New version of continuous–discrete cubature Kalman filtering for nonlinear continuous–discrete systems

For nonlinear continuous–discrete systems, this paper elaborates a new accurate implementation of continuous–discrete cubature Kalman filter (CD-CKF). As the main contribution of this work, the new Kalman prediction stage begins by integrating the nonlinear continuous model for all the cubature sample vectors; the prior estimate state and covariance prediction are based on the weighted statistics of these integrated cubature sample vectors and the Gauss–Legendre approximation scheme. The new square root form CD-CKF is also derived and accurately implemented by combining with the modified variable stepsize NIRK. As the advantages of proposed approach, the complicated and error-prone processes of solving covariance differential equation or calculating derivatives are avoided, while the positive semi-definiteness of prior error covariance are numerically guaranteed. Simulations of traffic control scenarios further confirm the new approach’s superior filtering performance in both reliability and accuracy.     

Developing English domestic occupancy profiles

ABSTRACT

Occupancy patterns are necessary to estimate energy demand and evaluate thermal comfort in households. Because of this, many European countries are developing representative domestic schedules to replace outdated criteria. This paper evaluates the state of knowledge of UK domestic occupancy patterns and develops new domestic occupancy profiles for England. The presented research (1) characterizes methods for collecting occupancy data and inferring patterns; (2) identifies and assesses the quality of categories of occupancy patterns used in building simulation; and (3) develops updated occupancy profiles. A systematic scoping review identified social and monitoring surveys as the most deployed data-collection methods. A systematic literature review also established that the occupancy categories most frequently used in UK building simulation are (a) a family with dependent children where the parents work full time; and (b) a retired elderly couple who spend most of their time indoors. The interview sample from the English Housing Survey 2014–15 was used to map household typologies. Results show that categories (a) and (b) combined amount to only 19% of England’s households, which suggest models are over-reliant on these groups. Considering this result, the paper develops occupancy patterns for England derived from 2015 UK Time Use Survey diaries for each household typology previously identified.     

Porous polyurethane film fabricated via the breath figure approach for sustained drug release

The breath figure (BF) method is an effective process for fabricating porous polymeric films. In this study, we fabricated porous polymer films from thermoplastic polyurethane (PU) through static BF with CHCl₃ as a solvent under 55–80% relative humidity. The porous PU films were prepared within various pore structures and sizes, which were adjustable, depending on the fabrication conditions. The humidity and exposure time were examined as variable parameters affecting the surface morphology, wettability, and cytotoxicity. Atorvastatin calcium, a hyperlipidemic agent, was loaded into the porous films during the casting process, and the drug-loading and drug-releasing behaviors of the porous PU membranes were evaluated. Approximately 60–80% of the drug was released in 14 days. The films exhibited sustained drug-release performances because of the hydrophobicity and nonbiodegradable nature of PU for perivascular drug administration. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47658.     

Adaptive finite‐time formation tracking control for multiple nonholonomic UAV system with uncertainties and quantized input

An adaptive finite‐time formation tracking control approach is proposed for multiple unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system with quantized input signals in this paper. The UAVs are described by nonholonomic kinematic model and autopilot model with uncertainties. An enhanced hysteretic quantizer is introduced to avoid chattering, and some restrictions are released by using a new quantization decomposition method. Based on backstepping technique and finite‐time Lyapunov stability theory, the adaptive finite‐time controller is designed for the trajectory tracking of the multi‐UAV formation. The nonholonomic constraints are solved by a transverse function. A transformation is introduced to the control input signals to eliminate the quantization effect. Stability analysis proves that the tracking errors can converge to a small neighborhood of the origin within finite time and all the closed‐loop signals are semiglobally finite‐time bounded. The effectiveness of the proposed control approach is validated by simulation and experiment.     

Looking into the TESSERACT: Time-drifts in event streams using series of evolving rolling averages of completion times

Business processes are dynamic and change due to diverse factors. While existing approaches aim to detect drifts in the process structure, Tesseract looks for temporal drifts in activity interim times. This orthogonal view on the process extends the traditional data cube of events – case id, activities and timestamps – by a fourth dimension and improves the operational support by a visualization of temporal drifts in real-time.Insights about temporal deviations lead to an augmented awareness of imminent failures or improved service times. The detection of related structural concept drifts can be improved by early warning, as operation times of critical parts often increase before they catastrophically fail.     

A macro-element strategy based upon spectral finite elements and mortar elements for transient wave propagation modeling. Application to ultrasonic testing of laminate composite materials

Proposing efficient numerical modeling tools for high-frequency wave propagation in realistic configurations, such as the one appearing in ultrasonic testing experiments, is a major challenge, especially in the perspective of inversion loops or parametric studies. We propose a numerical methodology addressing this challenge and based upon the combination of the spectral finite element method and the mortar element method. From a prior decomposition of the scene of interest into “macro-elements,” we show how one can improve the performances of the standard finite element procedures in terms of memory footprint and computational load. Additionally, using this decomposition, we are able to efficiently reconstruct important modeling features on-the-fly, such as orientations of anisotropic materials or splitting directions of perfectly matched layers formulations, altogether in a robust and efficient manner. We believe that this strategy is particularly suitable for parametric studies and sensitivity analysis. We illustrate our strategy by simulating the propagation of an ultrasonic wave into an immersed and curved anisotropic laminate 3D specimen flawed with an internal circular delamination of varying size, thus showing the efficiency and the robustness of our approach.     

ATSP:时态网络可视化的自适应时间片划分方法

现有的时态网络可视化方法大多采用等量时间片来可视化网络的演变，不利于时态模式的快速挖掘和发现。为此，根据时态网络固有的特征提出自适应时间片划分方法（Adaptive Time Slice Partition method，ATSP）。在时态网络的两种表示方式（基于事件的表示方式和基于快照的表示方式）的基础上，构建了ATSP的基础模型，同时提出了一种改进模型用来描述事件间隔时间服从长尾分布的时态网络。为了实现时间片的不等量划分，针对探索任务的不同提出了基于时态模式的ATSP规则和基于中心节点的ATSP规则，并提出了实现算法--层次划分算法（Hierarchical Partition algorithm，HP）和增量划分算法（Incremental Partition algorithm，IP）。实验结果表明，ATSP方法比传统的时间片划分方法更能准确地表示网络的时态特征，且该方法应用于可视化时，能有效归纳并展示网络的特征，明显提高了视觉分析的效率。     

A simple explicit single step time integration algorithm for structural dynamics

In this article, a new single-step explicit time integration method is developed based on the Newmark approximations for the analysis of various dynamic problems. The newly proposed method is second-order accurate and able to control numerical dissipation through the parameters of the Newmark approximations. Explicitness and order of accuracy of the proposed method are not affected in velocity-dependent problems. Illustrative linear and nonlinear examples are used to verify performances of the proposed method.     

On one boundary problem for nonlinear stationary controlled system

The object of study is nonlinear stationary controlled system of ordinary differential equations with constant disturbance in the right part. The problem of constructing the synthesising control function providing the transfer of this system from the initial state to the origin is considered. The sufficiently simple for numerical implementation algorithm of solution of the above-mentioned problem is obtained. It is shown that for local null controllability of the considered system, it is sufficient that the conditions of the Kalman's type were satisfied. In addition, the estimates restricting the choice of initial conditions and external disturbances under which the transfer is guaranteed are obtained. The main idea of the method of construction of the desired control function consists in reducing the original problem to stabilisation of a special kind linear non-stationary system and solving the Cauchy problem for an auxiliary system of ordinary differential equations closed by stabilising control. The simplicity of the realisation of this algorithm is determined by the construction of the auxiliary system and its stabilisation that could be obtained by analytical methods. The effectiveness of the method is illustrated by solving the problem of crane control and its numerical simulation.     

Self‐similarity analysis of vehicle driver's electrodermal activity

This paper characterizes stress levels via a self‐similarity analysis of the electrodermal activity (EDA) collected in a real‐world driving context. To characterize the EDA richness over scales, the fractional Brownian motion (FBM) process and its corresponding exponent H, estimated via a wavelet‐based approach, are used. Specifically, an automatic scale range selection is proposed in order to detect the linearity in a log scale diagram. The procedure is applied to the EDA signals, from the open database drivedb, originally captured on the foot and the hand of the drivers during a real‐world driving experiment, designed to evoke different levels of arousal and stress. The estimated Hurst exponent H offers a distinction in stress levels when driving in highway versus city, with a reference to restful state of minimal stress level. Specifically, the estimated H values tend to decrease when the driving environmental complexity increases. In addition, the estimated H values on the foot EDA signals allow a better characterization of the driving task than that of hand EDA. The self‐similarity analysis was applied to various physiological signals in literature but not to the EDA so far, a signal which was found to correlate most with human affect. The proposed analysis could be useful in real‐time monitoring of stress levels in urban driving spaces, among other applications.