Position Control of Pneumatic Cylinders with Stroke Reading Sensor

The system controls the position of a SMC CE1B40-100 (Stroke reading cylinder) using electro - pneumatic controller. The position feedback pulses were fed to SMC Multicounter (CEU5P-D) and is directed through RS-232C-to-USB converter to the PC. The analog output for control signals was generated using custom designed USB Based data acquisition system using ATMEL AT90USB1287 microcontroller. The control signals are fed to Power amplifier VEA252 where it controls the current through the solenoids of E/P proportional flow control valve VEF3121. The system controls two proportional flow control valves from either side of the cylinder to attain velocity in any direction. The position control was obtained using PID controller, implemented using python programming. In case of emergency lockup valve (IL211) can be activated to constrain the position of the cylinder.
The work was supported by SMC Pneumatics (India).
The demonstration was made by Dr. Arun Dayal Udai and Ashutosh Dayal at BIT Mesra, Ranchi.