An Adaptive FPGA-Based Mechatronic Control System Supporting Partial Reconfiguration of Controller Functionalities

Adaptive systems based on reconfigurable hardware provide an attractive platform for the implementation of mechatronic controller functionality. Such control algorithms comprise various operating states, parameter sets or algorithms that depend on changing external conditions. This paper presents an implemented and tested adaptive mechatronic control system, supporting the partial reconfiguration of real-time controller functionality. It provides a distributed reconfiguration and activation management as well as on/off-chip communication solutions including a delta-sigma ADC and an USB 2.0 interface. All functionality and the reconfiguration management are implemented directly in hardware using bit serial methods. This approach avoids real-time problems and takes advantage of high level parallel signal processing