Linear dynamics and control of a kinematic wobble-yoke Stirling engine

This paper presents a control systems approach for the modeling and control of a kinematic wobble-yoke Stirling engine. The linear dynamics of the Stirling engine are analyzed based on the dynamical model of the system, developed by the authors in [1]. We show that the Stirling engine can be viewed as a closed-loop system, where the feedback control law is given by the pressure variations in the pistons. Since the closed-loop system exhibits unstable dynamics, we design a pre-compensator to stabilize the displacements of the engine´s pistons, and an observer to estimate their piston velocities.