A globally exponentially stable speed observer for a class of mechanical systems: experimental and simulation comparison with high-gain and sliding mode designs

It is shown in the paper that the problem of speed observation for mechanical systems that are partially linearisable via coordinate changes admits a very simple and robust (exponentially stable) solution with a Luenberger-like observer. This result should be contrasted with the very complicated observers based on immersion and invariance reported in the literature. A second contribution of the paper is to compare, via realistic simulations and highly detailed experiments, the performance of the proposed observer with well-known high-gain and sliding mode observers. In particular, to show that – due to their high sensitivity to noise, that is unavoidable in mechanical systems applications – the performance of the two latter designs is well below par.     

Association between patient psychosocial characteristics and receipt of in‐center nocturnal hemodialysis among prevalent dialysis patients

Introduction: Compared to traditional in‐center hemodialysis (HD), in‐center nocturnal dialysis (INHD) is characterized by longer sessions and nighttime administration, which may lead to better outcomes for some patients. Given the importance of patient choice in the decision to initiate INHD, we explored associations between patients’ psychosocial characteristics and their receipt of INHD. Methods: Among hemodialysis patients at a medium‐sized dialysis organization, we identified INHD patients as those for whom ≥80% of dialysis sessions were INHD sessions—starting at 6:30 pm or later and lasting ≥5 hours—over the 3 months (≥20 sessions total) after their first INHD session. We extracted dialysis session data from electronic medical records and psychosocial data from social worker assessments. We tested associations of patients’ psychosocial characteristics—as well as demographic and clinical characteristics—with INHD receipt among all hemodialysis patients (INHD and HD) in bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression models. Findings: Among 759 patients with complete data, we identified 47 (6.2%) as INHD patients. On average, these patients were more likely than HD patients to be employed (full‐time 10.6% vs. 5.2%; part‐time 17.0% vs. 4.2%; P < 0.001), and they were significantly less likely to require ambulatory assistance (14.9% vs. 39.6%, P < 0.001). In multivariable regressions, we found that part‐time employment (versus being unemployed) was associated with a 7.1 percentage‐point higher likelihood of being an INHD patient (P = 0.01), and the negative association with ambulatory assistance needs approached statistical significance (P = 0.056). No other psychosocial factors included in this main regression analysis were statistically significantly associated with INHD patient status. Discussion: Researchers comparing the outcomes of patients undergoing INHD versus other treatment modalities will need to account for differences in employment status—and other factors like requiring ambulatory assistance and age which may predict the ability to work—between INHD users and comparison patients to avoid bias in estimates.     

多相流管输体系中水合物沉积机理研究进展

国内外对多相流管输体系中水合物沉积的研究虽然很多，但水合物沉积机理仍有待进一步研究。本文根据水合物沉积实验开展条件的不同，将多相流管输体系分为气体主导体系、油基体系、部分分散体系、水主导体系，总结了各体系的水合物沉积的主要机理，并提出了未来的发展方向。管输体系中水合物沉积机理包括水润湿沉积表面、水合物颗粒聚并、水合物的管壁膜生长、水合物颗粒的管壁粘附和水合物的颗粒着床沉积等。大多数学者认为：水合物的管壁膜生长是气体主导体系水合物沉积的主要机理；油基体系水合物沉积的主要机理是水合物颗粒的着床沉积；而部分分散体系和水主导体系的水合物沉积机理尚无统一定论，需进一步研究。多相流管输体系中水合物沉积研究未来的发展方向如下。①搭建全透明的流动环路，观测水合物在管路内实际的形成过程及沉积过程，对水合物沉积机理进行深入研究。②量化研究油水分层、油包水(或水包油)乳状液、自由水层对水合物沉积、堵塞的影响。③对于气体主导体系，除环状流和分层流外，有必要对段塞流、气泡流等其他常见的流型下沉积机理进行研究，重点在于开发一个综合模型来描述水合物沉积过程。④对于水主导体系，水合物形成过程出现的油水破乳的具体机理应是未来水合物沉积过程进行定量研究的方向。⑤国内外对垂直管、弯管及管阀件处水合物沉积堵塞理论研究较少，未来应着重这方面。     

Gas Chromatographic Enantioseparation of Fluorinated Anesthetics: Single‐Column Performance and Scale‐up Estimation

Results of a study devoted to provide the pure enantiomers of isoflurane and desflurane from racemic mixtures using gas chromatography are presented. For that purpose, a cyclodextrin‐based selector described in earlier work was immobilized on porous glass beads. The adsorption isotherms were determined and applied to predict operating parameters which provide the highest possible productivity of the separation. The analysis included evaluation of the performance of larger columns applying simplifying scale‐up considerations. Using repetitive batches, the method can provide per day with a laboratory scale column approximately 1 g pure enantiomer. Selected model predictions were validated experimentally.     

A Real Time Self-Tuning Motion Controller for Mobile Robot Systems

This paper proposes an intelligent controller for motion control of robotic systems to obtain high precision tracking without the need for a real-time trial and error method. In addition, a new self-tuning algorithm has been developed based on both the ant colony algorithm and a fuzzy system for real-time tuning of controller parameters. Simulations and experiments using a real robot have been addressed to demonstrate the success of the proposed controller and validate the theoretical analysis. Obtained results confirm that the proposed controller ensures robust performance in the presence of disturbances and parametric uncertainties without the need for adjustment of control law parameters by a trial and error method.      

Cloud based cyber-physical systems: Network evaluation study

In recent years, the Industry 4.0 concept brings new demands and trends in different areas; one of them is distributing computational power to the cloud. This concept also introduced the Reference Architectural Model for Industry 4.0 (RAMI 4.0). The efficiency of data communications within the RAMI 4.0 model is a critical issue. Aiming to evaluate the efficiency of data communication in the Cloud Based Cyber-Physical Systems (CB-CPS), this study analyzes the periods and data amount required to communicate with individual hierarchy levels of the RAMI 4.0 model. The evaluation of the network properties of the communication protocols eligible for CB-CPS is presented. The network properties to different cloud providers and data centers’ locations have been measured and interpreted. To test the findings, an architecture for cloud control of laboratory model was proposed. It was found that the time of the day; the day of the week; and data center utilization have a negligible impact on latency. The most significant impact lies in the data center distance and the speed of the communication channel. Moreover, the communication protocol also has impact on the latency. The feasibility of controlling each level of RAMI 4.0 through cloud services was investigated. Experimental results showed that control is possible in many solutions, but these solutions mostly cannot depend just on cloud services. The intelligence on the edge of the network will play a significant role. The main contribution is a thorough evaluation of different cloud providers, locations, and communication protocols to provide recommendations sufficient for different levels of the RAMI 4.0 architecture.     

基于滑模的二阶多智能体快速抗扰一致性

针对带有外部未知扰动的二阶多智能体系统的领导—跟随有限时间一致性问题，本文设计出一种带有时变增益的有限时间干扰观测器，用以实现对每个跟随智能体中未知扰动的快速估计，在此基础上，本文结合超螺旋积分滑模控制方法并利用邻居智能体的位置和速度信息设计一种快速抗扰一致性协议，该协议能够保证存在非线性动态的多智能体系统有限时间一致性控制并能抑制抖振现象.同时，利用李亚普诺夫函数进行了稳定性的证明.最后，通过Matlab数值仿真进一步验证了所提出协议的可行性.     

Virtual engineering of cyber-physical automation systems: The case of control logic

Mastering the fusion of information and communication technologies with physical systems to cyber-physical automation systems is of main concern to engineers in the industrial automation domain. The engineering of these systems is challenging as their distributed nature and the heterogeneity of stakeholders and tools involved in their engineering contradict the need for the simultaneous engineering of their cyber and physical parts over their life cycle. This paper presents a novel approach based on the virtual engineering method, which provides support for the simultaneous engineering of the cyber and physical parts of automation systems. The approach extends and integrates the life cycle centered view mandated by current conceptual architectures and the digital twin paradigm with an integrated, iterative engineering method. The benefits of the approach are highlighted in a case study related to the engineering of the control logic of a cyber physical automation system originating from the process engineering domain. We describe for the first time a modular domain ontology, which formally describes the cyber and physical part of the system. We present cyber services built on top of the ontology layer, which allow to automatically verify different control logic types and simultaneously verify cyber and physical parts of the system in an incremental manner.     

Improved CCM for variable causality detection in complex systems

Convergent cross-mapping (CCM), has been largely implemented for variable causality detection in complex systems like chemical process. However, this method is susceptible to problems regarding parameter selection and threshold determination. The synchronization phenomenon and the Moran effect, which are two interference terms in causality detection, must also be addressed. Therefore, an improved CCM is proposed to overcome these limitations in this paper. In the improved CCM, the optimal embedding dimension is selected based on the pseudo-nearest-neighbor theory. Also, Monte Carlo simulation is adopted to evaluate the convergence threshold. Next, by using the defined time delay detection function, the synchronization phenomenon and the Moran effect are identified to reduce the interference terms and further improve the accuracy. Finally, the improved CCM method is applied in a numerical example and a hydrocracking process to demonstrate its feasibility and superior performance than other methods.