ISCI 2012

Tracking Controller Using Backstepping combined with fuzzy for

Steady Mass Flow in a Wind Tunnel
Rini Jones S.B
Associate Professor, Dept. of ECE,
Lourdes Matha College of Science & Technology, Trivandrum,Kerala, India
rinijones@rediffmail.com
Dr.P.Poongodi
Professor, Dept. of ECE,
PPG Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India
poongodiravikumar@yahoo.co.in
Binu L.S.
Assistant Professor, Dept. of ECE,
College of Engineering, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
binuls@yahoo.com
Abstract
Wind tunnel is a facility used to investigate the aerodynamic properties of objects by passing a stream
of velocity-controlled air over them. Hypersonic wind tunnels operate at hypersonic speeds ie, with a
mach number greater than 6. For doing experiments, it is necessary to maintain a constant pressure in
the settling chamber of the tunnel so that we get the desired Mach number and mass flow rate through
the nozzle. The Back stepping control is a systematic and recursive design methodology for nonlinear
feedback control. Here, a back stepping controller is designed using the tracking approach and it is
combined with the fuzzy controller to control the mass flow rate of hypersonic intermittent blow down
type wind tunnel which is modeled and simulated using simulink.
Keywords:
Back stepping controller, fuzzy controller, Hypersonic wind tunnel, Lyapunov function, mass flow rate
regulation, tracking technique.

1. Introduction
Wind tunnels are being used to study the aerodynamic properties of race cars, fighter planes
etc. Although the form of a wind tunnel can vary, all wind tunnels have a drive system and a
test section where a model that is supported in airstream whose characteristics is measured by
test instrumentation. Wind tunnels are an excellent example of a technological innovation that
supports aircraft design. Without constant improvements in wind tunnel technology,
aeronautical research would have ground to a standstill decades ago. According to Speed of
operation they can be classified into: Subsonic (Low Speed)Mach No: range: 0.5m/s 55m/s,
Supersonic (High Speed)
Mach No: range: 1.5 4 and Hypersonic (High Speed)Mach
No: range: 6 12.

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Hypersonic intermittent blow down-type wind tunnel is a ground based facility to simulate
flight conditions of space vehicles in hypersonic flow regime. Block schematic of the tunnel
system is shown in fig.1. The different subsystems are high pressure system, wind tunnel
system which consists of Control valve (PRV), Heater (H), Settling chamber (SC), Nozzle,
Test section (TS), the Diffuser, After cooler (AFCL) and Vacuum Chamber. Air is compressed
and stored in the high pressure system. It is released through a pressure regulating valve to
create the desired pressure in the settling chamber. Heater is used to heat the air while passing
through the heater bed to avoid liquefaction when it is expanded through the nozzle to get
high Mach numbers. The pressure in the settling chamber is controlled by the proper
operation of the control valve so that flow through test section meets the Mach number and
mass flow rate specified for the test conditions.

Figure1. Block schematic of Hypersonic wind tunnel

The common control method for todays industries is based on a classical linear system
design approach using PI controllers. However, when the system parameter changes become
significant, it is difficult to achieve optimum response. Also, the cross-interaction between the
subsystems could not be conveniently incorporated by the traditional PI-control loop
approach, thus limiting the performance of the system.
2. Literature Review
Varghese Jacob et.al.(2009) built a simulation model for the Hypersonic wind tunnel system
and it is controlled using an adaptive PI controller. In recent years, significant efforts of
developing nonlinear control approaches using backstepping techniques have been made for
industrial applications by Jie Chang et.al, Sang-Seung Lee et.al. and M.S. Merzoug. David
Maurice Cooper (2005) developed a tracking by trajectory regulation control using
backstepping method for another nonlinear process. Rini Jones et. al. (2010) developed other
nonlinear controllers for the hypersonic wind tunnels.
In this paper, a back stepping controller using Lyapunov function is derived after formulating
the control problem. The objectives are to improve the systems settling time against the set
point variations and achieve stabilization for the disturbances. The paper is organized as
follows. Section 1 states the model of the hypersonic wind tunnel. Section 3 details the back
stepping controller and its design procedure. The main results are stated in section 4 whilst
concluding remarks are contained in section 5.
3. Controller Design
3.1 Backstepping Controller

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Back stepping is a nonlinear control design technique, developed by V. Kokotovic and
others in 1990s. They are built from subsystems that radiate out from irreducible subsystem,
which can be stabilized using Lyapunov synthesis. Furthermore, back stepping can
accommodate large nonlinearities and uncertainties in the systems model. Here the complex
non linear system is broken down into smaller subsystems and we apply Lyapunov function
for each. The back stepping approach presents a systematic method for
designing a controller to track a reference signal, by selecting an
appropriate Lyapunov function by changing the coordinate.
In this paper, implementation of the back stepping controller using the
tracking combined with a fuzzy controller for a hypersonic wind tunnel is
discussed. The design of tracking controller is based upon back stepping
techniques, so that the mass flow rate is controlled.
From the modeling equations, the state equations of the system can be written as follows
F2 F3
C3

F1 F2
x2
C2

F1
x3
C1

x1

Then, the three flow equations as below

F1 2.39*105 m P12 PP
1 2
F2 1.57 *105 P2 2 P2 P3
F3 2.24*104 P3

x1 P3 ; x2 P2 ; x3 P1
Now using binomial expansion, the state equations can be approximated as

x1 1.557 x2 22.97 x 1

x 2 m(0.455 x3 0.227 x2 ) 0.29 x2 0.14 x1

z xref x1

z xref 1.557 x2 22.97 x1

Control Lyapunov function is selected as

1 2
V1 ( z ) . z
2

Derivative of V1(x) becomes,

V1 ( z ) z z

V1 ( x) z xref 1.557 zx2 22.97 zx1

Now the desired value of x2 to make V1 ( z ) negative definite is given by,

x
22.97
x2 (des ) C1 x1
x1 ref ,
1.557
1.557

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Where, C1 is a positive constant.
Let, y x2 x2des

xref
22.97
.
x2 y C1 z
x 1
1.557
1.557

Now, z 1.557 y 1.557C 1 z

y x2 1.557C 1 y 1.557C 12 z

The second Lyapunov function is selected as

1 2 1 2
V2 ( z ) . z . y
2
2

V2 ( z ) z z y y

V2 ( x) 1.557 zy 1.557C1 z 2 my (0.455 x 3 0.227 x 2 )

0.29 yx 2 0.14 yx 1 1.557C 1 y 2 1.557C 12 yz

Now the desired value of m, m(des) to make V2 ( z ) negative definite is given by

m( des) C2 y (

0.29 x2 0.14 x1 1.557C1 y 1.557C12 z

)
0.455 x3 0.227 x2

Fig.2. Simulink block diagram of the system with back stepping controller.
3.2Fuzzy Controller
The error(e) and error rate(e_r) are the input variables, f is the output variable. Fuzzy relations
between e,e_r and f is formed. Then f can be changed on line according the rules, current error
and error rate.
The membership functions are defined based on the two inputs of the fuzzy system, error e
and error rate e_r. Seven triangular membership functions are defined for both input and
output. The membership function is given below.

Table 1. Fuzzy rule table.

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e_r

Fig.3. Fuzzy membership function.

PB
PM
PS
Z

e
PB
PB
PB
PB
PB

PM
PB
PB
PM
PS

PS
PM
PM
PS
Z

Z
Z
PS
PS
Z

NS
Z
Z
Z
Z

NM
Z
Z
NS
NS

NB
Z
NS
NM
NB

NS
NM
NB

PM
PS
Z

PS
Z
Z

Z
Z
Z

Z
NS
NS

NS
NM
NM

NM
NB
NB

NB
NB
NB

The seven fuzzy subsets assigned for input and output variables are Negative Big (NB),
Negative Medium (NM), Negative Small (NS), Zero (Z), Positive Small (PS), Positive
Medium (PM) and Positive Big (PB). The rule table for fuzzy controller is shown in table 1.
The defuzzification method used is centroid. The fuzzy controller is designed using fuzzy tool
box in Matlab .
3.3 Backstepping combined with fuzzy controller
Here the backstepping controller is combined with the fuzzy controller to improve the
performance, and the simulink block diagram is as shown in figure4.

Fig. 4. Simulink block diagram of the system with back stepping combined with fuzzy
controller.

4. Simulation and results

Extensive simulations have been performed using Matlab- Simulink Software to examine
tracking control action of the nonlinear back stepping controller applied for Hypersonic wind
tunnel.
4.1 Servo operation

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In servo operation, the ability of a controller to track changes in set point (requirement) is
evaluated. Simulations were done at the two set points of 70 bar and 100 bar, with the values
of the positive constants, C1 and C2 of the backstepping controller as 1500. The simulation
results are shown in fig. 3 to fig. 6 and are tabulated in table 2.
From the simulation graphs, it is seen that for a set point of 100 bar, the settling time for
backstepping controller is 4.5 sec and that of backstepping combined with Fuzzy Controller is
only 3.8 sec. Similarly, for a set point of 70 bar, the settling time for backstepping controller is
5 sec and that of backstepping combined with Fuzzy Controller is only 3.6 sec. Clearly, we
can say that the backstepping combined with Fuzzy Controller has less settling time. While
considering the overshoot, the backstepping controller alone is good since backstepping
combined with Fuzzy Controller has more overshoot compared with the other one. The results
are tabulated in table 2.

Fig. 5: Output response of tracking

design of backsptepping controller for
set point of 100 bar with C1C2 =1500

Fig. 6: Output response of tracking

design of backsptepping controller for
set point of 70 bar with C1C2 =1500

Fig. 7: Output response of tracking

design of backsptepping combined
with fuzzy controller for set point
of 100 bar with C1C2 =1500

Fig. 8: Output response of tracking

design of backsptepping combined
with fuzzy controller for set point
of 70 bar with C1C2 =1500

Table 2: Comparison of performance of servo operation

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Controller

Backstepping Controller using

tracking design

Set point
(2% tolerance)at C1C2=1500
Parameter
100 bar
70 bar
Settling Time
4.5
5
% Overshoot
36%
58%
4.2.Regulator Operation

Backstepping Controller using

traking design combined with
Fuzzy Controller
Set point at
(2% tolerance)C1C2=1500
100 bar
70 bar
3.8 sec
3.6 sec
45%
54%

In regulator operation, the ability of a controller to resist the disturbances affecting the
system (load changes) is evaluated.
An external disturbance in valve position in the form of an impulse with amplitude, period
and pulse width of 10, as shown in figure 9, is given to the system at 10 sec, when the system
is in the set point. Results are obtained by giving this disturbance when the system is at the set
points of 70 bar and 100 bar, and the positive constant C1 and C2 as 1500.

Fig. 9: Output response of tracking

design of backsptepping controller
for set point of 100 bar with C1C2 =1500
when a disturbance is given.

Fig. 10: Output response of tracking

design of backsptepping controller
for set point of 70 bar with C1C2 =1500
when a disturbance is given.

Fig. 11: Output response of tracking

Fig. 12: Output response of tracking

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Design of backsptepping controller
combined with fuzzy for set point of
100 bar with C1C2 =1500 when
a disturbance is given.

design of backsptepping controller

combined with fuzzy for set point of
70 bar with C1C2 =1500 when
a disturbance is given.

Table 3: Comparison of performance of regulator operation

Con

Parameter
Settling Time

Set point at C1C2=1500

100 bar
70 bar
14 sec
15 sec

Backstepping Controller
using Tracking design
combined with Fuzzy
Controller
Set point at C1C2=1500
100 bar
70 bar
13 sec
14.5 sec

% Overshoot

60%

75%

troller

Backstepping Controller
using Tracking design

92%

121%

The simulation graphs from figure 9 to figure 12 shows only a slight improvement in settling
time when a disturbance is given, for the backstepping controller combined with fuzzy
compared with that of with- out fuzzy. The results are tabulated in table 3.

5. Conclusion
A tracking controller using the back stepping technique combined with fuzzy controller is
designed and implemented for a hypersonic wind tunnel. The back stepping controller utilizes
feedback of internal states so that the controller is more predictive and feed forward in nature.
This may be the reason for fast settling and better disturbance rejection. When a fuzzy
controller is added combined to it, the controller action becomes fast. Compared with the back
stepping controller, the backstepping combined with Fuzzy Controller has less settling time.
References
David Maurice Cooper (2005) Non linear tracking by trajectory regulation control using
backstepping method, Thesis submitted, Ohio university.
Jie Chang, and Yaolong Tan (2007) Synthesis and experimental implementation of DSP based
Backstepping control of positioning systems, Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 7, No. 1.
M.S. Merzoug , H. Benalla,(2010) Nonlinear Backstepping Control of Permanent Magnet
Synchronous Motor (PMSM) International Journal of Systems Control (Vol.1-2010/Iss.1)pp.
30-34
Noor Asyikin, Azdiana binti, Sharatul Izah,(2010) Solving Tracking problem of a non
holonomic wheel mobile robot using backstepping techniqueJournal of mechanical
Engineering and Technology, Vol2, No.1 Jan-June 2010, pp85-92

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Rini Jones S.B, P.Poongodi, Binu L.S, (2011) Design of PI controller with Anti- reset wind up
for a Wind Tunnel Proceedings of IVCVI published by International Journal of Computer
Applications (IJCA).
Rini Jones S.B, P.Poongodi, Binu L.S, (2011), Fuzzy assisted PI controller for pressure
regulation in a Hypersonic Wind Tunnel',International Journal of Hybrid Information
Technology,Vol.4 No.1,January 2011, pp 13-24.
Sang-Seung Lee, Shan-Ying Li, (2008), Nonlinear adaptive back-stepping controller design
for power system stabilizer in multi-machine power systems, American Control Conference
Westin Seattle Hotel, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Varghese Jacob, Binu L.S. (2009), Adaptive Fuzzy PI controller for Hypersonic Wind Tunnel
Pressure Regulation; National Conference on Technological Trends, India.
Biographies
Rini Jones S.B. received her Bachelor of Engineering Degree in
Electronics & Communication Engineering from M.S. University,
Tamilnadu, India and Master of Engineering Degree in Applied
Electronics from Anna University, India. She has a teaching experience
of about seven years and received ISTE-LMCST best teacher award for
the year 2009-10. Currently she is working as associate professor in the
department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Lourdes
Matha College of Science & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala,
India and doing her Ph.D in Karunya University, India. She has published
papers in international journals and conferences.Her area of
interest is Control Systems.
P. Poongodi, born in Coimbatore District,
TamilNadu State in India. Received the B.E in
Electronics and Communication Engineering
from Bharathiar University, M.E in Applied
Electronics
from
Bharathiar
University,
Coimbatore in 1991and 1994 respectively and
PhD in Control system from Anna University,
Chennai, in 2006. Currently she is a professor in
PPG Institute of Technology, Coimbatore. Her research interests lie in
the areas of Computer Modeling and Simulation, Computer
Networking, Neural Networks, and optimization techniques. She has
published nearly 32 technical papers in National and International
Journals and Conferences.
Binu L.S, received his Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electronics &
Communication Engineering from M.G. University, Kerala, India and
Master of Engineering Degree in Applied Electronics from Kerala
University, India. He has a teaching experience of about ten years.

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Currently he is working as lecturer in the department of Electronics and Communication
Engineering at College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India and doing his
Ph.D in Kerala University, India. His areas of interest are Biomedical Engineering and
Control Systems. He has published and presented papers in national and
International conferences.