Mechatronic Control Engineering – (M.Sc.)

Contents

1st Semester M.Sc. Specialisation in Energy Engineering

The objective of the 1^st semester at the M.Sc. specialisations in Energy Engineering is to prepare the students to follow one of the six different specialisations offered:

• Thermal Energy and Process Engineering
• Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Technology
• Electrical Power Systems and High Voltage Engineering
• Power Electronics and Drives
• Wind Power Systems
• Mechatronic Control Engineering.

To qualify for the 1^st semester at Energy Engineering, three routes are approved for students who have followed the bachelor education programme in Energy Engineering at Aalborg University:

• Electrical Energy Engineering
• Thermal Energy Engineering
• Mechatronic Control Engineering.

For international students, an introductory 1^st semester is mandatory, in which there are some basic courses to familiarise students with Problem-Based Learning, and also some engineering courses, depending on the choice of specialisation to be followed.

Content:

For students with a Bachelor of Science Degree from Aalborg University

For all routes, the 1^st semester contains some engineering subjects in the focus area of the chosen specialisation. However, students following all routes on this semester are required to acquire knowledge about scientific English, and projects will be documented by a paper, a poster and a presentation at an internal conference, all in English.

For students with a Bachelor of Science Degree from another university

Students with a Bachelor of Science Degree from another university on the other hand, must follow an Introductory Semester. Here, focus is on the Problem-Based, Project-Organised learning method used at Aalborg University. The students will write a project report documenting their project. Correspondingly, courses in mathematics and different engineering subjects are offered, depending on the choice of specialisation to be followed.

1^st Semester: Mechatronic Control Engineering

Theme: Control of hydraulically or pneumatically actuated mechanical structure On this semester, focus is on a mechanical structure with complex dynamic performance including elements with non-linear behaviour. The system is described, and system identification methods are used to determine the system dynamic performance when this is not known. Non-linear control theory will be applied to the system considered. The non-linear control methods proposed will be verified by experiment.

Project examples:

• Modelling and control of hydraulically actuated servo robot
• Modelling and control of dipper mechanism for excavator
• Control of pneumatically actuated systems.

1^st Semester: INTRO Semester

Theme: Problem-Based, Project-organised Learning in Energy Engineering On this semester, the goal is to give to international students a comprehension of the problem-based learning method, as it is applied at Aalborg University, and to give the students experience in carrying out project work in connection with problems in the subject area of Energy Engineering Technology, and production of the corresponding documentation (report writing). Further, the objective is to extend the students' knowledge in subject areas related to their chosen specialisation. The project work is split up in two periods. In the first, the purpose is to analyse the problem, identify the central knowledge areas and write a problem formulation. In the second part of the project, the students will apply a scientific method to solve the specific problem based on the previous analysis and problem formulation. It is required that the engineering aspects of the project include both theoretical and practical work. The project must include some, but not necessarily all of: detailed modelling, simulation, dimensioning of equipment, selection and application of a control strategy, optimization of the system and economic analysis. Finally, some experimental verification of the model must be carried out.

Project examples:

• Characterisation of Photovoltaic Panels
• Simulation of a Domestic Refrigerator
• Characterisation and Design of Fuel Cell System for a Shell Eco-Marathon Vehicle.

2nd - 4th semesters in Mechatronic Control Engineering

Mechatronic Control Engineering offers a programme that teaches the student to create and control mechatronic systems and products and develop communication with team members from other disciplines.

The themes for the three semesters are Advanced Control of Electrical Machines, Intelligent Control of Energy Systems and, finally, the Master's Thesis. These themes focus especially on Mechatronic Control System Design. The emphasis of the syllabus is on the application and extension of fundamental theory, e.g. in-depth modelling of specific applications and more advanced topics in control theory.

The objectives of the Mechatronic Control Engineering MSc syllabus are:

• That the student is able to understand the importance of physical and mathematical modelling in mechatronic system design and develop the skill to model and analyse such systems
• That the student is able to understand the importance of the integration of modelling and control engineering into the design of mechatronic systems
• That the student is able to understand and be able to apply various controller design techniques, e.g. classical feedback control, state-space control and non-linear control methods
• That the student acquires a general understanding of more advanced control design techniques, e.g. cascade control, sliding mode control, adaptive control and feedback linearisation
• That the student understands the digital implementation of control techniques and basic digital design techniques
• That the student is able to use a microcontroller or DSP as a mechatronic system component; and that the student understands programming and interfacing issues
• That the student is able to apply and combine all these skills to design a mechatronic system.

2^nd Semester

Project Theme: Advanced control of electrical machines 2^nd semester projects study a given AC-motor used to drive a mechanical load. To control this motor, a frequency converter should be used. The frequency converter must be developed in the project, including designing the power stage of the frequency converter, and an interface-board between the power stage and a DSP-system. Related to this, modulation strategies and modes of operation for the converter should be analysed as basis for the control strategy of the converter. Based on the developed frequency converter, one or more vector control strategies for the motor must be developed enabling this to operate within pre-specified demands for the system. The frequency converter should be built in the laboratory, and developed control strategies must be implemented, tested and compared to standard scalar control.

Project examples:

1. Modelling and control of electrically driven servo robot
2. Design and control of "Segway human transporter".

3^rd Semester Project Theme: Intelligent Control of Energy Systems The project is to study a specified problem defined in collaboration between a company and the university. As such, the project may address a broad palette of problems in the area of control of energy converting systems. The results of the project may be incorporated into an existing commercial product or system. To continue practising scientific communication, the project result or parts of it should be published in an article written in English which is to be presented at an internal seminar. The project work may optionally be wholly or partly carried out at a company and/or at a foreign university in order to strengthen the student's industrial and international relations.

Courses offered on the 3^rd semester: On this semester, all the courses are PE courses, and the students must follow a course load corresponding to at least 8 ECTS, of which 2 ECTS are mandatory for all students under the Study Board of Energy, the rest is elective and can for instance be courses offered at other specialisations or research intensive packages either within the specialisation or multidisciplinary packages. The elective courses may be changed from year to year.

Project examples:

• Control of a fuel cell system
• Design and control of an active suspension system for a road vehicle
• Observer based flux vector control of induction machines.

4^th Semester

Project theme: Master's Thesis in Mechatronic Control EngineeringThe master's thesis may study new subjects or be an extension of the project work of previous semesters of Mechatronic Control Engineering and may take the form of a cooperation with an industrial partner.

Funding details

New students who have registered for a full-time study programme at Aalborg University but who are not nationals of an EU/EEA country will be charged tuition fee. For full list of tuition fees please see http://studyguide.aau.dk/apply/tuition

Aalborg University does, however, grant tuition waivers to non-EU/EEA students. The faculties of Aalborg University were awarded 50 tuition waivers for September 2011.

Students cannot apply for the scholarships but will be nominated by the faculties of Aalborg University when they apply to Aalborg University.

Please note that the deadline for applying for September 2012 is 15 March 2012