System Approach to Bulk Material Flow Control on an
Electromagnetic Vibratory Feeder

Petar Mišljen
Željko Despotović
Milan Matijević

This paper studies the closed-loop control of an electromagnetic vibratory feeder (EVF). Two different linear design procedures have been employed: a conventional proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller, and a model predictive control (MPC) controller. All derived results have been validated by computer simulation of a nonlinear mathematical model of the system. The results have proved that both controllers achieve a good tracking of the desired output in a selected operating point. In comparison to the PID controller, the MPC controller is more sensitive to disturbances in the form of changes in the mass of material being transported

Key words: model predictive control, electromagnetic actuator, vibratory feeder, flow control.