ICIUS-2021-xxx

Active Door Preventing Infectious Air of Hospital Isolation Room

Vo Nhut Quang Mo1, Duy Anh Nguyen1, Tan Huy Nguyen1, Phuc Long Duong1, Dae Hwan Kim4,5, Le An
Pham3, and Tan Tien Nguyen1,2,*
1
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Hochiminh City University of Technology, Vietnam National
University Ho Chi Minh City
2
DCSELab, Hochiminh City University of Technology, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City
3
GIC, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Hochiminh City
4
State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York, USA, 11794
5
Nsquare company, Busan, South Korea, 31040
Corresponding Email: nttien@hcmut.edu.vn

Abstract
This paper presents a design and control of automatic sliding door used for isolation room in the medical field
using sliding mode control. Therefore, the article includes the design of a mechanical and control systems for the
sliding door and its characteristic to serve medical purposes, especially for isolation rooms using container
modules during epidemic periods. Simulations and experiments are attached to compare the differences between
the ideal door and the actual door.
Keywords: isolation room, automatic sliding door, sliding mode control, air-sealing, antimicrobial door,
epidemic solution.

1 Introduction
From December 2019, the COVID 19 outbreak has rapidly spread throughout all over the world and become
a fatal epidemic. Some nations have been dealing with the lack of quarantine areas, hospital space and especially
medical equipment which leads to millions of deaths and probably the collapse of a whole medical system. In
order to solve the given challenging problem, the authors introduce isolation room using container modules
solution.

Sickroom

WC door
4
Enter 1
Anteroom 2 Anteroom door
medical WC
staff
3
Enter 2 Sickroom door Out
1 Enter door Hall 5 Disinfection room 6
patients Exit door
Disinfection room door

Figure 1. Isolation room module Figure 2. Door arangement inside the module
The isolation chamber is the combination of 2 connected container designed to have negative pressure value
to keep the airflow one-way in and out through special ventilating system keeping all bacteria and pathogens from
which the infected patients isolated inside the chamber for curing the infected and preventing the pandemic from
spreading into the community. All areas must be airtight to each other and to the outside atmosphere. On the other
hand, the following room is used in tough conditions of the front line of the epidemic so it needs to endure
continuous weather condition change and the restricted of replacing materials. Four areas are called anteroom for
medical staff handling sanitary issues, hall area for inserting patients, sickroom for curing the infected and finally
bathroom respectively. Anteroom has the highest pressure in the whole modules to keep the airflow move from
outside into the healing room. Therefore, the sickroom would have a lower negative pressure value than the above
areas keeping the airflow circulate inside it and then pumped outside through special filters. Last but not least, the
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bathroom is where all bacteria would be trapped in and eliminated by UV light system. The overall design of the
whole container is shown as Figure 1.
Separating between 4 areas of the isolation room are the combination of panel walls for fixed separation and
automatic doors for temporary isolating the walking way inside the model, both of which are specially designed
for medical uses. The authors using 2 types of doors for the whole container modules are hinged doors and
automatic sliding doors. In the restricted content of this article, only automatic sliding doors are introduced. What
makes these automatic sliding doors unique are the abilities of air-sealing, non-touching opening and closing as
well as anti-microbial surface. Each door has different length and journey as well as opening types according to
the its function, the sliding door’s arrangements inside the module are shown in Figure 2.
The key specifications: Prevent the air from flowing outside the part module and anti-microbial to kill all the
bacteria exist on the wall; Control all doors exist in the container module, overcome the disturbance created from
frictional force and else; Automatically open when the infrared sensor activated (when there are human that want
to get through the door), automatically close after 3 ÷ 6𝑠 and reopen when there are obstacle on the door’s closing
journey; Approximate operation life of 24 hours after having unwilling accident causing the collapse of the whole
electric system.

2 Mechanical Design

2.1 Design of the sliding door

The use of panel door
Researches have shown that through sneezing, COVID 19 virus is able to exist for many hours on walls up to
72hours for plastic and steel walls. Therefore, the concept of the door must be automatic instead of using manual
door which must be touched to open. As mentioned in the introduction, the doors in the system must meet 3
requirements are non-touching, anti-microbial, airtightness and one more optional demand is fast response. Fast
response means that there is risk of impact at the end of door journey. So, glass material could not be used and
the panel door should be the best choice. Two walls outside are made of 0.6 𝑚𝑚 alloy steel that prevent oxidiation,
corrosion and antimicrobial. For heat and sound insulation, the inside wall is made of polyurethane foam. The
walls are hard enough to ensure there is no trouble for closing and opening. Since the area of isolation room is
limit, to test door, we use the 50𝑚𝑚 panel, figure 3 and figure 4 present the assembly of the automatic sliding
door in 3D model.
encoder
pulley cable pulley
motor
rail controller

sliding door

Figure 3. Automatic sliding door 3D sketch

pulley pulley
cable

rail
gear motor
sliding door

operating force encoder

motor
controller
driver
Figure 4 Control diagram for sliding door
 ICIUS-2021-xxx

fixed wall sliding surface

friction force 𝐹 seal

sliding door

Figure 5. Sealing demonstration

2.2 Design of drive system

Motor parameters
Since the motor shaft is not coaxial with the pulley itself, the need of using a worm-gearbox in order to change
the outer shaft into a perpendicular direction and enhance the torque pulling the panel door to win the enormous
friction from the rubber sealing. Thus, the transmission ratio of the gearbox and belt should be chosen as 15 to
calculate the essential power and speed of the motor, assume the against force from the door is applied all the
journal time. The total force applies to the motor is the combination of the kinetic and static friction force from
the seal and the rolling frictional force.
Backup plan for emergency situation
There are two situations that we should call for the problems of automatic sliding door.
Firstly, it’s about the blackout. The motor system uses worm gear to reduce speed so the door cannot be
opened when it’s blackout due to the self-braking ability of worm gear system. The problem can be solved with
the backup battery which be placed outside the drive system. Since the estimated power of motor is 24V, 100W,
the backup battery has to be the same type. The DCSE battery can last for 24 hours and it’s enough for logistic to
repair the power system.
Secondly, the impact of fast-moving creatures such as stretcher with patients and door could be dangerous
since the door must operate continuously when outbreak occur and the gap time for fixing these doors can be
many hours. So, the concept of the problem creates a demand of choosing the fast response sensor. The faster the
sensor gets signal, the better response the system meets and the less possibility the impact occurs. For experience,
the authors choose the Kerui P819 Bluetooth sensor. This sensor can detect the existence of people at the range
of 3 ÷ 5𝑚, that’s enough to prevent any moving creature from touching the panel door. Besides, P819 uses the
adapter (220V to 5V) to maintain the power supply which is better than lots of sensors when they are out of
battery. Beside, to ensure the operation of the door, the authors choose 2 more sensor called M204G and E18-
D80NK.

3 Controller System Design

The problem of the isolation room is the overall control law for all automatic sliding doors used inside. All of
them have the same function and categories but different dimensions and parameters such as mass (𝑚) and
frictional coefficient (𝜇), both of which nonlinearly vary over time base on different door panels. According to
the door’s size, which changes depending on the use of doors named in figure 2, the sealing method and the door’s
mass would be different. The sealing method decides how large would the frictional coefficient be as well as the
door mass, both of which affect dramatically to the results of controlling these doors. Therefore, it is obvious that
with two varying parameters is 𝜇 and 𝑚, the choice of model reference sliding mode control for this system is
applied with the disturbance around 10% of the control signal as one of the most suitable solutions to deal with
these problems.
Consider the plant model for a sliding door shown in Figure 4. The one side of the rail could place a DC motor
that can control the traction force of the belt through teeth pulleys. The travel distance is 𝑥. When the door stands
still, there is static frictional force applied to the seal, 𝐹𝑠 . When the door moving, there are dynamic frictional
force applied to the seal and roller, named 𝐹𝑑𝑠 and 𝐹𝑑𝑟 respectively. To sum up, the authors define these frictional
force by using equivalent coefficient. The concept of sliding mode control and the followed block diagram could
be described in Figure 6.
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𝜈
𝑥𝑑 Controller Norminal Model 𝑥𝑛
𝑒
𝑒𝑛
𝑢
Controller Plant 𝑥
Figure 6. Automatic sliding door control block diagram
Ignoring the stiffness, the system can be presented in the following forms
𝑚𝑥̈ + 𝜇𝑒 𝑥̇ + 𝑑 = 𝑢 (1)
where, 𝑚 : the mass of the door, 𝑘𝑔
𝑥 : the position of the door, 𝑚
𝜇𝑒 : the equivalent viscous friction coefficient
𝑑 : disturbance of the system
Let the nominal model be:
𝑚𝑛 𝑥̈ 𝑛 + 𝜇𝑛 𝑥̇ 𝑛 = 𝜈 , 𝑚𝑛 > 0, 𝜇𝑛 > 0 (2)
where, 𝑚𝑛 : the nominal moment of mass, 𝑘𝑔
𝑚𝑛 = (𝑚𝑚 + 𝑚𝑀 )/2, 𝑚𝑚 ≤ 𝑚 ≤ 𝑚𝑀
𝑥𝑛 : the nominal position of the door, 𝑚
𝜇𝑛 : the nominal friction coefficient
𝜇𝑛 = (𝜇𝑚 + 𝜇𝑀 )/2, 𝜇𝑚 ≤ 𝜇𝑒 ≤ 𝜇𝑀
𝜈 : the nominal control input
The controller for the nominal model
𝜈 = 𝑚𝑛 [−ℎ1 𝑒 − ℎ2 𝑒̇ + (𝜇𝑛 /𝑚𝑛 )𝑥̇ 𝑑 + 𝑥̈ 𝑑 ] (3)
with, ℎ1 = 𝑘 2 , ℎ2 = 2𝑘 − 𝜇𝑛 /𝑚𝑛 , 𝑒 = 𝑥𝑛 − 𝑥𝑑
The controller for the plant
𝑢 = −𝐾𝑠 − ℎsgn(𝑠) + 𝑚𝑛 (𝜈/𝑚𝑛 − 𝜆𝑥̇ ) + 𝜇𝑛 𝑥̇ ,𝐾 > 0 (4)
with, 𝑒𝑛 = 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑛 , 𝑠 = 𝑒̇𝑛 + 𝜆𝑒𝑛
1 1 1
ℎ = 𝑑𝑀 + (𝑚𝑀 − 𝑚𝑚 ) | 𝜈 − 𝜆𝑥̇ | + (𝜇𝑀 − 𝜇𝑚 )|𝑥̇ |
2 𝑚𝑛 2
𝜆 = 𝜇𝑛 /𝑚𝑛 , |𝑑| ≤ 𝑑𝑀

4 Simulation Results
All of the design above has been executed at DCSELab, all parameters using in this paper are consulted from
the previous research “Power Assist for Slide Door” listed in the reference [1]. According to our design about
doors themselves and the referred researches, the mass and the frictional coefficient of the doors can be described
as follow:
45 < 𝑚 < 60
{18 < 𝜇𝑒 < 22
𝑑 = 0.1𝑢
Thus, the authors choose one sample door’s specification throughout 6 doors in figure 2. The parameters
showed in table I presents the specifications of one of the panel doors inserted inside the module about the mass
and its corresponding frictional force is used for choosing and calculating the drive and control system later.
Table I. Door specification
Mass 52.5 𝑘𝑔
Kinetic frictional coefficient 0.4
Kinetic frictional force 29 N
Static frictional coefficient 0,7
Maximum static frictional force 29 N
Roller frictional coefficient 0.002
Roller frictional force 1.18 N
 ICIUS-2021-xxx

The 100W-24VDC motor is chosen to drive the whole automatic sliding door system about the motor which
have the parameters shown in table II.
Table II Motor’s parameters
Motor parameter Value
Motor speed 250 𝑟𝑝𝑚
Motor torque 4 𝑁𝑚
Motor inertia 4.5 × 10−5 𝑘𝑔𝑚2 w
Torque constant 3.2 × 10−2 𝑁𝑚/𝐴
Inductance of amateur circuit 1.2 × 10−3 𝐻
Convert coefficient from 𝜃 to 𝑋 7.7 × 10−4 𝑚⁄𝑟𝑎𝑑
Using the above numerical values, the system is in the form
𝑥̈ + 1.356𝑥̇ + 6.307𝑥 = 20.24𝑢 + 𝑑 (5)
and the controllers
𝜈 = 0.05[5.24𝑒 − 0.66𝑒̇ + 0.33𝑥̇ 𝑑 + 𝑥̈ 𝑑 ] (6)
𝜇
𝑢 = −10𝑠 − ℎ𝑠𝑔𝑛(𝑠) + 52.5 ( − 1.34𝑥̇ ) + 20𝑥̇ (7)
0.05
with 𝑘 = 1, ℎ1 = −5.24, ℎ2 = 0.66, 𝜆 = 1.34, 𝐾 = 10
To ensure for the above calculation, simulation of the door movement is applied using MATLAB tools. In the
following results, the authors want to show the response of the door’s movement within 2 control functions (switch
function and saturated function). In addition, the response when using 2 modes of the door which are step input
mode (present for one time opening and closing use) and sin input mode (present for repeated opening and closing
use) are tested.

a) b) a) b)

c) d) c) d)
Switch function Saturated function
Figure 7 & 8. Control sin input
a) Tracking error b) Position tracking c) Control input d) Phase trajectory
 ICIUS-2021-xxx

a) b) a) b)

c) d) c) d)
Switch function Saturated function
Figure 9 & 10. Control step input
a) Tracking error b) Position tracking c) Control input d) Phase trajectory
From the simulation above, it is obvius to observe that the sliding mode control is able to resolve all of the
disturbance caused by the frictional force of the rubber seal and the door’s mass. It create a fast and stable response
using saturated function. On the other hand, the responses of the switch function in both step input and sin input
are critically interfered. Overall, simulations has shown that model refernece sliding mode control was able to
deal with the massive nonlinear change of frictional coefficient and door’s mass, created a trasient and stable
response with saturated function.

5 Conclusion
It has been proved that the sliding mode control method for controlling automatic sliding door can achieve
accurate door position adjustments. Furthermore, it can obtain more comfort thanks to the resolve of the varying
frictional coefficient and the door’s mass which lead to the reduction of noise and the smooth of door’s movement.
The given design has simplicity for assemble and manufacturing, and it is easy to adjust the door’s parameter as
well as the coefficient of the controller. The impact on the real door can be modify through the nominal plant so
the door length is adjustable. For further research, the authors plan to discuss the controller design which reduce
the power consumption and enhance the sealing method.

Acknowledgments
This research is supported by DCSELab, Hochiminh City University of Technology and GIC, University of
Medicine and Pharmacy at Hochiminh City, and funded by Department of Science and Technology under grant
number 59/2020/HĐ-QPTKHCN.

References
[1] Kalpak Shah, Hong Tae Kang and Upendra Deshmukh, “Design of Dual Sliding Door for a Small-size Car
and Its Validation Using CAE Tools”, University of Michigan, Dearborn, July 28th, 2018.
[2] Kensuke Osamura, Shinya Kobayashi, Mitsuo Hirata and Hitoshi Okamoto, “Power Assist for Slide Door”,
Utsunomiya University, Tochigi, Japan, September 17 th-20th, 2007.
[3] Hisato Kobayashi, “A Control of Sliding Doors For Realizing Well-Being Livings”, Hosei University, Fujimi,
Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, 2015.
[4] Gabriela Mamani, Jonathan Becedas, Vicente Feliu Batlle, “Robust Position Control of a DC Motor by Sliding
Mode”, United Kingdom, 2010.
[5] Jinkun Liu, Xinhua Wang, Advanced Sliding Mode Control for Mechanical Systems, Tsinghua University
Press, 2012.
[6] Tan Tien Nguyen, Sliding Mode Control Slides, Hochiminh City University of Technology, April 6th 2019.