Supervision and fault-tolerant control: A robust model-based approach

A fault-tolerant control strategy based on a robust model-based approach is addressed in order to design and implement a supervisory system. The approach considers the application of a robust control technique to integrate the control design and the fault diagnosis in the same framework. A model-based approach is used to estimate the system´s state variables and to synthesize the robust controller. The design objectives are formulated in terms of H∞ specifications and the problem is solved with the structured singular value (μ) technique. The supervisor system uses the residual signals to accommodate the faults when they occur. The main purpose is to obtain a robust fault-tolerant controller and a fault detection filter to generate residual signals for fault diagnosis and supervision purposes. This approach was applied to an unstable and nonlinear process, the inverted pendulum laboratory plant.