Elevators play a crucial role in facilitating transportation within tall buildings. The drive system of an elevator, governing its initiation, acceleration, seamless operation, and gradual deceleration during braking, significantly impacts the overall quality and efficiency of the elevator's performance. This paper presents the modeling and simulation of the elevator drive system using Simcenter Amesim simulation platform. The command-and-control system performances are analyzed under varied conditions such as changed target floors, requested by passengers, correlated with a variable number of people using the elevator. For the validation of the simulation model, the results of the measurements conducted for different operating regimes, associated with imposed load and speed, are used. The results obtained confirm the fact that the presented methods make it possible to analyze the dynamic performance of an elevator with different control parameters, contributing to the optimal design of an elevator.

Intelligent motion control is integral to modern cyber-physical systems. However, smart integration of intelligent motion control with commercial and industrial systems requires domain expertise, industrial ‘know-how’ of the production processes, and resilient adaptation for the various engineering phases. The challenge is amplified with the adoption of advanced digital twin approaches, big data and artificial intelligence in the various industrial domains. This paper proposes the IMOCO4.E reference framework for the smart integration of intelligent motion control with commercial platforms (e.g. from SMEs) and industrial systems. The IMOCO4.E reference framework brings together the architecture, data management, artificial intelligence and digital twin viewpoints from the industrial users of the large-scale ‘Intelligent Motion Control under Industry4.E’ (IMOCO4.E) consortium. The framework envisions a generic platform for designing, developing, and implementing novice and complex motion-controlled industrial systems. Refinements and instantiations of the framework for the IMOCO4.E industrial cases validate the framework’s applicability for various industrial domains throughout the engineering phases and under different constraints imposed on the industrial cases.

Autotuning and system parameters monitoring are crucial aspects of modern motion control algorithms. At-the-edge controllers need to detect system changes and perform autotuning autonomously without requiring excessive computational burdens. Two algorithms to estimate the main dynamics of mechanical systems using integral figures of merit are proposed. The algorithms implementations are analyzed in offline and online modes. They have been tested in simulation, using an elastic model as a testbed, and in a hardware-in-the-loop PLC-controlled system. The results show the effectiveness of the methods compared to a recursive least square method.

The goal of the control system in lift application in high-speed/high-rise applications is to maximize speed without sacrificing passengers comfort. Lifts are affected by position-based disturbances, which could be compensated by employing a repetitive control strategy. Lifts also have nonlinearities due to the rope mass and stiffness variation with respect to the position. This paper analyzes the performance of LTI position-based repetitive control strategies in lift applications. Simulation with a nonlinear model of the lift shows that repetitive control strategies could improve control performance. In particular, Gaussian Process Repetitive Control is less sensitive to the nonlinearities and provides fewer oscillations.

In this paper an automatic tuning procedure for a cascade position control architecture of general mechatronic systems is presented. The proposed procedure firstly estimates the transfer function of the system by analysing its open-loop response to a signal specifically designed in order to satisfy the system position, velocity and torque constraints. Then, if present, oscillatory behaviours are detected by finding the (anti)resonances of the frequency response. Parametric tuning rules are eventually defined for the PID controllers and for the biquadratic filters. Results obtained by implementing the procedure on a Hardware In the Loop setup demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.

In this paper a closed loop automatic tuning procedure for the velocity control of oscillatory mechatronic systems is proposed. The transfer function of the system is estimated relying only on the measurements on the motor side, resonances are identified and biquadratic filters and the PID controller are tuned in order to improve the pre-existing control system by reducing the oscillations on the load side. Experimental results obtained with a Hardware-In-the-Loop setup show the effectiveness of the method.

In this paper we present a strategy developed to compensate for multiple sinusoidal disturbances affecting the pressure output of an industrial revamped plastic injection molding machine. The method is based on the suitable implementation of an adaptive feed-forward control technique and has the characteristic that it can be added to the already existing standard control structures such as the normal feedback structure or the cascade one without modifying any part of them. Experimental results show that the technique allows the significant reduction of multiple sinusoidal disturbances affecting the same part of the plant.

In this paper we present a Hardware-In-the-Loop setup for the simulation of complex mechatronic systems. The setup consists of two coupled brushless motors. One of them is the motor under test, which is used to design the control algorithm and to test the control software, while the other one simulates the device to be controlled. Libraries of mechanical and hydraulic components have been implemented in an IEC61131-3 language so that a complex system can be simulated in a relatively easy way and this allows for a rapid control prototyping. Practical issues are discussed and an illustrative example is shown to confirm the effectiveness of the setup.

We focused on the joint exploitation of satellite and ground-based technologies in order to understand the kinematic behavior of landslides and subsidence phenomena relevant to different test sites in Europe. In this context, we efficiently exploited C-band and X-band satellite and ground-based SAR data for the investigation of the temporal and spatial pattern of ground deformations caused by natural and human-induced hazards. The present work has been conducted within the FP7-EU DORIS project.

In this paper we present a control technique for a domestic tumble dryer. The control algorithm, that aims at decreasing the energy consumption by satisfying at the same time the required constraints, basically consists in a selective control between a PI controller (which controls the clothes temperature) and a three-state controller (which controls the heater temperature). Experimental results show that the overall control algorithm is effective and provide a better performance with respect to the standard PI controller.

In the framework of the SLAM (Service for Landslides Monitoring) project funded by the European Space Agency, the Permanent Scatterers (PS) processing and the analysis of high resolution images (e.g. SPOT5 and aerial-photos) have been performed at a basin scale, on the whole territory of the Arno River basin (Central Italy). About 350 SAR images have been interferometrically processed by means of the PS technique, detecting about 650,000 PS. The processing of SPOT5 images and aerial-photos, still in progress, have been performed for the extraction of features related to the landslide presence, useful for the geomorphological analysis and, as a consequence in order to give a spatial meaning to the punctual information provided by the PS. This procedure has been coupled with a intense geological interpretation phase characterized by the analysis of traditional in situ monitoring data, ancillary data and the performing of field surveys. The final results will impact on the current instruments used by the Arno Basin Authority for the landslide risk management (e.g. Hydrogeological Management Plan - Piano per l'Assetto Idrogeologico - PAI).

This work concerns the application of space-borne SAR interferometry (InSAR) to the study of the land subsidence problem affecting the urban areas of the Firenze-Prato-Pistoia basin (Central Italy). Such a phenomenon is mainly related to the large amount of ground-water pumped for the industrial activities of this area. The interferometric analysis has been carried out by means of both traditional Differential Interferometry (DInSAR) and Permanent Scatterers technique (PS) by using SAR data acquired by the ESA ERS1/2 satellites. Different patterns of terrain subsidence have been detected in the industrial areas of the monitored basin.