Robust gain scheduled control of a hydrokinetic turbine

The main objective of this thesis work is to produce a vertical-axis hydrokinetic turbine speed control system that guarantees stability and performance properties for the entire range of operation including tracking of the maximum power point below rated speeds and power regulation above rated speed. Secondary objectives include the ability to explicitly incorporate a tuning method to adjust the important trade-off between reference tracking and load transients as well as ensuring the use of an advanced control methodology with a high probability of industry acceptance.;To facilitate this, an H∞ linear parameter varying controller was developed based on a physical model of the system and iterative simulation based testing. The final version of the controller was field tested on a 5kW turbine with results compared to a PI controller tuned for reference tracking considerations only. The robust gain scheduled controller performed very well with notably smooth load transitions and good reference tracking characteristics.