Engineer Control
Resume:
SALOMON J. QUINTANA
SUMMARY
I am a control system engineer interested in applied dynamics, simulation
and hardware implementation of control systems and digital algorithms for
electro-mechanical systems. I have 15 years' experience conceptualizing,
simulating and implementing control algorithms for electro-mechanical
systems, ranging from flight vehicle actuator control to gimbal based
optical imaging and directed energy weapons systems. I have experience
with hardware in the loop design. I have been the Principal Investigator
responsible for coordinating the team technical efforts and have served as
the lead control system engineer on various programs, implementing control
algorithms while working closely with the customer to ensure success of
these programs. My experience is primarily in control system development
and implementation for aerospace applications, but I have 2 years'
experience as a structural analyst as well. I have a bachelor's degree in
mechanical engineering and master's degree in electrical engineering. The
combination of having degrees in both mechanical and electrical engineering
and my experience base gives me the ability to understand control system
development from conceptualization to product delivery, and has led to the
deployment of successful operational systems of varying nature over the
course of my career. In many instances during my career, I have been asked
to control a process that I have not encountered before. I have researched
and self-studied the process and developed a successful control topology
numerous times over the years, and I am confident that I can have a
positive impact for any company in need of control system development for
dynamic systems, regardless of their nature.
A control system engineer will usually assume the system engineer role on a
project. Successful operation of a device under the influence of feedback
control requires the control engineer to be knowledgeable of the system
dynamics that govern the operation of the device, as well as the
environmental and operating conditions for the device. Successful hardware
deployment requires that the mechanical, electrical, and software designs
are implemented to support the control system design that will achieve the
performance goals, with the control engineer providing guidance to the team
to achieve the performance goals. I typically create top level
requirements from the underlying physics and environmental considerations
of the process and create requirements for the electrical, mechanical,
digital signal processing, and sensor subsystems that will support the
control system development. I assist the subsystem leads in constructing
cost and schedule estimates, perform risk analysis on aspects of the design
that are deemed higher risk functions, and perform simulation trade studies
to ensure a satisfactory design for the system being controlled. During the
integration and test phase, I create test plans and carry out then
functional and performance testing required to complete the control system
and product development to ensure the program will be completed on time and
on budget.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
. Top Secret Clearance while at Boeing SVS and Goodrich AeroSpace
Matlab, Simulink, xPC Target
MSC Nastran, NX Nastran, FEMAP
Demonstrated ability of deriving rigid body equations of motion, control
system and
Signal processing algorithms
. Demonstrated ability to self-study to acquire necessary skills to
complete work assignments
. I understand importance of system engineering tasks such as performing
trade studies, cost and scheduling, risk analysis, and requirements
definition.
EXPERIENCE
The following experience listing is not exhaustive; it highlights some
programs that detail the pertinent experience I have acquired in the area
of system analysis and control system implementation.
Senior Controls System Engineer
Feb 2011 to Sept 2012 Applied Technology Associates, Albuquerque, NM
. Next Generation Gimbal SBIR I was hired on to help the team produce a
working hardware demonstration of the Next Generation Gimbal, A concept
where rate of change of momentum wheels produce torque to actuate a
gimbaled telescope. I was able to apply my knowledge of rigid body and
motor dynamics to simulate and produce a working demonstration of how the
rate of change of angular momentum of two momentum wheels can be
controlled to actuate a gimbaled telescope, the benefit being the
creation of a low reaction torque device for space based applications.
o Specific Tasks
. Acting Principal Investigator
. Provide project manager with time and schedule updates
. Present material to customer in design reviews and technical
interchange meetings
. Create system simulation to support risk reduction, control
system, and digital algorithm validation
. Create test procedure
. Implement and debug control system and digital algorithms
architecture using the Matlab xPC Target.
. Documentation, including interim reports, final report, and
end user guide
. Tactical Inertial Unit SBIR I won an Air Force Small Business Innovative
Research Project (SBIR) Phase II award where I served as the Principal
Investigator for creating a miniaturized Optical Inertial Reference Unit
(OIRU). An OIRU is a gyro stabilized, flexure mounted mechanism from
which a collimated laser beam is mounted that serves as the precision
reference for a beam control application. I developed a detailed
schedule and requirements flow down to the electrical, mechanical, and
processing subsystems and led the technical team in development of the
unit. In addition to the principal investigator, I also was the lead
control system designer, performing simulation trade studies and risk
analysis on sensor selections and performance predictions for the unit
itself as well as top level simulations for the overall beam control
architecture the OIRU would reside in.
o Specific Tasks
. Principal Investigator responsible for technical approach
. Lead control system engineer responsible for feedback control
and digital algorithm design
. Interface with electrical, mechanical, and embedded software
engineers to create a detailed schedule
. Create requirements flow down to electrical, mechanical,
digital processing, and sensor subsystems
. Identify high risk elements of design and identify risk burn
down strategies
. Create system simulation to support risk reduction, control
system, digital algorithm validation, and design review
activities
. Present material to customer in design reviews and technical
interchange meetings
. Create test procedure
. Documentation, including interim reports and test procedures
Controls System Engineer
April 2005 to Feb 2011 CSA Engineering, Albuquerque, NM
. Relay Mirror Experiment SBIR I was the control system lead in creating
a conceptualization and implementation of control system modifications
to existing relay mirror experiment based at Starfire Optical Range,
Kirtland AF Base, ABQ NM. Laser weapons require direct Line of Sight
(LOS) from the source to the target to be effective. Some
applications do not have a direct LOS, and a relay mirror is needed to
transfer the incoming beam to the target, like in a situation where a
target is on the other side of a mountain; A relay mirror module can
be in an aircraft where the incoming beam is transmitted to the target
on the other side of the mountain, for example. There will be an
entire beam control system for the receive side optical system and an
entire beam control system for the transmit side optical system.
These two optical control systems were uncoupled in the relay mirror
experiment. I conceptualized and created a means of coupling the two
control systems by correcting the receive side residual error with the
transmit side high bandwidth jitter correction loop.
o Specific Tasks
. Lead control system engineer responsible for feedback
control and digital algorithm design
. Provided inputs to Principal Investigator for detailed
schedule
. Identify high risk elements of design and identify risk
burn down strategies
. Create system simulation to support risk reduction, control
system, digital algorithm validation, and design review
activities
. Create interface between customers control system and our
system
. Create test procedure
. Implement and debug control system and digital algorithms
architecture in the field
. Documentation, including interim reports and test
procedures
During testing, we only had 5 days to implement and test the
algorithm. We successfully integrated the algorithm and showed that by
coupling the control systems, the residual LOS error could be reduced
at the target, increasing the lethality of the weapon. The successful
implementation of the algorithm with such a short timeframe was
possible because I was diligent during the planning and simulation
stages of the effort. In the end, the project was successful, on
time, and under budget.
System Identification SBIR I created a time domain and frequency
domain system identification tool for structural systems based on the
Eigenvalue Realization Algorithm. The algorithm was tested on a
hexapod. The identified plant frequency response functions matched
the hardware consistently between 50-1000 Hz. The low frequency noise
lowered the signal to noise ratio of the accelerometers that were used
in the identification. Recently, I have applied wavelet de-noising
techniques to the system identification that reduces noise so that low
signal to noise signals can be better estimated at lower frequencies.
This has allowed the identification to provide better estimates to
lower frequencies.
Junior Structural Engineer I worked as a junior structural engineer on
various projects while at CSA. I gained experience with FEMAP and
Nastran. Though I am not a strong structural engineer, I am
functional at the craft of creating a mesh and running pertinent
analysis. More importantly, the experience did make me a stronger
control system engineer because I can interface with the structural
engineers easier having worked with their tools. For instance, given
this experience, it is much easier for me and the structural engineer
to share model information because I understand how he must set up his
models so that the coordinate systems he uses matches mine so that the
information I need from him can be incorporated into my models.
Controls System Engineer
May 2001 to April 2005 Goodrich Corporation, Albuquerque, NM
. Japanese Advanced Meteorological Instrument (JAMI). Supported system
integration and testing both in Albuquerque and at Customer's facility
for development of geosynchronous orbit satellite imaging system. I
was the control system engineer responsible for closing the control
loops and testing of the instrument at the Prime contractor's location
in Santa Barbara CA. During the final integration stages of the
effort, it was found that square wave commutation of the motors were
causing spikes in elevation axis Line of Sight of the instrument,
which would have made a billion dollar investment unusable in
geosynchronous orbit. With little margin for error and very little
time, we developed an algorithm that cancelled the LOS error spikes
caused by the commutation by creating a torque disturbance that we
would introduce. Using simulation as a guide, the algorithm measured
the amount of time samples it would take before a LOS of spike would
manifest as LOS error. Measuring the area underneath the spike, we
were able to create an algorithm that would cancel the commutation
spikes in an open loop sense. Open loop correction is very tricky.
The commutation events would occur at slightly different times with
temperature differences and our open loop correction would have to
change over temperature as well. Given the circumstances and the
gravity of the situation, our correction algorithm was a huge success
and ultimately allowed the instrument to be fielded.
o Specific Tasks
. Control system engineer responsible for implementing
feedback control system at the customers facility
. Create simulation to support spike correction cancellation
implementation risk reduction
. Create test procedure
. Implement and debug control system and digital algorithms
at customers facility
. Documentation
. Boeing Launch Vehicle Actuator Design. Lead control engineer for
development of control system for Boeing launch vehicle actuators.
Goodrich was asked by Boeing if they would be interested in being the
subcontractor in charge of the power electronic and control subsystem
for the project. A launch vehicle actuation system consists of gears
and ball screws arranged to give a mechanical advantage to control the
wing during flight. The power electronics (current and voltage
capacity of the drive) and gear/ball screw dynamics provide the force
capabilities of the actuator. I had no previous experience with this
type of mechanism, but my understanding of rigid body dynamics and
motor dynamics allowed me research and create a system model of the
process to enact control. The control topology chosen was to have an
input space angular rate loop (before gearing) and an output space
(after gearing) linear position loop with a dead band to account for
the backlash in the gears.
o Specific Tasks
. Lead control system engineer responsible for feedback
control and digital algorithm design
. Interface with subcontractors to create proper mechanical,
electrical, control system interfaces
. Identify suitable control system design that meets
requirements
. Identify high risk elements of design and identify risk
burn down strategies
. Create system simulation to support risk reduction, control
system, digital algorithm validation, and design review
activities
. Documentation, including interim reports and design reviews
Controls System Engineer
May 1997 to May 2001 SVS Inc., Albuquerque, NM
. Acoustic Cancellation SBIR Phase II Developed adaptive
feed-forward compensation technique to reduce acoustic
vibrations control in the ABL beam train. CSA Engineering
(whom I would eventually work for due to this project) was
working a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)
project to reduce the acoustic vibration of the Airborne
Laser beam train. They subcontracted SVS to help with
this because some of the senior engineers had some
understanding of adaptive filtering for directed energy
applications. The task was given to me, and I began self-
study on adaptive filtering, as I had no previous
knowledge of the field. In my studies, I found that there
was a more effective way of enacting feed forward adaptive
filter compensation under the influences of closed loop
control than what had been done before. If the reference
to the adaptive filter is filtered by the transfer
function from the point of injection into the loop to the
loop error signal, the adaptive filter will take into
account the fact that it is operating in a closed loop
system without having to account for this using block
diagram manipulation. Furthermore, the transfer function
can be determined via online system identification. These
two discoveries provided an improved adaptive filter
implementation for directed energy applications. This
version of an adaptive filter is very useful in closed
loop applications, and has found its way into numerous
directed energy applications.
o Specific Tasks
. Create adaptive feedforward cacellation technique for Air
Borne Laser program beam train vibration
. Create simulation to validate control system approach
. Documentation
EDUCATION
B.S., University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, Mechanical Engineering,
May 1996.
M.S., University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, Electrical Engineering,
May 2002.
Publications
Adaptive Feedforward Control for Adaptive Optic Systems, Directed Energy
Conference, ABQ NM, 2006
REFERENCES
Felix Morgan, PhD
Senior Control System Engineer
Currently Engineering Consultant
Formerly Goodrich Engineering Director That Hired Me
Formerly ATA Engineering Director That Hired Me
*********@***.***
Victor Beazel, PhD
Dynamics and Controls Engineer
Government TPOC For Tactical OIRU Development
Kirtland Air Force Research Lab
Bill Chavez
Collegue, Life Long Friend
4617 Palo Duro Ave NE
Albuquerque NM 87110
505-***-**** (Cell)
Contact this candidate