Tuning of Active Disturbance Rejection Control with application to power plant furnace regulation

Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) is emerging as a promising solution in dealing with the unmeasurable disturbances and unknown uncertainties, which are treated in a lumped manner and augmented as an extended state variable. Subsequently, an extended state observer (ESO) is designed to estimate and cancel the combined uncertain term in real time, modifying the uncertain plant to behave like a nominal model consisting of integrators. In the original ADRC formulation, the plant model is assumed to be of delay-free and its order is assumed to be equal to that of the real plant. However, a low-order ADRC is preferred and received a wide acceptance in practice because of its simplicity. Currently, the feasibility of such practice is not clearly revealed as well as its potential dangers. To this end, this paper analyzes the control mechanism from the perspective of the modified plant, which, in turn, would give guidance to parameter tuning. The effect of each parameter on the compensation efficiency and stability conditions of the modified plant is analyzed, based on which a complete tuning procedure for ADRC is developed where the initial settings is derived from the existing PI controller parameters. Finally, the proposed tuning method is experimentally used for a furnace pressure regulation of a 1000MW power plant, validating the feasibility of the low-order ADRC, even in the absence of both dynamic model and the information on the model order.     

Solving fuzzy capacitated location routing problem using hybrid variable neighborhood search and evolutionary local search

A fuzzy capacitated location routing problem (FCLRP) is solved by using a heuristic method that combines variable neighborhood search (VNS) and evolutionary local search (ELS). Demands of the customer and travel times between customers and depots are considered as fuzzy and deterministic variables, respectively in FCLRP. Heterogeneous and homogeneous fleet sizes are performed together to reach the least multi-objective cost in a case study. The multi-objective cost consists of transportation cost, additional cost, vehicle waiting cost and delay cost. A fuzzy chance constrained programming model is added by using credibility theory. The proposed method reaches the solution by performing four stages. In the first stage, initial solutions are obtained by using a greedy heuristic method, and then VNS heuristic, which consists of seven different neighborhood structures, is performed to improve the solution quality in the second stage. In the third stage, a perturbation procedure is applied to the improved solution using ELS algorithm, and then VNS heuristic is applied again in the last stage. The combination of VNS and ELS is called VNSxELS algorithm and applied to a case study, which has fifty-seven customers and five distributing points, effectively in a reasonable time.     

Waveguide-based near-eye display with dual-channel exit pupil expander

We propose a waveguide-based near-eye display featuring a dual-channel exit pupil expander, which is composed of an in-coupler, relay gratings, and an out-coupler. Unlike the conventional waveguide-based near-eye displays, whose field of views are usually non-split or partially split, our dual-channel exit pupil expander is able to evenly split the field of view into two halves. The greatest benefit of doing so is that the upper limit of field of view could be significantly increased. The design rules for all components, including the microdisplay, collimating lens, waveguide and gratings, have been studied. The refractive index and dimension of waveguide are identified as two factors that limit the field of view. In what follows, its key specifications are recapitulated. Field of view is 70° (diagonal), eye relief is 15 mm, exit pupil is 20 × 9 mm², modulation transfer function is above 0.591 at 30 cycle/degree, contrast ratio is 13, and distortion is 1.38%.     

Novel method of constructing generalized Hoberman sphere mechanisms based on deployment axes

This study proposes a method of constructing type II generalized angulated elements (GAEs II) Hoberman sphere mechanisms on the basis of deployment axes that intersect at one point. First, the constraint conditions for inserting n GAEs II into n deployment axes to form a loop are given. The angle constraint conditions of the deployment axes are obtained through a series of linear equations. Second, the connection conditions of two GAEs II loops that share a common deployable center are discussed. Third, a flowchart of constructing the generalized Hoberman sphere mechanism on the basis of deployment axes is provided. Finally, four generalized Hoberman sphere mechanisms based on a fully enclosed regular hexahedron, arithmetic sequence axes, orthonormal arithmetic sequence axes, and spiral-like axes are constructed in accordance with the given arrangement of deployment axes that satisfy the constraint conditions to verify the feasibility of the proposed method.     

Design and locomotion analysis of two kinds of rolling expandable mobile linkages with a single degree of freedom

Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering - This study presents two kinds of rolling robots that are able to roll by deforming their outer shapes with a single degree of freedom. Each robot is an...     

高速飞行器燃油热管理系统飞行热航时

目前高速飞行器机载热负荷呈指数上升趋势，而由于气动加热作用，机身温度随航时增长也持续上升，这两者严重限制了高速飞行器的续航时间和电子设备的使用时长。燃油作为飞行器所必须携带的大比热容液体工质，是机载热沉的优选。燃油热沉利用会受气动加热、耗油量、飞行时长的综合影响。本文以机载燃油热沉为核心，研究高速飞行器燃油热管理系统参数设计对飞行热航时的影响。建立了燃油-消耗性冷却剂热利用系统的动态特性方程，并提出热航时的概念以衡量热负荷作用下燃油不发生超温的飞行时长，详细讨论了上述各影响因素与热利用系统参数对热航时的影响。上述研究可为高速飞行器热管理系统设计选型提供参考。     

Microemulsion synthesis of ms/tz-BiVO4 composites: The effect of pH on crystal structure and photocatalytic performance

In this work, BiVO₄ composites, containing the tetragonal zircon phase (tz-BiVO₄), and monoclinic scheelite phase (ms-BiVO₄), were synthesized using the microemulsion method. The effect of pH on phase composition and photocatalytic activity were investigated. Based on X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), a ms/tz-BiVO₄ composite forms at pH = 1.0 and pure ms-BiVO₄ is obtained in the pH range 4.0–10.0. The three primary steps in preparing BiVO₄ were monitored by optical microscopy and the role played by the microemulsion on the phase composition of BiVO₄ is explained. Photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were employed to characterize the physical and chemical properties of BiVO₄ composites. The composite formed at pH = 1 exhibited the lowest hole-electron (h⁺-e^-) recombination rate, resulting in the highest photocatalytic activity towards microcystin-LR (MC-LR), with near 100% removal of MC-LR in 5 h. ESR and trapping experiments indicated that MC-LR degradation was mediated primarily by hydroxyl radicals (•OH), superoxide radicals (O₂^•−) and photogenerated holes (h⁺).     

Cloud manufacturing ecosystem analysis and design

The manufacturing industry is facing the impact of a dynamic market and intensive competition. Many companies are looking for a new approach to improve their business activities in a collaborative business ecosystem with other stakeholders. Cloud computing enables the sharing of manufacturing resources and capabilities between different stakeholders to support business and physical production. The purpose of this research is to explore approaches moving towards a cloud manufacturing ecosystem and present possible implications for practice. To fulfil the research objectives, a multiple-case study was conducted within sheet metal manufacturing companies. Business and technology related requirements for cloud-based collaborative manufacturing portals were collected through interviews with industrial practitioners from the sheet metal manufacturing perspective. Based on analysis a prototype model of a CloudEcosystem was presented to demonstrate the essential features of the portals. This research found that there are three different portal types for cloud manufacturing ecosystems depending on the value chain configuration. Close to real-time information provided by cloud-based platforms can create manufacturing ecosystems where machine owners, product designers and customers may collaborate and compete simultaneously. The CloudEcosystem designed in this research can provide a practical tool and technical solution to help manufacturers think about moving towards cloud manufacturing ecosystems.