Modeling and practical implementation of motion controller for stable movement in a robotic solar panel dust-removal system

摘要

Solar panels typically consist of photovoltaic (PV) cells covered by a protective glass coating, which generate electricity when subjected to radiation. However, the capability of electricity generation is constrained due to the layer of dust on PV modules. Especially in tropical weather areas such as Vietnam, the frequent cleaning of solar panels is required. In contrast with the conventional method of the cleaning module, this paper investigates the analysis and modeling of a mechanical platform of a robotic solar panel dust-removal system. According to the mechanical structure and motion mechanism, five hypotheses which simplify the robot–rails system as a double mass–spring–damper model are proposed. The governing motion equations of the robot during the traveling journey are established, and then the proposed schemes to both stabilize the system motion and track the desired trajectory are introduced. In the first stage, anti-vibration movement can be achieved via the dynamic analysis of whole system body. Later, the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR)-control scheme is investigated in order to drive this system to track the desired trajectory. Based on these designs, the simulation works on a computer and experimental tests are built to test its effectiveness and reliability in terms of automation, dust-removal effectiveness and control technique. The first test case is used to validate the robot's movement on rails, while the second one studies the system's motion when reaching the gap between two adjacent panels. From the results of numerical simulations and experiments, it is demonstrated that the system performance is significantly improved in the second test case, although there is a small difference in the first case between scenarios with and without the proposed schemes. From these results, it can be well-established that our approach is proper, robust and feasible for a robotic system in cleaning applications.