Interval type-2 fuzzy inverse controller design in nonlinear IMC structure

In the recent years it has been demonstrated that type-2 fuzzy logic systems are more effective in modeling and control of complex nonlinear systems compared to type-1 fuzzy logic systems. An inverse controller based on type-2 fuzzy model can be proposed since inverse model controllers provide an efficient way to control nonlinear processes. Even though various fuzzy inversion methods have been devised for type-1 fuzzy logic systems up to now, there does not exist any method for type-2 fuzzy logic systems. In this study, a systematic method has been proposed to form the inverse of the interval type-2 Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model based on a pure analytical method. The calculation of inverse model is done based on simple manipulations of the antecedent and consequence parts of the fuzzy model. Moreover, the type-2 fuzzy model and its inverse as the primary controller are embedded into a nonlinear internal model control structure to provide an effective and robust control performance. Finally, the proposed control scheme has been implemented on an experimental pH neutralization process where the beneficial sides are shown clearly.     

Variational sensitivity analysis and design optimization

Variational method (VM) is employed to derive the co-state equations, boundary (transversality) conditions, and functional sensitivity derivatives. The converged solutions of the state equations together with the steady state solution of the co-state equations are integrated along the domain boundary to uniquely determine the functional sensitivity derivatives with respect to the design function. The application of the variational method to aerodynamic shape optimization problems is demonstrated on internal flow problems at supersonic Mach number range of 1.5. Optimization results for flows with and without shock phenomena are presented. The study shows that while maintaining the accuracy of aerodynamical objective function and constraint within the reasonable range for engineering prediction purposes, variational method provides a substantial gain in computational efficiency, i.e., computer time and memory, when compared with the finite difference computations.     

Rotary flexible joint control by fractional order controllers

In this paper, a fractional order control law is proposed and implemented for the evaluation of trajectory tracking performance of a rotary flexible-joint system. A state feedback based fractional integral control scheme is used in this proposed method. In this scheme, state feedback is responsible for stabilizing the system. The compensator, in series with the fractional integrator leads to obtain a similar closed-loop transient response like Bode’s ideal transfer function. The effectiveness of the proposed controller in tracking and being robust against parameter uncertainties is demonstrated through simulation. In addition, to show the usefulness of the proposed control scheme, the fractional controller is compared to an integer state feedback control by simulation and through experimentation on the Quanser’s rotary flexible-joint system.     

Multi-directional blending for heterogeneous objects

This paper presents a novel multi-directional blending method for heterogeneous object design. Contrary to earlier studies, this paper introduces material blending through multiple features with different heterogeneous material composition. Feature-based method is used to represent and design heterogeneous objects with multi-directional material composition. The Voronoi diagram of multiple curves is constructed to generate bisector of the geometric domain. Then, metamorphosis from the bounding curve to multiple internal curves is performed using dynamic programming based optimization approach in two steps. First, optimum curve matching between internal curves and enclosing Voronoi cells is obtained. Then, an optimum ruling line alignment and insertion technique between the Voronoi diagram and the bounding curve is developed. Metamorphosis through complex concavities is also achieved. Finally, multi-directional material composition is mapped based on a set of relations.     

Wavelet approximation-based affine invariant shape representation functions

In this paper, new wavelet-based affine invariant functions for shape representation are presented. Unlike the previous representation functions, only the approximation coefficients are used to obtain the proposed functions. One of the derived functions is computed by applying a single wavelet transform; the other function is calculated by applying two different wavelet transforms with two different wavelet families. One drawback of the previously derived detail-based invariant representation functions is that they are sensitive to noise at the finer scale levels, which limits the number of scale levels that can be used. The experimental results in this paper demonstrate that the proposed functions are more stable and less sensitive to noise than the detail-based functions.     

Continuous Airborne Communication Relay Approach Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

As a result of unmanned aerial vehicles being widely used in different areas, studies about increasing the autonomous capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles are gaining momentum. Today, unmanned aerial vehicle platforms are especially used in reconnaissance, surveillance and communications areas. In this study, in order to achieve continuous long-range communication relay infrastructure, artificial potential field based path planning of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles is discussed. A novel dynamic approach to relay-chain concept is proposed to maintain the communication between vehicles. Besides dynamically keeping vehicles in range and appropriate position to maintain communication relay, artificial potential field based path planning also provides collision avoidance system. The performance of the proposed system is measured by applying a simulation under the Matlab Simulink and Network Simulator environment. Artificial potential field based flight patterns are generated in Matlab, and performance of the communication between vehicles is measured in Network Simulation environment. Finally the simulation results show that an airborne communication relay can be established autonomously by using artificial potential filed based autonomous path planning approach. Continues state communication is provided by obtaining a resistant communication relay which depends on artificial potential field based positioning algorithm.     

An encoding scheme based on fractional number for querying and updating XML data

In order to facilitate the XML query processing, several labeling schemes have been proposed to directly determine the structural relationships between two arbitrary XML nodes without accessing the original XML documents. However, the existing XML labeling schemes have to re-label the pre-existing nodes or re-calculate the label values when a new node is inserted into the XML document during an update process. In this paper, we devise a novel encoding scheme based on the fractional number to encode the labels of the XML nodes. Moreover, we propose a mapping method to convert our proposed fractional number based encoding scheme to bit string based encoding scheme with the intention to minimize the label size and save the storage space. By applying our proposed bit string encoding scheme to the range-based labeling scheme and the prefix labeling scheme, the process of re-labeling the pre-existing nodes can be avoided when nodes are inserted as leaf nodes and sibling nodes without affecting the order of XML nodes. In addition, we propose an algorithm to control the increment of label size when new nodes are inserted frequently at a fix place of an XML tree. Experimental results show that our proposed bit string encoding scheme provides efficient support to the process of XML updating without sacrificing the query performance when it is applied to the range-based labeling schemes.     

Implementation of genetic algorithm in an embedded microcontroller-based polarization control system

Implementation of genetic algorithm in a PIC32MX microcontroller-based polarization control system is proposed and demonstrated. The controller measures the signal intensity that is used to estimate the genetic value. This process is controlled by the genetic algorithm rather than referring to the Look-Up-Table as implemented in existing solutions. To reach optimum performance, the code is optimized by using the best genetic parameters so that the fastest execution time can be achieved. An ability of genetic algorithm to work efficiently in polarization control system possesses many advantages including easy code construction, low memory consumption and fast control speed. Genetic algorithm is intelligent enough to be used for endless polarization stabilization and in the worst case, able to stabilize the polarization changes in 300 μs. In the best case the response time can reach 17 μs.     

Shear Strength of Pre-Cast Prestressed Composite Beams with Discontinuous Connections Made of Cast-in-Place Shear Keys

This work investigates the horizontal and web shear resistance of continuous and discontinuous slab-web connections in pre-cast pre-tensioned bridge systems. The beams were full scale pre-cast pre-tensioned girders and the slabs were made of ordinary reinforced concrete either cast in place, for continuous connections, or pre-cast slabs with holes spaced at 312.5 mm to be set in place, for discontinuous connections. The main variables were the connection type (continuous or discontinuous) and the ratio of the connection steel. From the test results and the numerical analysis performed, a modified stress field for the inclined compressive strut in the truss model is proposed for continuous and discontinuous slab-web connections. The analytical results obtained with the proposed modified stress field in the truss model compared well with the tests results. Design procedures for these types of elements are also discussed.