Position Control of a 3 dof Closed -loop Cylinder System Using ER Valve Actuators

This paper presents the position tracking control of a closed-loop cylinder system using electro-rheological (ER) valve actuators. After manufacturing three sets of cylindrical ER valves on the basis of Bingham model of ER fluid, a 3 dof(degree-freedom) closed-loop cylinder system having the heave, roll and pitch motions is constructed. The governing equations of motion are derived using Lagrange's equation and a control model is formulated by considering nonlinear characteristics of the system, Sliding mode controllers are the designed for these ER valve actuators in order to achieve position tracking control. The effectiveness of trajectory tracking control performance of the proposed cylinder system is demonstrated through computer simulation and experimental implementation of the sliding mode controller.