2025/11/05 by Toolhally, Samarth, Roelofs, Joeri, Weiland, Siep +1
#FOS: Electrical engineering #Systems and Control (eess.SY) #electronic engineering #information engineering
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2511.03379
In inkjet printing, optimal paper moisture is crucial for print quality, achieved through hot-air impingement in the fixation unit. This paper presents a modular digital twin of the fixation unit, modeling the thermo-fluidic drying process and monitoring its spatio-temporal performance. The novel approach formulates the digital twin as an infinite-dimensional state estimator that infers fixation states from limited sensor data, while remaining robust to disturbances. Modularity is achieved through a graph-theoretic model, where each node represents thermo-fluidic dynamics in different sections of the fixation unit. Evaporation is modeled as a nonlinear boundary effect coupled with node dynamics via Linear Fractional Representation. Using the Partial Integral Equation (PIE) framework, we develop a unified approach for stability, input-output analysis, simulation, and rapid prototyping, validated with operational data from a commercial printer. An H∞-optimal Luenberger state estimator is then synthesized to estimate thermal states from available sensor data, enabling real-time monitoring of spatio-temporal thermal effects on paper sheets.