Internship: Model-based control of air flow heater

Are you studying Mechanical or Mechatronics or Systems & Control and looking for an internship assignment?Then read on.

Over Demcon

Bond3D in Enschede is part of the Demcon group. Bond3D develops advanced 3D printing technology and builds 3D printers for high-performance plastics such as PEEK (PolyEtherEtherKeton). This high-performance plastic is widely used for demanding engineering applications because of its favorable properties. The material is light, strong, chemically resistant, thermally stable and also biocompatible; it can be used in the human body. PEEK products printed with Bond3D technology are distinguished by high strength in all directions and leak-tightness. They are used in the medical, semiconductor, aerospace and energy sectors, among others.

Wat ga je doen?

Demcon | Bond3D has developed an additive manufacturing technology for producing high-performance polymer parts. The latest generation of printers can produce parts quickly, with reproducible high quality and strength. One of the components that assists in achieving this is an air flow heater which is the subject of this internship assignment. To be able to serve advancing customer demands, the control of this air flow heater will need to be redesigned to drastically increase its performance.

The behavior of the air flow heater physical system changes significantly as a function of both temperature and air flow rate. This means that a simple linear, single-input controller will have a suboptimal performance for a large range of system states. The first goal of this assignment is to design a more advanced controller that performs as required over the entire operating window. Controller techniques that could be used are for example multiple-input / multiple-output control, gain scheduling or learning control.

The air flow heater is used in an intermittent fashion; during printing there are short and long periods in which the air flow is disabled. This causes the physical system to behave differently and the sensor feedback signal to be unreliable in this state. The second goal of this assignment is to model the physical system by use of for example first principles and / or system identification. The modeled system can then be used as an observer to improve feedback signal reliability to retain controller performance when airflow is disabled..

The intern shall be part of an R&D team consisting of engineers from different fields of expertise. The intern will be mentored by an experienced engineer from that team. The intern is responsible for his/her sub-project, aiming at completing the goals as illustrated above. The contents of the internship are of a confidential nature and should not be shared with external parties without prior permission.

Wat breng je mee?

• University level of education in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics or Systems & Control
• Experience with Matlab and Simulink
• Practical experience in controller design and system identification

Wat bieden we jou?

Demcon is a dynamic, growing and innovative organization. With our complex projects and multidisciplinary teams, we offer you a lot of challenge and variety in this position. Thanks to enthusiastic and dedicated colleagues, our working atmosphere is good, open and informal, with a flat organizational structure.

You will have a regular supervisor to coach you and all mutual wishes and expectations are clearly agreed upon before the start of the assignment. Furthermore, the standard working method gives you the opportunity, in a motivating working atmosphere, to act within the team. So you get a good impression of what it is like to be part of the world of Demcon. And that can be a very good start to your career.