advanced controls r&d

• Designed servo drive and controller for strip-feed test stand for a punch press. Preliminary pinch-roller and DC motor/servo drive system design based on modeling/analysis of servo drive and mechanical system dynamics.
• Designed electric steady rest system for a cylindrical grinder incorporating geared stepper motors. Collaborated with mechanical engineer to arrive at mechanical design. Implemented system on production cylindrical grinder and validated system performance improvement.
• Designed digital/analog servo drive controls for new design punch press table. Collaborated with mechanical engineer in development of semi-empirical model of an existing punch press table and servo drive electromechanical characteristics.
  • Designed servo drive solution resulting in 50% performance improvement while cutting servo drive costs by 40%. Proposed table design modifications that achieved 100% performance improvement.
  • Table marketed at next major machine tool show and was a significant commercial success.
• Designed a nonlinear digital position controller for a new CNC punch press.
  • Developed computer model of punch press that included the dynamics of the DC motors, PWM drives and machine structure.
  • Designed nonlinear control strategy that achieved required punch press performance.
• Proposed/implemented controlled-force grinding system on a cylindrical grinder
  • Implemented prototype controlled-force grinding system on a cylindrical grinder regulating grinding force by adjusting grinding wheel feedrate.
  • Grinding tests that verified significant productivity gains.
• Designed digital velocity control system for a 2-axis machine tool employing speed estimation from position encoder feedback.
• Designed a Digital Pressure Ratio Control System for a High-Pressure Test Facility for Altitude Testing of Jet Engines.
  • Utilized detailed model of facility air supply valving, piping, and ducting.
  • Devised nonlinear control scheme for regulation of pressure ratio across compressor supplying air to jet engine test rig by adjusting electro-mechanical flow valves.
  • Achieved excellent control over a wide range of conditions in testing on the High-Pressure Facility.
• Developed high fidelity model of Centaur engine actuator. Centaur, a cryogenic upper stage for the Atlas/Centaur expendable launch vehicle, has an electro hydraulic engine actuator system for the positioning of the rocket engines. The project objective was to develop an improved model of this engine actuator for use in Centaur flight control stability analyses.
  • Developed semi empirical model of Centaur engine actuator that included a digital/analog controller, electro-mechanical servo vlave, electro hydraulic engine actuator, and Centaur Engine & Engine Actuator structural dynamics.
  • Modified actuator model to achieve greatly improved correlation with actuator test data, Centaur pre-flight test data, and Centaur flight data.