Nuclear fusion plasma fuelling with ice pellets using a neuromorphic controller

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Jansen, L. L. T. C., Petri, E., van Berkel, M., Heemels, W. P. M. H.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866915474780979200
author Jansen, L. L. T. C.
Petri, E.
van Berkel, M.
Heemels, W. P. M. H.
author_facet Jansen, L. L. T. C.
Petri, E.
van Berkel, M.
Heemels, W. P. M. H.
contents In reactor-grade tokamaks, pellet injection is the best candidate for core plasma fuelling. However, density control schemes that can handle the hybrid nature of this type of fuelling, i.e., the discrete impact of the pellets on the continuously evolving plasma density, are lacking. This paper proposes a neuromorphic controller, inspired by the integrate-and-fire neuronal model, to address this problem. The overall system is modelled as a hybrid system, and we analyse the proposed controller in closed loop with a single-input single-output linear time-invariant plasma model. The controller generates spikes, representing pellet launches, when the neuron variable reaches a certain threshold. Between the control actions, or spikes, the system evolves in open loop. We establish conditions on the controller variables and minimum actuator speed, depending on the reference value for the desired density, the pellet size and the time-constant of the plasma density, that guarantee a practical stability property for the closed-loop system. The results are illustrated in a numerical example.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_02147
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Nuclear fusion plasma fuelling with ice pellets using a neuromorphic controller
Jansen, L. L. T. C.
Petri, E.
van Berkel, M.
Heemels, W. P. M. H.
Systems and Control
In reactor-grade tokamaks, pellet injection is the best candidate for core plasma fuelling. However, density control schemes that can handle the hybrid nature of this type of fuelling, i.e., the discrete impact of the pellets on the continuously evolving plasma density, are lacking. This paper proposes a neuromorphic controller, inspired by the integrate-and-fire neuronal model, to address this problem. The overall system is modelled as a hybrid system, and we analyse the proposed controller in closed loop with a single-input single-output linear time-invariant plasma model. The controller generates spikes, representing pellet launches, when the neuron variable reaches a certain threshold. Between the control actions, or spikes, the system evolves in open loop. We establish conditions on the controller variables and minimum actuator speed, depending on the reference value for the desired density, the pellet size and the time-constant of the plasma density, that guarantee a practical stability property for the closed-loop system. The results are illustrated in a numerical example.
title Nuclear fusion plasma fuelling with ice pellets using a neuromorphic controller
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.02147