Experimental application of a networked tracking control method to the discrete-event demonstrator HANS

Abstract

A networked tracking control method is experimentally evaluated at the discrete-event demonstrator HANS. Controlled subsystems have to solve local tasks independently of each other and cooperative tasks collectively. Local tasks are specified by final states to be reached in the state space of a subsystem and cooperative tasks by state transitions that have to be executed synchronously. To solve the cooperative tasks, the controlled subsystems are extended by a decision unit and a synchronisation unit that recognise cooperative tasks, initiate the synchronisation and guarantee its collective execution. Depending on the current state and the local task, the networked subsystems decide when they temporarily have to connect to each other. An experimental evaluation on a prototypical manufacturing plant demonstrates the applicability of the proposed method under practical circumstances.