Station for Tuning and Testing Digital Twin in Hydraulic Actuator Control Systems under Programmable Load—Methodology, Design, and Tests

This article presents the methodology and process of the modeling, designing, and testing of a research station enabling the identification, tuning, and verification of Digital Twin (DT) in control systems in power hydraulics. The concept of the station is presented, the main part of which is a subsystem forcing a dynamic, variable load using a hydraulic actuator controlled by a proportional valve, together with data acquisition and processing systems and software. The load application subsystem can subject the tested power hydraulic system, usually consisting of an actuator with its own control system, to controlled dynamic loads, which allows for the determination of its characteristics and tuning of the DT. This article describes the electro-hydraulic elements used to adjust the position of the actuators and the designed hydraulic and electrical diagrams of the station. The process of identifying, modeling, and selecting a controller for a subsystem simulating an external load is presented. The test station is built and tested. The identification, modeling, and tuning of DTs, for example, actuators and controllers, are described. A satisfactory convergence of the simulation and modeling results with the operation of the real system is achieved, which allows the obtaining of a reliable DT for actuator control systems operating under variable load.