Robust Control Systems for Harsh Environments: A Review of Design Principles and Applications

Abstract

Operating in extreme conditions, where the surrounding is extreme temperatures, dust formation, mechanical vibrations, and unreliable power access, the strong control systems are essential to the positive functioning of the production process in the sphere of manufacturing, mining, logistics, and energy. This type of circumstances, which prevails in textile mills, mining areas and out-of-system logistics ports, results in equipment malfunctions, disruption of the process and efficiency loss; traditional control systems report 10-15 percent of downtime and 5-10 percent error rates. This work thus envisions, deploys and tests low-cost, scalable robust control systems, which makes use of open-source microcontrollers (such as Arduino using H-infinity control) and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) to achieve stability and efficiency under environmental uncertainty conditions. The methodology used is the mixed-method approach since it incorporated a systematic literature search of 60 peer-reviewed articles (2019-2025), semi-structured interviews with 20 industry players, surveys of 100 organisations, and two case studies of Nigerian businesses. The results show an increase of 25 to 35 percent of system reliability, 20 to 30 percent of productivity, 15 to 25 percent of cost savings, as well as return on investment exceeding 1500 percent over a six-month period. Scalability facilitates the act of expansion of the operations, whereas a stable state with extreme conditions is ensured by the use of H-infinity, sliding-mode, and adaptive PI controls. The barriers to adoption include lack of skills, infrastructure barriers, integration challenges and organisation resistance. The dissertation also provides detailed frameworks to be used by industry stakeholders, policymakers and researchers to advance the robust control systems to foster resilience and competitiveness in the Industry 4.0 paradigm. It will fill an important gaps and provide empirical knowledge, theoretical ideas, and practical solutions that enable an operation in severe conditions.