Implementation of Closed-Loop Control on the NORAC Terrain Simulator

NORAC Systems International Inc. of sas卡通，SK （http://www.norac.ca/；以下简称NORAC）设计和

NORAC Systems International Inc. of Saskatoon, SK (http://www.norac.ca/; hereafter NORAC) designs and manufactures various spray-height control systems for agricultural sprayers. These control systems ensure the sprayers along a boom are positioned and maintained at a pre-set height above the land/crop during the spraying of chemicals. To test the performance of the spray-height control systems they develop, NORAC is currently prototyping an indoor terrain simulator to simulate/track prescribed terrain profiles and the land surface/crop canopy that would be encountered in outdoor fields. However, motion control of the simulator has proven to be a challenging task due to system dynamics and non-linearities of the simulator. This project concerns the implementation of an iterative learning proportional-integral-derivative (ILPID) controller, which was illustrated effective in our original Engage project, on the NORAC simulator for improved tracking performance. The outcomes of this project will be automation control of the NORAC simulator, which will be integrated into the simulator itself for testing agricultural sprayers. Successful completion of this project will reap technological and economic benefits for NORAC, which will serve to increase NORAC's competitiveness in the global marketplace and will also generate additional benefits to Canada though the Canadian farmers who use NORAC's products.