Digital controller and its requisite supporting equipment

DFCE Digital Controller Purchase Proposed Revised Solicitation 31 Jul 2015 Digital controller and its requisite supporting equipment - FA7000-15-T-0104 Salient characteristics: The U.S. Air Force Academy has a requirement for a small business to provide a complete digital controller system capable of integrating (without modification) and running existing MTS components of a force generation system for static testing system. This system replaces an existing MTS FlexTestGT controller run using MTS Series 793 software. USAFA academic departments currently operate a large number of MTS-brand testing systems, and thus faculty and laboratory personnel have extensive knowledge of the maintenance and operation of MTS components and its interfacing software. Because of this in-house capacity for long-term maintenance and support of these proprietary systems, solutions utilizing MTS-brand components and software are essential. The existing MTS-brand components are to be integrated by this purchase includes a hydraulic power unit (pump), a hydraulic service manifold, and two hydraulic actuators (model numbers listed below). The system must include: 1) two-station digital controller with handset, 2) computer system loaded with the appropriate controller software to run the system, 3) cabling to interconnect all components. On-site integration of the system at the USAF Academy in Colorado must include: 1) installation and commissioning of the integrated system 2) calibration of each of the two existing actuator's axial force and LVDT displacement transducers 3) basic operator training for the system Post-installation support must include: 1) Software maintenance, enhancement, and support agreement that includes access to all software updates (maintenance) and software upgrades (enhancement) that become available during the initial 12 months after product purchase as well as access to technical support during that same period 2) Service agreement that includes one routine maintenance service visit during the initial 12 months after product purchase System shall be equal to or better than following specifications: - Controller shall control the actions of two 55-kip MTS Model 201.30T actuators via a two-station MTS Model 293.11A-02 hydraulic service manifold (HSM) and an MTS Model 510.30A hydraulic power unit (HPU). Each MTS Model 201.30T actuator includes an MTS 662.22C-01 force transducer and temposonic LVDT displacement transducer. - Controller shall be capable of controlling the two actuators independently (i.e. able to generate different levels of force in each actuator at any given time) under either force-control or displacement-control. - Controller shall provide dedicated Station Interlock Digital I/O for each actuator. - Controller shall interface seamlessly with existing actuators (including the appropriate signal conditioning for each of the two actuator's force and displacement transducers), HSM, and HPU without modification to existing components or additional modification to the new controller - Controller shall support two modes of operation: one mode operating an actuator with a two-stage servo-valve and conditioning an AC or DC transducer, and the other mode operating an actuator with a three-stage servo-valve. The user shall be able to select the desired mode of operation for this module and also change from one mode to the other via software. - Controller shall be capable of conditioning two additional AC or DC transducers. The two do not need to be the same type. - Controller shall allow for no fewer than four Digital-to-Analog output signals for interfacing each of the two MTS actuator's force and displacement transducers with a separate National Instruments data acquisition system - Controller must allow for any and all control channels to be assigned to any test station by the user without requiring re-arranging controller hardware. - Controller must allow for any and all inputs to be assigned to any control channel by the user without requiring re-arranging controller hardware. - Controller must allow for any and all output channels and input channels to be distributed in any manner desired by the user via software, without requiring any controller hardware to be re-arranged. - Control software shall have ability to automatically recognize added controller hardware. - Controller system shall include command generation and data acquisition capabilities as described below: - Controller system must integrate with RPC software for measured transducer time history reproduction in the laboratory. - Controller system shall include a function generator capable of generating following command types: segments, cycles, block-cycles, dwells, profiles, sweeps, RPC time history files, and RPC road surface files. - Controller system shall be capable of acquiring and storing to disc the following data types: peak/valley, timed, max/min, level crossing, high-speed timed, cyclic, fatigue, RPC time history, and trend. - Controller system shall be capable of monitoring test signals and issuing event signals when conditions specified by the user are met. Such events include: data limit levels, digital inputs, operator actions, peak/valley level changes, periodic time durations, and specified changes in specimen response. - Controller system shall be capable of sending signals to external controllers and logic devices, including digital outputs which can be set to low, set to high, toggled, or pulsed. - Controller system shall be capable of providing temperature setpoint programming via two-way serial communications to external temperature controllers. - Controller system shall support a variety of program control processes, including the ability to generate messages and perform other actions specified by the user. This capability can include prompting the test operator to provide specific information at a particular point within the test procedure. (Such information might be: operator ID, specimen ID, batch number, workstation number, etc.) - Controller system shall support options for Trend monitoring, in which trend data can be plotted and displayed in real time. - Controller system shall support options for Fatigue monitoring, in which fatigue data can be plotted and displayed in real time. - Controller system shall support options for Profile Editing application software, providing user with tools to create and edit files to specify custom and/or arbitrary waveforms. - Controller system shall support various control modes as described below: - Controller shall support Proportional, Integral, Derivative, and Feed-forward (PIDF) control. - Controller shall support Channel Limited Channel (CLC) control with the second feedback signal providing means for limiting the actuator. - Controller shall support Dual Mode control with two feedback signals to provide better control stability. - Controller shall provide option for Cascade control which provides two sets of PIDF controls, which is useful to accommodate for changes in stiffness on non-linear specimens. - Controller shall provide option for Three Variable Control (TVC) which provides simultaneous control of displacement, velocity, and acceleration. TVC control shall combine the command and feedback signals of all three control variables to provide optimal system performance across a broad spectrum of frequencies, emphasizing: Displacement at low frequencies; Velocity at middle frequencies; and Acceleration at high frequencies. - Controller system shall provide various compensation techniques as described below: - Controller shall provide Null Pacing compensation to ensure desired end-levels are reached on the first cycle. Control shall provide means for the user to adjust parameters to maximize performance for static null pacing, or for dynamic null pacing, or any combination of these two. - Controller shall provide Peak Valley Control compensation, to ensure peaks and valleys are achieved for cyclic waveforms of any shape, in linear systems. - Controller shall provide option for Amplitude Phase Control compensation, to correct the peak-to-peak amplitudes and phasing for cyclic sinusoidal waveforms, in linear systems. - Controller shall provide option for Adaptive Inverse Control compensation that can work with RPC Time History drive files, block-cycle, or random profiles, in linear systems, and which senses the frequency content of the drive, automatically generates an inverse filter, and adaptively filters the command to achieve the desired responses. - Controller shall provide option for Arbitrary Level Control compensation that can work with block-cycle files or random profiles, to improve the tracking accuracy of spectrum profiles, and that works effectively with both linear and non-linear specimens. - Controller shall provide option for Peak Valley Phase Control compensation that combines Peak Valley Control (to ensure peaks and valleys are achieved, including mean level) and Amplitude Phase Control (to correct for phasing) for cyclic waveforms. This is useful for waveforms that are not truly sinusoidal in shape, possibly due to distortions in the feedback signal. - Controller shall provide option for Adaptive Harmonic Cancellation (AHC) for Multi-Axial Simulation Table (MAST) applications - Controller shall include a handset enabling remote operation and convenient reconfiguration of test set-up. Controller handset shall include the features and provide the functions as described below: - Controller handset features: - Exclusive Control to prevent initiation of actuator movement from any other source - Speed-sensitive thumbwheel for precise control of actuator movement - Multi-line text display for easy viewing of system information - Dedicated Display Pages for Manual Command, Auto Offset, and Hydraulic Control - Dedicated Run/Stop/Hold keys - Dedicated Manual Command key and LED - Controller handset functions: - Temporarily override and reset interlocks - Energize and de-energize hydraulic pump and hydraulic manifold - Easily view multiple signals for one or more control channels - Conveniently move actuators to install and replace test specimens - Auto-offset selected transducer signals - Start, pause, and stop the test application program - Controller system PC shall operate using Windows 7 or better and must enable all stations to be operable through one PC and shall come complete with all software to: - Interface with the controller to reconfigure the controller - Interface with the actuators, HSM, and HPU - Controller software shall have the following capabilities/features: - Software must be supported on Windows 7. - Software must enable the user to focus 85% or more of the PC monitor viewing area on one station at a time. While in this mode, controller software must enable a small portion (5-15%) of the screen to be reserved for displaying basic status information of the other stations. - Software must enable the user to switch the monitor view from one station to another, as the user simply clicks on the desired station identifier on the status information area. - Software shall have the ability to indicate the following information for two stations, using no more than between 5 and 15% of the total screen area: Station Name, Active Application, Test Status (Running, Holding, Stopped), Power Status (Off, Low, High), and Interlock status. - Software shall include a message log where controller status information and status changes are automatically written and logged. There shall be one message log per station. The user shall have the ability to enter messages into the log, to delete messages, and to determine the severity of status changes that automatically get entered into the log. - Software's numeric display shall have ability to show up to at least 16 "DVMs" or "meters", with each meter being the user's choice of signal and mode (such as peak/valley or min/max levels of stroke feedback for any channel). - Software must enable the user to set size and arrangement of "DVM meters" on PC monitor as desired. - Software shall enable multiple "scopes" to be displayed on PC monitor, with each scope having ability to show traces of any four signals selected by the user. - Software "scopes" can be setup by the user for time-based or frequency-based displays. - Software must have an option for Signal Based Command - that is a look-up table function that defines the command to be a function of a measured feedback channel. - Software shall have options for trend monitoring and for fatigue monitoring functions, with ability to graphically display plots of the various corresponding trend and fatigue values. - Software shall allow user to perform graphical drag-and-drop test flow design and create test templates - Software shall allow user to export data to ASCII - Software shall allow user to generate reports while test is running - Software shall allow user to generate reports that require no post-processing and support text, charts, and calculations - All cabling and interfaces necessary to integrate the computer, controller, handset, actuators, HSM, and HPU shall be supplied. The test space and test frame are highly modular, and thus there are no fixed distances between components. It is estimated that 50' cables are adequate to run between all the components to accommodate a wide variety of test configurations. - An IUID label shall be supplied for the controller The following MTS-brand components and software meet the requirements of this purchase: MTS FlexTest 40 Controller configured for two-channel control and including all cables for above-listed MTS component integration) MTS Model 494.47 2-channel UART/Encoder MTS Model 494.45 8-channel D/A output module MTS Model 494.05 Handset for the MTS FlexTest 40 controller MTS Series 793 Software without MPT MTS TestSuite Multipurpose Elite software MTS TestSuite Reporter Add-in