Development of a PC-based Real Time Power Electronics Control Platform

Scholarly Research Paper from the year 2005 in the subject Electrotechnology, grade: 1,0, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (unbekannt), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe:Abstract:
In this thesis it was shown that it is possible to set-up a very fast and flexible realtime controller using only off-the-shelf components on a PC platform. To best fit the requirements, the used hardware and software has been chosen carefully and compared with other market products.
After evaluating the timing and handling structure, the real-time controller and the system drivers were implemented using the 'C' program language. To ensure flexibility, this program has been tested on two different hardware configurations. Timing analyses and measurements are compare for the two configurations.
All code is written to be easy to understand and quickly learned by students. To prove the system capabilities, a PI control algorithm has been implemented to control the torque of a DC machine. The system ran on a 333 MHz PII with algorithm times of about 600ns and an overall sampling rate of 20kHz.
This very flexible system, together with the real time operating system of RTLinux and Linux, makes it possible to build a control platform for power electronics which can be easily adapted to fit almost every requirement in a very short time. The superior computation power of standard PCs (and the possibility to upgrade the CPU) is a decisive advantage to common DSP solutions - especially when system cost is an important factor.
The use of open source operating systems enables full control and survey of the whole system. Software and utilities for almost all applications is available in source code. Competent help can be obtained from an active community via the internet as well as from professional companies.
Together, these facts ensure that the lifetime of this PC based control platform is not restricted by the availability of spare parts from single companies. And it is not limited by the software and hardware possibilities of the year 2001.
Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents:
1.Introduction1
1.1Organization2
1.2Conventions2
2.Requirements3
3.Choosing the Hardware4
3.1PC System4
3.2DAC and ADC Hardware6
3.3Hardware description9
4.Choosing the right Software16
4.1System Specific Demands16
4.2Standard Operating Systems (OSs) and Real-Time Control16
4.3Real Time Operating Systems17
4.3.1Definition of a Real-Time System17
4.3.2Used Definition of 'Real Time'20
4.3.3Market Overview20
4.4Characteristics of Suitable Real Time Operating Systems21
4.4.1The Ordeal of Options21
4.4.2VxWorks22
4.4.3QNX24
4.4.4LynxOS26
4.4.5RT-Linux 3.027
4.5Network32
4.5.1The Possibilities32
4.5.2The easy Solution35
4.5.3Built-in Alternative: Linux Telnet36
5.Realization37
5.1The Software of the Control Platform what should it do?37
5.1.1Controller Concept37
5.2Overview of the used Linux Functions39
5.3Using Kernel Modules41
5.4Introduction to PCI44
5.4.1Linux and the PCI subsystem45
5.4.1.1Reading and Writing to a Device48
5.5Accessing the Hardware49
5.5.1Acromag Carrier Board APC862049
5.5.2Acromag IP340 The A/D Module52
5.5.3Acromag IP220 The D/A Module60
5.6RTLinux65
5.6.1RTLinux Functions65
5.6.2RTLinux Programming69
5.6.3Adding Interrupt Support71
5.6.4Adding RTFIFOs71
5.7Building the Control Platform Together73
5.8Linux - RTLinux communication80
5.8.1Linux Controls RTLinux80
5.8.2Observation of RTLinux signals80
5.9Implementation of Network: netcat82
5.9.1One Way Connections82
5.9.2Two Way Connections82
6.Timing Evaluations83
6.1CPU speed comparisons84
7.Implementing a ...