop, a PID, and a linear quadratic controller were chosen for development. The developed controllers were tested in a Model in The Loop environment, and their performances were compared based on previously defined controlling requirements. Both the open-loop and the PID controller were able to meet the given requirements. The open-loop controller has high parameter sensitivity and relative low performances in case of collision speed and shift time, while the PID controller has the highest number of solenoid valve actuations. The linear quadratic controller has good overall performance in case of neutral to gear changes, however it cannot stabilize the system in neutral position within the required time, which can be a consequence of the given simplifications. With respect to the results of the Model in the Loop tests two suggestions were made regarding the applicable controller.