Model Predictive Control of Self-Contained Electro-Hydraulic Actuator Driven by Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor

Self-contained electro-hydraulic actuators driven by servo motors is an established and successful concept which has higher energy-efficiency comparing to traditional valve-controlled devices. However, these novel actuators have specific operational constrains given by the components of motors and pumps, which cannot be systematically handled by the traditional Proportional-Integral (PI) controllers. This paper proposes a Model Predictive Control (MPC) method to facilitate the control design and improve the performance of the self-contained electro-hydraulic actuators, detailed models of the electrical, mechanical and hydraulic subsystem are developed, and Finite Control Set Model Predictive Control (FCS-MPC) method is adopted as the torque controller of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). Furthermore, the hydraulic transmission dynamic is regulated by Continuous Control Set Model Predictive Control (CCS-MPC) algorithm. The system is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink which demonstrates the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method.