A new set distance and its application to shape registration

We propose a new distance measure, called Complement weighted sum of minimal distances, between finite sets in ${\mathbb Z }^n$ and evaluate its usefulness for shape registration and matching. In this set distance the contribution of each point of each set is weighted according to its distance to the complement of the set. In this way, outliers and noise contribute less to the new similarity measure. We evaluate the performance of the new set distance for registration of shapes in binary images and compare it to a number of often used set distances found in the literature. The most extensive evaluation uses a set of synthetic 2D images. We also show three examples of real problems: registering a set of 2D images extracted from synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography (SR $\upmu $ CT) volumes depicting bone implants; the difficult multi-modal registration task of finding the exact location of a 2D slice of a bone implant, as imaged by a light microscope, within a 3D SR $\upmu $ CT volume of the same implant; and finally recognition of handwritten characters. The evaluation shows that our new set distance performs well for all tasks and outperforms the other observed distance measures in most cases. It is therefore useful in many image registration and shape comparison tasks.     

Robust Unknown Input Observer Design for Linear Uncertain Time Delay Systems with Application to Fault Detection

In this paper, a novel approach is proposed to design a robust fault detection observer for uncertain linear time delay systems. The system is composed of both norm‐bounded uncertainties and exogenous signals (noise, disturbance, and fault) which are considered to be unknown. The main contribution of this paper is to present unknown input observer (UIO)‐based fault detection system which shows the maximum sensitivity to fault signals and the minimum sensitivity to other signals. Since the system contains uncertainty terms, an H_∞ model‐matching approach is used in design procedure. The reference residual signal generator system is designed so that the fault signal has maximum sensitivity while the exogenous signals have minimum sensitivity on the residual signal. Then, the fault detection system is designed by minimizing the estimation error between the reference residual signal and the UIO residual signal in the sense of H_∞ norm. A sufficient condition for the existence of such a filter is exploited in terms of certain linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Application of the proposed method in a numerical example and an engineering process are simulated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Simulation results show the validity of the proposed approach to detect the occurrence of faults in the presence of modeling errors, disturbances, and noise.     

On the Design of Observer for Nonlinear Time‐Delay Systems

This paper suggests a new method to design observers in a class of nonlinear time‐delay systems with delays in system states. The method is based on an extension of the well‐known state‐dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) technique. The conditions for locally asymptotic stability of the proposed observer are investigated. Some numerical simulations are provided to show the design procedure and the flexibility of the proposed observer.     

Adaptive tracking with external force disturbance rejection for uncertain robotic systems

This paper is concerned with the tracking control problem of robotic systems perturbed by time-varying parameters, unmodelled dynamics and external force (and moment) disturbances. The upper bound of system uncertainties and disturbances is not required for controller design. Also, no limitations are assumed on the speed of variation and the magnitude of unknown parameters and perturbations. An adaptive algorithm with simplicity and universality properties is proposed to ensure robust tracking. Presenting the closed loop stability proof analytically, the tracking controller is applied to a two-link robot manipulator and the simulation results are demonstrated to show the effectiveness of the method.     

Stabilization of positive switched systems with time-varying delays under asynchronous switching

This paper investigates the state feedback stabilization problem for a class of positive switched systems with time-varying delays under asynchronous switching in the frameworks of continuous-time and discrete-time dynamics. The so-called asynchronous switching means that the switches between the candidate controllers and system modes are asynchronous. By constructing an appropriate co-positive type Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and further allowing the functional to increase during the running time of active subsystems, sufficient conditions are provided to guarantee the exponential stability of the resulting closed-loop systems, and the corresponding controller gain matrices and admissible switching signals are presented. Finally, two illustrative examples are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed methods.     

Hematoxylin multi-wall carbon nanotubes modified glassy carbon electrode for electrocatalytic oxidation of hydrazine

A new hydrazine sensor has been fabricated by immobilizing hematoxylin at the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT). The adsorbed thin films of hematoxylin on the MWCNT modified GCE show one pair of peaks with surface confined characteristics. The hematoxylin MWCNT (HMWCNT) modified GCE shows highly catalytic activity toward hydrazine electro-oxidation. The results show that the peak potential of hydrazine at HMWCNT modified GCE surface shifted by about 167 and 255 mV toward negative values compared with that at an MWCNT and activated modified GCE surface, respectively. In addition, at HMWCNT modified electrode surface remarkably improvement the sensitivity of determination of hydrazine. The kinetic parameters, such as the electron transfer coefficient, α, and the standard heterogeneous rate constant, k⁰, for oxidation of hydrazine at the HMWCNT modified GCE were determined and also is shown that the heterogeneous rate constant, k′, is strongly potential dependent. The overall number of electron involved in the catalytic oxidation of hydrazine and the number of electrons involved in the rate-determining steps are 2 and 1, respectively. The amperometric detection of hydrazine is carried out at 220 mV in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution (pH 7) with linear response range 2.0-122.8 μM hydrazine, detection limit of 0.68 μM and sensitivity of 0.0208 μA μM⁻¹. Finally the amperometric response for hydrazine determination is reproducible, fast and extremely stable, with no loss in sensitivity over a continual 400 s operation.     

Study of the High‐Pressure Vapour‐Liquid Equilibria for Strongly Non‐ideal Binary and Ternary Mixtures

High‐pressure vapour‐liquid equilibria for binary and ternary high polar and asymmetric systems are calculated using the Peng‐Robinson‐Stryjek‐Vera equation of state coupled with the Twu‐Coon (TWMR), the Orbey‐Sandler (OSMR) and the Wong‐Sandler (WSMR) mixing rules. Modified UNIFAC model is used for determining the activity coefficient and excess Gibbs free energy. The calculated results are compared with the experimental data and good agreement is observed. The average absolute deviation percents (AAD%)s indicated that the WSMR has less AAD% than other mixing rules in most of cases.     

Non‐fragile H ∞ control for switched stochastic delay systems with application to water quality process

In this paper, the problem of non‐fragile observer‐based H _∞ control for discrete‐time switched delay systems is investigated. Both data missing and time delays are taken into account in the links from sensors to observers and from controllers to actuators. Because data missing satisfies the Bernoulli distribution, such problem is transformed into an H _∞ control problem for stochastic switched delay systems. Average dwell time approach is used to obtain sufficient conditions on the solvability of such problems. A numerical example and a real example for water quality control are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and potential applications of the proposed techniques. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.