Pointing correction based on limit cycles oscillators applied on a heliostats field digital twin

Digital twin models are an emerging topic that captures the dynamic response of physical systems to have a portrayal of digital representation. Complex systems such as heliostat fields for sustainable energy are good candidates for developing digital twins since the physical operation of facilities of this type can be highly time-consuming and weather-dependent. Therefore, a digital twin model of heliostat fields represents an adequate choice for the performance validation of new pointing correction algorithms with shorter assessing times. In this sense, one of the most important issues in the operation of heliostat fields for sustainable energy is to achieve a good accuracy of heliostats pointing to the target, even under physical errors of the solar field components and disturbances produced by external agents. However, since these types of disturbances have nonlinear characteristics, they should be dealt with by using nonlinear methods. This article presents a novel pointing correction technique based on nonlinear Limit Cycle Oscillators (LCOs) applied to the digital twin of a heliostat field. Analytical analysis, numerical verification, and further validation results are used to demonstrate the performance of the developed novel dynamic method.