Rapid Control Prototyping Platform for the Design of Control Systems for Automotive Electromechanical Actuators

This article introduces and discusses the development of a low-cost Rapid Control Prototyping Platform (RCPP). The aim of RCPP is to automate design of control algorithm of electromechanical actuators and simultaneous implementation it into a target microprocessor. The RCPP is stand-alone system containing software tools and electronic hardware in order to provide all development steps from system identification, model-based control design and code generation up to hardware implementation. The system can be used for development of a torque, speed or position controller for low power electromechanical actuators especially in the area of automotive application. The hardware of the platform is based on a 16-bit microcontroller and includes essential power semiconductor switches, sensors and communication interfaces. The presented RCPP system supports Real-Time-Work interface of MATLAB/Simulink and Calibration Protocol for CAN-Bus communication.