A novel measurement and control method for automatic plastering machine

Plastering machine is a type of construction machine which is greatly promoted in the building industry. Work efficiency is improved by using plastering machine and the labor intensity is reduced. To improve the quality of plastering using the plastering machine, a new measurement and control method is proposed in this paper. This method utilizes the laser sensor to measure the distances between the plaster board and the wall, calculates the errors of the bracing pieces perpendicularity and the deflection angle of plaster board, and compensates the error by trajectory planning. In addition, the principle of laser triangulation is analyzed and the types of measurement, including direct and oblique measurements, are also illustrated. The oblique measurement based on laser triangulation is adopted in the system due to its higher resolution and good feasibility. According to the space geometry relation, the errors are calculated accurately. Furthermore, a scheme of error compensation is addressed based on a two nested loops structure. Each of these loops implements a Proportional Integral (PI) controller. With the compensation scheme, the trajectory of plaster board can be determined and tracked to verify the plaster results. The theoretical analysis is validated by an extensive set of numerical simulations which shows the performance of the proposed control system.