Networked Predictive Control for Time-varying Delay Compensation with an Application to Automotive Mechatronic Systems

The variable-time delay introduced by communication networks is the main factor that deteriorates the performance of Networked Control Systems (NCSs). In this paper, a new networked predictive control strategy is proposed with the aim of controlling the output of a physical plant, while compensating the effects of the time-varying delay. It is assumed that the delays in the communication network are bounded and three methods of considering the delays by the predictive control algorithm are proposed. Furthermore, a new method by which the controller is adapted to the difference between the desired reference and the plant output is proposed. Then, the proposed strategy is applied in order to control the clutch piston displacement and to decrease the influence of the variable-time delay induced in the NCS on the control performance of an electro-hydraulic actuated wet clutch. The performance of the proposed strategy is demonstrated by simulation results and corresponding comparisons prove the significance of this method.