Modular software platform for distributed production process monitoring, control, and optimization

The presented result is a modular software platform, which is an open system for supporting the optimization, monitoring and control of industrial processes. It is a summary result of work packages WP11 – “Software modules for monitoring and control using industrial process models” and WP22 – “Modular software platform for monitoring, control and optimization of distributed production processes” of the TAČR project of the Center of Competence – Center for Applied Cybernetics 3. The software platform was created in cooperation with the teams of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and CIIRC, CTU in Prague and the industrial partner PT Solutions Worldwide, s.r.o., which guarantees the commercialization of the result.

The software platform vertically integrates control systems from the lowest level of control, which is the controlled process itself and its basic measuring and actuators, through the level of basic automation with the help of industrial control machines, through the level of advanced control layer, to higher corporate and business control systems. The resulting software platform thus provides resources for the entire process control system. Specifically, both for design, control and monitoring, but also for subsequent optimization and tuning. The software platform is so modular that individual functions can be used separately, or combined into larger system units. The platform primarily provides functions for controlling heating and melting furnaces and rolling processes. Each of these functions then provides a number of systems for controlling, monitoring and optimizing the process. The computational part of the platform was implemented in the C++ language and tools for configuration, visualization and optimization in the C# language. The presented summary result, which follows on from the previous partial result of the project [1] – assessed in Module 1-H18 with a grade of 3, contains the following sets of software modules for optimization, monitoring and control of processes.

M1 - A set of modules for controlling and monitoring a continuous heating furnace

These are software modules based on a mathematical-physical model of a heating furnace, which simulate the behavior of this complex production process with high reliability. The modules can be used to simulate the process for the purpose of training the furnace operator, testing various heating strategies, designing and tuning an advanced furnace control, or they can be directly used in advanced control for real-time optimization. This advanced optimization, based on the concept of model-based predictive control (MPC), is also one of the functionalities of this set. It also includes a module that can calculate the ideal furnace settings for a given steady-state operating mode, when the heating runs smoothly without failures, resulting in an ideal reference heating curve. Thanks to their modularity, these software applications are easily transferable to other types of furnace technologies.

M2 - Modules for data processing and optimization of rolling processes

The first of the designed and implemented modules for the rolling process is the “module for optimizing force and torque correction factors using polynomial neural units”. This module is used to design and train a polynomial neural unit of any order. These trained units are used to correct the mathematical-physical model of rolling (pressure forces and moments). Furthermore, the “Rolling stand hydrodrive simulator” is designed and implemented – using a general input, the Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) function can be emulated, i.e. the required positioning of the hydrodrive cylinder resulting from the rolling plan. Emulating the HIL function can also diagnose potential hydrodrive failures. The last of the modules is the “Robust controller for compensating for transport delay and eccentricity of rolls in the rolling process”. Following the previous design of a control system for compensating the delay between the rolling stand and the sheet thickness sensor and compensating the eccentricity of the rolls using the repetitive control concept [1], a filter was designed and implemented to increase the robustness of the entire control process. The original second-order filter was replaced by a higher-order filter, which allows for increased safety in both gain and phase, while maintaining full suppression of the periodic disturbance at a given frequency.
 

M3 - Crane anti-sway system for handling metallurgical material

Following the results of theoretical research by the FME CTU team in the field of transport delay systems theory and signal shaper design methods [2, 3], a system for compensating for swaying loads suspended on a crane trolley for handling metallurgical materials was designed and implemented. The original methodology combines a robust signal shaper with pre-filtering techniques that ensure compliance with speed, acceleration and jerk constraints of the drive unit. The given solution with advanced functionalities stands out for its design simplicity, which significantly reduces the implementation costs of the control system.
 

M4 - Extended module for temperature estimation in the continuous casting process based on a reduced CFD model

The result is a reduced 3D model of the continuous casting process using the finite volume method, with the aim of monitoring the process and the possibility of using this model to optimize the continuous casting process. The resulting module is based on the 3D model of the continuous casting process presented in the partial result of the project [1]. The original module is extended in particular by the influence of temperature and process parameters on the geometry of the slab. This model was also extended to a more complex and accurate form containing the heat conduction coefficient of the liquid core and solid phase and the solidification temperature of the steel with the aim of obtaining the most accurate distribution of the thermal field in the slab.

The originality and innovation of the implemented modules is mainly in the wide application of models of systems with distributed parameters and transport delays, which are inherently of infinite order. In this respect, the research follows on from the internationally successful theoretical research of the FME CTU team. The presented result is also linked to the published results [4-6] of the CAK3 project author team.

Society relevance

The expected benefits of the designed and implemented modular platform are closely related to the current rapidly changing situation in the availability and prices of both energy and strategic materials. The growth of commodity prices is increasing the pressure for significantly more precise compliance with the prescribed technological conditions, more flexible adaptation of technological processes to the required changes in the assortment, along with more perfect scheduling of production cycles. The designed functionalities of the advanced monitoring and control system of complex furnace systems of the M1 module set allow a significant increase in the quality of material heating (which cannot be directly measured by a non-destructive method), and thus an increase in the quality of the resulting product, especially rolled sheets. Another important aspect is the optimization of the combustion process, which brings significant economic savings and a reduction in environmental burden. Analogous benefits can be expected when applying the M4 continuous casting process model. In addition to optimizing and increasing the quality of the resulting products, an important element in this regard is also the element of occupational safety, especially the prevention of disruption of the solid shell and ‘spill-out’ of the liquid core with fatal consequences for the given technology. The contribution of the M2 rolling module set lies in optimizing the rolling process with the aim of increasing the quality of rolled sheets and minimizing the amount of “scraps”, especially in the phase of starting up a new production series. By preventing the swinging of the suspended material during crane transport between heat treatment operations (module M3), production times are significantly shortened and thus production productivity is increased. An important aspect is also the increase in occupational safety – stopping the swinging is often solved manually by the equipment operator in older technologies.

Individual components of the platform, i.e. software applications and tools, have already been applied in four commercial projects, which also document the international dimension of the presented applied research result.

Further information about the proposed result is available in the attached report [7], the industrial partner's cover letter on the applications of the result [8], see also the video and other supporting material at https://control.fs.cvut.cz/cs/vyzkum/cak3sw.

References

[1] Vyhlídal, T.; Knobloch, J.; Bušek, J.; Simeunovič, G.; Fišer, J., 2017, Software modules for production process optimization, Report to project result TE01020197-V136 (TAČR-CK – Centre for Applied Cybernetics 3).

[2] Vyhlídal, T. and Hromčík, M. Parameterization of input shapers with delays of various distribution. Automatica. 2015, 59(1), 256-263.

[3] Pilbauer, D., Michiels, W., and Vyhlídal, T. Distributed delay input shaper design by optimizing smooth kernel functions. Journal of the Franklin Institute, 2017, 354(13), 5463-5485.

[4] Fišer J., Zítek P., Skopec P., Knobloch J., Vyhlídal T. Dominant root locus in state estimator design for material flow processes: A case study of hot strip rolling, ISA Transactions, 68 (2017), 381-401. ISSN 0019-0578.

[5] Zítek, P., Fišer, J., Vyhlídal, T.: Dynamic similarity approach to control system design: delayed PID control loop. International Journal of Control, 2019, 92(2), 329-338.

[6] Skopec, P., Vyhlídal, T., Knobloch, J. Reheating Furnace Modeling and Temperature Estimation based on Model Order Reduction, In: 21st IEEE International Conference on Process Control (PC), 2019, Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia, 2019, p. 55-61.

[7] Vyhlídal, T., Knobloch, J., Bušek, J., Skopec, P., Simeunovič, G., Fišer, J., 2019, Modular software platform for distributed production process monitoring, control, and optimization, Report to project result TE01020197-V137 (TAČR-CK – Centre for Applied Cybernetics 3).

[8] Knobloch, J., 2020, Commercialization of project results: Modular software platform for distributed production process monitoring, control, and optimization, accompanying letter of industrial partner PTSW

Contact:

doc. Ing. Jaromír Fišer, Ph.D.

Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering FME CTU in Prague

E-mail: jaromir.fiser@fs.cvut.cz

Phone: +420 224 353 953