Modelling and H∞ Robust Control of a Neonatal Incubator

Abstract

This study presents the modelling of a neonatal incubator and the design of a robust H_∞ controller. Neonates, who are born premature, often don’t have enough maturity to regulate their temperature. These infants have low metabolic heat production rate and may have high heat loss from the skin so they have an increased risk of death in the first week of their life. The core temperature of the human body needs to be kept at a constant temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. If the temperature goes too high or too low, then the organs can be damaged and illness or death can result. The neonatal incubators have been used to create and maintain a comfortable and healthful thermal environment for preterm infant. Furthermore, the current commercial devices use a classical control as the ON-OFF or PID control. But this type of control does not always achieve the required performance. This work is focused on conception of H_∞ robust control to address this insufficiency. We have done a comparative study between PID, H_∞ controller and ON-OFF. The results of simulation showed the effectiveness of the proposed controller design compared to classical PID control with regard to performances, robustness, stability and precision.

Keywords: Neonatal incubator, H_∞ robust controller; preterm infant, PID

Cite this Article

Boum Alexandre Teplaira, Nyobe Yome Jean Maurice, Nyakam Nya Daniellee. Modelling and H_∞ Robust Control of a Neonatal Incubator. Journal of Control & Instrumentation. 2018; 9(3): 1–14p.