Thermal propagation control using a thermal diffusion equation

Controlling heat flow is necessary in many fields, such as the communications, health care, and manufacturing industries. In the communication field, the techniques for the reproduction of thermal sensations have been researched for many years. In order to extend the area of controlling the heat, the thermal diffusion in time and space needs to be considered. However, attaining precise control based on conventional methods is difficult because it requires several sensors and devices to monitor and control the temperature distribution. In this study, the thermal system consists of a metal wire and a Peltier device attached to the end of the wire, and a one-dimensional thermal propagation system is constructed. Modeling the thermal diffusion equation, it was found that the thermal system has characteristics of damping and propagation delay. Therefore, a control method using these system characteristics is proposed. The thermal system is treated as a time delay system with damping, which is compensated by a time delay and damping compensator. The thermal diffusion through the system can be considered by the proposed method. Experimental results show the viability of the proposed control system.