Towards an integrated welding testbed: temperature field control

The reported research deals with temperature field control using sliding modes. We concentrate our attention on the design of sliding mode control algorithms and their simulation verification for distributed parameter systems described by partial differential equations but with finite dimensional control variables. Through the use of the Partial Differential Equation (PDE) Toolbox, Simulink(R), and Matlab(R) we have developed a set of Matlab functions that allow using finite element models in Simulink. Specifically, in our research we use a finite element model of a steel plate in our closed loop control simulations done with Simulink. The current model for our research includes not only the finite element model of the plate but also that of a simple welding machine. The long-term goal is to develop an integrated robotic welding testbed. In this paper, some new theoretical results are highlighted with regards to the distributed parameter model and the sliding mode controller design then, the Simulink block that adds finite element modeling capabilities is presented; and finally, the current status of our experimental testbed is described and some simulations are included.