Search results

The purpose of this case study is to highlight the role of feedforward as a potential tool for managers in encouraging coworkers and subordinates to excel at their workplace performance.

Insights were captured through real-time observations made during three feedforward sessions conducted at regular intervals during the course of a six-month training intervention. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with participants to gather individual perspectives.

The findings of the study showed positive results in feedforward as a mechanism to strengthen employee performance at the workplace. Participants also reported deeper involvement in the feedforward process as compared to the conventional feedback method.

The study has wider practical implications in the corporate world, as it provides managers with a practical tool to mentor subordinates and coworkers toward on-the-job performance. Feedforward is easy to apply and forward-looking in its approach.

Feedforward has applications in corporate environments as well as families, associations, and academic institutions. It offers immense value by fostering a climate of social support and mutual co-operation.

The feedforward exercise mentioned in the study is relevant on account of its applicability in various organizations across industries. It provides managers with an opportunity to receive and share insightful suggestions with coworkers in an open and transparent environment.

Aiming at the positioning accuracy control problem in the running of the assembly machine for assembled camshaft, a kind of position controller based on the feedforward‐feedback control of speed and acceleration is designed.

It combines feedforward‐feedback control with the quartic displacement curve acceleration/deceleration algorithm.

The axial dimension and the phase angle of the cam obtained after being assembled is checked. The result shows that for each type of camshaft, the error of the axial dimension of the cam is less than ±0.2mm and the error of the phase angle of the cam is less than ±30′. In addition, production efficiency is greatly improved (the assembling time is 90‐120S/piece).

The paper combines feedforward‐feedback control with the quartic displacement curve acceleration/deceleration algorithm for the first time.

Argues that in increasingly turbulent and complex environments, the tools of “systems thinking” may provide a valuable resource in the drive to attain integration between strategic and operational objectives. Particular examples in the domain of production control and supply‐chain management are presented as illustrations of the dynamicist’s paradigm. Hence it is suggested that familiar concepts such as JIT/Kanban and supply chains are actually special cases of generic feedback control principles, while pure MRP is a classic example of feedforward. In practice, the complexities of real world operations require combinations of these two approaches and the paper therefore assesses the implications of these theoretical concepts, for the design of practical operations systems.

Based on the inverse kinematics and task space dynamic model, this paper aims to design a high-precision trajectory tracking controller for a 2-DoF translational parallel manipulator (TPM) driven by linear motors.

The task space dynamic model of a 2-DoF TPM is derived using Lagrangian equation of the first type. A task space dynamic model-based feedforward controller (MFC) is designed, which is combined with a cascade PID/PI controller and velocity feedforward controller (VFC) to construct a hybrid PID/PI+VFC/MFC controller. The hybrid controller is implemented in MATLAB/dSPACE real-time control platform. Experiment results are given to validate the effectiveness and industrial applicability of the hybrid controller.

The MFC can compensate for the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of a 2-DoF TPM and achieve better tracking performance than the conventional acceleration feedforward controller (AFC).

The task space dynamic model-based hybrid PID/PI+VFC/MFC controller is proposed for a 2-DoF linear-motor-driven TPM, which reduces the tracking error by at least 15 percent compared with conventional hybrid PID/PI+VFC/AFC controller. This control scheme can be extended to high-speed and high-precision trajectory tracking control of other parallel manipulators by reprogramming the feedforward signals of traditional cascade PID/PI controller.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the design and verification of a non‐classical structure of servo‐drive controller with the state feedback and a load torque feedforward compensation.

First a well known nonlinear mathematical model of a PMSM is transformed into a linear form by introducing new variables. The state space new model presented in rotated orthogonal reference frame is decoupled by means of equation in d and q axis. To achieve correct dynamic performance of the servo‐drive system the state feedback with an internal input model and load torque feedforward compensation is proposed. The observed load torque has been used as an input signal for the feedforward compensator. The design of the control system and simulation analysis were performed in Matlab/Simulink. The proposed control algorithm was implemented in a DSP controller (TMS320F2812). The experiments were carried out by using a 0.6 kW PMSM drive system.

It is shown that the proposed compensator can eliminate the effects of load torque changes by steady‐state operation and significantly improve dynamic behaviour during load changing. A novel mathematical formula how calculate an appropriate gain for feedforward compensator is given.

Analysis of possible disturbance compensation shows that full dynamic compensation of disturbance is impossible. Only the compensation of load torque for a steady state is possible. The described control structure operates without state variables limitations so it is not recommended to application where the high dynamic of transient process is required.

The proposed control system can be used in industrial applications where load torque compensation is needed instead the high dynamic performance.

Presented mathematical formula how calculate an appropriate gain for feedforward compensator is a theoretical contribution of the authors. The test results are consistent with the computer simulation test results and validate the correct dynamic performance of the proposed control method.

This study aims to empirically examine the effects of using the management control system (MCS) on individual performance mediated by organizational learning. Complementarily, it evaluates the moderating effect of feedforward on the relationship between MCS use and organizational learning.

Structural equation modeling and mediation and moderation analyses were used in a sample of 194 managers from Brazilian companies listed in the Exame Magazine’s “Best and Biggest” ranking.

The results reveal that using the MCS from a cybernetic perspective contributes to organizational learning, contradicting theoretical arguments and empirical evidence that this hinders learning and that feedforward can strengthen this relationship, as long as it is in line with the way of using the MCS. A mediating effect of organizational learning on the relationship between MCS use and individual performance has also been confirmed.

The results demonstrate the effects of MCS use on individual performance and organizational learning by taking a taxonomy of cybernetic use and comprehensive MCS use as a basis. The results provide insights to managers by revealing that MCS use not only influences task performance through organizational learning but also tends to generate cooperative, persistent and initiative-taking behaviors.

The study provides an approach to the behavioral consequences of using the MCS (score-keeping use and comprehensive MCS use) and the role of specific cognitive and motivational mechanisms in individual performance from a multidimensional perspective (task-based, contextual and general).

Feedback control in marketing involves measuring the outputs (results) of marketing decisions, comparing these results to goals, and then taking corrective action so as to meet these goals. Feedforward control on the other hand, involves monitoring inputs (the information base on which marketing decisions are made) in order to ascertain whether goals will be attained. If forecasts show that goals are not attainable, the inputs or even the process are changed in order to ensure that goals are met. While feedback control is useful for evaluating performance, feedforward control appears to be more useful for monitoring the marketing planning and implementation processes. Discusses the applicability of feedforward control for product and distribution planning and proposes directions for future research.

This study aims to examine the feasibility of feedforward actuation of the recoater blade position to alleviate the resin surface non-uniformity while moving over deep-to-shallow transitions of submerged (already cured) geometric features.

A two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been used to determine optimized blade actuation protocols to minimize the resin surface non-uniformity. An experimental setup has been designed to validate the feasibility of the proposed protocol in practice.

A developed protocol for the blade height actuation is applied to a rectangular stair-like configuration of the underlying part geometry. The evaluation of the actuation protocol revealed the importance of two physical length scales, the capillary length and the size of the flow recirculation cell below in the liquid resin layer below the blade. They determine, together with the length scales defining the topography (horizontal extent and depth), the optimal blade trajectory. This protocol has also shown its efficiency for application to more complicated shapes (and, potentially, for any arbitrary geometry).

This study shows that incorporation of a feedforward control scheme in the recoating system might significantly reduce (by up to 80%) the surface unevenness. Moreover, this improvement of performances does not require major modifications of the existing architecture.

The results presented in this work demonstrate the benefits of the integration of the feedforward control to minimize the leading edge bulges over underlying part geometries in stereolithography.

The purpose of this study is to propose a torque vectoring control system for improving the handling stability of distributed drive electric buses under complicated driving conditions. Energy crisis and environment pollution are two key pressing issues faced by mankind. Pure electric buses are recognized as the effective method to solve the problems. Distributed drive electric buses (DDEBs) as an emerging mode of pure electric buses are attracting intense research interests around the world. Compared with the central driven electric buses, DDEB is able to control the driving and braking torque of each wheel individually and accurately to significantly enhance the handling stability. Therefore, the torque vectoring control (TVC) system is proposed to allocate the driving torque among four wheels reasonably to improve the handling stability of DDEBs.

The proposed TVC system is designed based on hierarchical control. The upper layer is direct yaw moment controller based on feedforward and feedback control. The feedforward control algorithm is designed to calculate the desired steady-state yaw moment based on the steering wheel angle and the longitudinal velocity. The feedback control is anti-windup sliding mode control algorithm, which takes the errors between actual and reference yaw rate as the control variables. The lower layer is torque allocation controller, including economical torque allocation control algorithm and optimal torque allocation control algorithm.

The steady static circular test has been carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness and control effort of the proposed TVC system. Compared with the field experiment results of tested bus with TVC system and without TVC system, the slip angle of tested bus with TVC system is much less than without TVC. And the actual yaw rate of tested bus with TVC system is able to track the reference yaw rate completely. The experiment results demonstrate that the TVC system has a remarkable performance in the real practice and improve the handling stability effectively.

In view of the large load transfer, the strong coupling characteristics of tire , the suspension and the steering system during coach corning, the vehicle reference steering characteristics is defined considering vehicle nonlinear characteristics and the feedforward term of torque vectoring control at different steering angles and speeds is designed. Meanwhile, in order to improve the robustness of controller, an anti-integral saturation sliding mode variable structure control algorithm is proposed as the feedback term of torque vectoring control.

To develop a non‐linear modelling technique for modern air vehicles with an application to a twin rotor multi‐input‐multi‐output system (TRMS) which resembles the dynamics of a helicopter to a certain extent and presents formidable control challenges.Design/methodology/approach – A Non‐linear AutoRegressive process with eXternal input (NARX) approach with a feedforward neural work and a resilient propagation (RPROP) algorithm is used to model the system. The RPROP algorithm possesses direct weight update capability without considering the size of the partial derivative. The obtained model is shown to be adequate by carrying out convincing tests such as correlations, cross‐validations and prediction based on predicted output and, therefore, is deemed to be reliable.Findings – It is shown that the combination of the feedforward neural networks and RPROP algorithms is very useful and effective in modelling systems with high non‐linearity and other complex characteristics. It is always important to attain a model with minimum number of neurons in different layers of the network by overcoming the possibility of getting stuck in the shallow local minimum of error function by using RPROP algorithm.Research limitations/implications – The system is modelled off‐line. On‐line modelling will be required for real‐time control purpose.Practical implications – The non‐linear modelling approach presented in this study is shown to be appropriately applicable to model new generations' air vehicles and other complex mechatronic systems such as TRMS. So, the approach will be appealing to industrial applications.Originality/value – This paper addresses the problems of modelling modern sophisticated non‐linear systems with complex characteristics and uncertain dynamics.