Data-Driven Iterative Learning Temperature Control for Rubber Mixing Processes

Considering the four challenges of non-identical initial states, non-repetitive uncertainties, different batch lengths, and unavailable mathematical model of a rubber mixing process (RMP), this article proposes a data-driven iterative learning temperature control (DDILTC) for the RMP. Specifically, an iterative linear data model (iLDM) is developed to formulate the iterative dynamics of RMP and is further used as a one-step iterative linear predictive model to estimate the RMP’s temperature that is unavailable when the current batch length is shorter than the desired one. The unknown parameters of the iLDM are estimated iteratively by designing an iterative adaption law. Further, an iterative learning based observer is designed to estimate the non-repetitive uncertainties and non-identical initial states as an extended state. The proposed DDILTC is a data-driven method and the iLDM is only used to formulate the iterative relationship of the input-output between two batches instead of a mathematical model of the RMP with physical meanings. Simulation study verifies the results. Note to Practitioners—The mixing temperature of a rubber mixing process (RMP) is a critical variable, ensuring the desired plasticity and viscosity of the rubber compounds. Indeed, RMP is a typical batch process performing repetitively over the finite time interval. However, no ILC results about the RMP temperature control have been reported even though ILC can learn the control experience from the past batches to improve control performance. The main reason lies in that the practical environments of RMP make it impossible to satisfy the strictly repetitive conditions, i.e., the initial states, disturbances, and batch lengths are all iteration-varying. Furthermore, it is difficult to establish a mathematical model of the RMP due to its large production scale and complex dynamics along both time and iteration directions. Therefore, the main motivation of this paper is to study the iterative learning temperature control problem of RMP by considering the nonrepetitive uncertainties of initial states, disturbances, and batch lengths, bypassing the use of any model information. An iterative linear data model (iLDM) is established to equivalently reformulate the unavailable two-dimensional dynamic behavior of RMP and to facilitate the controller design and analysis. The gradient uncertainty of RMP is reformulated as the unknown parameters in the iLDM and can be iteratively estimated by designing an iterative adaptation algorithm. The non-repetitive initial states and disturbances can be estimated by designing an iterative observer. Moreover, the unavailable mixing temperatures at the unreachable operation points are estimated by using the iLDM as the iterative predictive model. To summarize, the proposed method is simple in computation and easy in implementation since only the I/O data is used, and thus it is of great practical significance.