Experimental sensorless control for a coupled two-tank system using high gain adaptive observer and nonlinear generalized predictive strategy

In this paper an adaptive control for a coupled two-tank system is proposed. This control strategy uses a generalized predictive controller, whose main method is to minimize a multistage cost function defined over a prediction horizon. Furthermore, to implement this controller in the framework of the sensorless control from the only measurement of the liquid level in the bottom tank, an adaptive interconnected high gain observer is developed for estimating the liquid level in the upper tank and the two constant parameters of the system. Two design features are worth to be emphasized. Firstly, the control calibration is achieved through the tuning of only two scalar design parameters. Secondly, the exponential convergence to zero of the state observation and parameter estimation errors is established under a well defined condition. Finally, the theoretical results are corroborated through simulation and experimental results which highlight the efficiency and applicability of the proposed observer-controller scheme. (C) 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.