Internship: Quantify the fluidic performance improvement of repetitive disturbance observer-based control for a peristaltic pump

Demcon: Innovating in Life Sciences & Health

About Demcon

Demcon life sciences & health develops innovative (bio)medical systems and products that contribute to better care and health. We combine in-depth technical expertise with a systems engineering and multidisciplinary approach, from concept to certified production. Our strength lies in integrating complex mechatronic and electronic solutions within medical technology, biotechnology and in vitro diagnostics. In doing so, we strengthen our customers' technical capabilities and together realize smart, reliable innovations that can quickly reach the market.

What are you going to do?

Demcon is a company that develops a variety of new high-tech mechatronic systems. In one of these systems, a custom peristaltic pump was included in the design. During the design phase, a closed-loop controller was required that regulates the behavior of the system. Traditionally, linear PID-type controllers are designed due to their simplicity and wide use in industry. However, linear PID controllers are limited in suppressing disturbances close to or beyond the bandwidth. To address these limitations in disturbance rejection, advanced control algorithms were explored in two M.Sc. graduation projects. The most promising control strategy resulting from these projects appears to be spatial domain disturbance observer-based control (SD-DOBC) that exploits the periodic nature of disturbances in peristaltic pumps. While the performance improvements of these new control algorithms appear promising, they were only evaluated for disturbance suppression on the velocity of the pump wheels, not on the primary function of the peristaltic pump: fluid displacement. The objective of this assignment is to integrate the latest algorithm into the pump firmware, assess the performance of fluid flow ripple reduction at various flow speeds, and translate the fluid flow performance into improved velocity control objectives.

A possible outline of the project could be:

• Study previous graduation assignment reports and algorithm software.
• Write test plan
• Perform experiments
• Evaluate and report experiment results
• Translate results to velocity control goals

What do you bring to the table?

You are pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree in mechanical engineering, robotics, systems and control, or biomedical engineering or a related field.

What do we offer you?

• a challenging and instructive internship in a collaborative, multidisciplinary team;
• a direct daily technical supervisor;
• a market-based internship compensation;
• and the opportunity to experience what it is like to work in a team at Demcon.