Our research in this area focuses on investigating the motion control of electromechanical and hydraulic systems. We carry out research in adaptive and robust control of hydraulically actuated systems in many application areas.
We have applied an adaptive control strategy to the Centre’s multi-axis shaker table (MAST). This allows for improved tracking despite cross-axis interaction. We also research the control of magnetic bearing systems, which have many advantages over passive bearings, including:
- higher operating speeds
- no wear under normal operation
- the ability to control rotor position and transmitted force
- the elimination of lubrication supply systems
Research projects
Many of our current and recently completed control and actuation projects are for aerospace and automotive applications.
PhD theses
| Name | Year of award | Thesis title |
|---|---|---|
| Zengkang Gan | 2015 | Adaptive control of an active seat for occupant vibration reduction |
| Peichao Li | 2015 | Active touchdown bearing control in magnetic bearing systems |
| Jean-Paul Henderson | 2012 | Vibration isolation for rotorcraft using electrical actuation |
| Dhinesh Sangiah | 2011 | Fluid metering using active materials |
| Robert Rayner | 2010 | The optimisation of a high-speed servomechanism |
| Ali Ghorashi | 2010 | Linear decentralised modelling for H-infinity control of a multi-axis simulation table |
| Dimitris Fronimidis | 2007 | The application of self-learning to injection moulding machines |
| Iain Cade | 2007 | A wavelet based approach to the transient control of rotor/active magnetic bearing systems |
| Yanzhi Li | 2007 | Dynamic simulation and high-speed precision control of spatial manipulators |
| Michael Schlotter | 2007 | Robust control and contact recovery of rotor/magnetic bearing systems |
| Abdul-Hadi Abulrub | 2006 | Modelling and control of contact in magnetic bearing/flexible rotor systems |
| David Branson III | 2006 | Modelling and control of multi-body structures actuated through large displacements |