Hardware Synthesis of Model Predictive Control on a Programmable Logic Controller

Abstract

Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) are a wide-spread tool used in the control of industrial processes. Although they are associated with simple computations and PID control, the PLC has been pushed to the limits in recent research studying the application of implicit model predictive control (MPC). The PLC is pushed further by attempting to implement explicit MPC on the quad-tank process: a complex dynamical system. Functionality of explicit MPC is verified with a simple SISO system before the quad-tank process is observed.