This paper exposes and validates a methodology based on a classical hydraulic model (Saint-Venant equations) to design efficient automatic controllers for an irrigation canal pool. The method is applied on a laboratory canal located in Portugal. First, the full nonlinear hydraulic model is calibrated, using a single steady-state experiment, then it is validated on other hydraulic conditions. The control model is obtained by linearizing the Saint-Venant equations and using a numerical method to compute the frequency response of the system. Simple controllers are designed and analyzed using the linearized models. The experimental results show that such a method is able to accurately predict the closed-loop system behavior in terms of stability, robustness and performance. r

The main goal of this paper is to expose and validate a methodology to design efficient automatic controllers for irrigation canals, based on the Saint-Venant model. This model-based methodology enables to design controllers at the design stage (when the canal is not already built). The methodology is applied on an experimental canal located in Portugal. First the full nonlinear PDE model is calibrated, using a single steady-state experiment. The model is then linearized around a functioning point, in order to design linear PI controllers. Two classical control strategies are tested (local upstream control and distant downstream control) and compared on the canal. The experimental results shows the effectiveness of the method.

a b s t r a c tThis paper applies a model predictive controller (MPC) to an automatic water canal with sensors and actuators controlled by a PLC network (programmable logic controller), and supervised by a SCADA system (supervisory control and data acquisition). This canal is composed by a set of distributed subsystems that control the water level in each canal pool, constrained by discharge gates (control variables) and water off-takes (disturbances). All local controllers are available through an industrial network managed by the SCADA system, where the centralized predictive controller runs.In this paper a complete new platform connecting the SCADA supervisory system and the MATLAB software (named SCADA-MATLAB platform) is built, in order to provide the usual SCADA systems with the ability to handle complex control algorithms. The developed MPC-model presents a novelty in the control of irrigation canals as it allows the use of industrial PLCs to implement high complex controllers, through the new developed SCADA-MATLAB platform.Experimental results demonstrate the reliability and effectiveness of the proposed strategy in real-life typical situations, including gate malfunctioning and extreme water off-take conditions.

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Sluice gates are commonly used in canals for control and measurement of the flow. The 10 discharge under sluice gates can be determined through the Energy-Momentum Method (EM), 11 the orifice flow rate equations and the application of the -theorem of the dimensional analysis. 12