Kinematic mechanism and path planning of the Essboard

In this paper, we study the kinematic mechanism and path planning for a two-caster nonholonomic vehicle (the Essboard) which is a recent variant of skateboard. Different from the most studied Snakeboard, the Essboard consists of a torsion bar and two platforms, each of which contains a pedal and a caster. We first investigate the relationship between the tilt angles of the pedals and the wheel directions of the casters. This relationship reveals how to control the wheel directions by adjusting the tilt angles. Next, the rotational radius of the Essboard is derived for a given pair of tilt angles of both pedals. The rotational radius of the Essboard is much different than that of the Snakeboard. Then we develop a path-planning algorithm for the Essboard to move from a start position to the goal, using a series of consecutively connected arcs, which are tangent to each other at the connected points. It is shown from a kinematic point of view that the path planning of the Essboard can be solved by a series of pairs of pedals’ tilt angles. Three experiments are conducted to confirm the correctness of the main results. The results in this paper are a foundation for further study of the Essboard.     

Geophysical criterion of pre-outburst coal outsqueezing from the face space into the working

The initial process of coal and gas sudden outburst is studied in the article when under the influence of rock and gas pressure the part of a coal seam layer(a coal section) is squeezed out from the mouth of the future outburst cavity in a jump-like manner into the working. Geo-mechanical criterion for a part of a coal seam layer outsqueezing in the form of the relation of active(squeezing out) and passive(preventing the outsqueezing) forces is defined in the article. Based on it, the geophysical criterion is defined by expressing basic physical parameters through geo-physical ones: the current stress is defined by spectral-acoustic method through the ratio of high frequency and low-frequency components of an acoustic signal, which is generated into a face working space by the mining equipment operating in the face; in-situ gas pressure is defined by gas analytical method by the concentration of methane in the atmosphere of the working; the strength of the most broken coal layer is defined by a strength measuring device(a device for measuring the depth of a steal cone punched into the coal by a spring mechanism). This paper studies the influence of acoustic, strength and filtrating and collecting properties of a face working space on the limit value of an obtained geophysical criterion of pre-outburst squeezing of a coal ‘‘plug" out of the mouth of the future outburst cavity into the working.     

Importance of building maintenance at the time of architectural design of buildings rehabilitated with heritage value

During architectural conception phase,building maintenance problematic is mostly a result of the unintentional use of preconceived architectonical solutions rather than a consequence of a specific influence of maintenance requirements.Hardly the architect in the act of design understands the importance of these solutions in the service life span of a building.Being aware of this,is it possible for the architect to be supplied with a decision support system that allows him to consider the implications of building maintenance since the early design phases? Having awareness of this problem and its consequences in the early design phases a research project was started at the Faculty Engineering of the University of Oporto(FEUP),under which the implications of building maintenance in the act of architectural design is studied.This article presents the methodology developed to identify the needs of maintenance of buildings based on a DSS-decision support system that provides simple tools the architect can use in design phase.This methodology is based on decomposition of building parts-Elements Source of Maintenance ESM-,and subsequently,a set of functional requirements that determine the performance regarding building maintenance on account of architectural decisions.Relevant maintenance actions are defined: Inspection,Pro-action,Cleaning,Correction,Replacement,Legal enforcement,Limits of use.One can thus set up a relationship between the act of design and its performance framework based on behavior,intervention and the ownership of the work of architecture.Using a Multicriteria Analysis(MCA) a qualitative evaluation of different options based on maintenance requirements accomplishment.Conclusions on the importance of architectural conception concerning the building maintenance were clearly arrived at and the utility of the developed decision support tool was also highlighted.     

High Performance Servo—System of a Motor in Driect Drive Robotics

This paper decribes the control of a high performance variable reluctance motor system for direct drive robotics and industrial automation. The control system of a motor comists of a drive unit and a digital controller, possessing two functions of tbe analog dosed-loop control of motor velocity and the digit dosed-loop control of motor position. Then it discusses the closed-loop control of current in the three phases of the motor and the control of the lead angle of the motor. Finally, it suggests a design of the control circuits of motor current, velocity and position. The closed loop control of the motor position is achieved by a digit cotroller which consists of a microprocessor and other electronic components. It can control two variable reluctance motors simultaneusly. In order to be used for directly driving robots, the digit cotroller is equipped with a universal interface.     

Damage model of fresh concrete in sulphate environment

A model of damage to fresh concrete in a corrosive sulphate environment was formulated to investigate how and why the strength of corroded concrete changes over time. First, a corroded concrete block was divided into three regions: an expanded and dense region; a crack-development region; and a noncorroded region. Second, based on the thickness of the surface corrosion layer and the rate of loss of compressive strength of the corroding region, a computational model of the concrete blocks’ corrosion-resistance coefficient of compressive strength in a sulphate environment was generated. Third, experimental tests of the corrosion of concrete were conducted by immersing specimens in a corrosive medium for 270 d. A comparison of the experimental results with the computational formulae shows that the calculation results and test results are in good agreement. A parameter analysis reveals that the corrosion reaction plays a major role in the corrosion of fresh concrete containing ordinary Portland cement,but the diffusion of the corrosion medium plays a major role in the corrosion of concrete mixtures containing fly ash and sulphate-resistant cement. Fresh concrete with a high water-to-cement ratio shows high performance during the whole experiment process whereas fresh concrete with a low water-to-cement ratio shows poor performance during the late experiment period.     

THE EVOLUTION OF WANNIER-MOTT EXCITONS IN NAMI-SEMICONDUCTOR DRIVEN BY A STRONG ELECTRICAL FIELD

We present here a formulation of subdy-namics to calculatee Wannier-Mott excitons in a Nami-semi-conductor driven by a strong electrical field . The formula of the evolution of density operator for the time-dependent Liouvillian is given. In terms of this formula we can calculate the nonlinear response of the absorbing coefficient of light for nami-semicauducton. The results are helpful to study either the nonlinear behavior of the Wannier-Mott excitons in a nami-semicauducton driven by a strong harmonic field or the optic properties of these kinds of materials.     

Process expression of bounded Petri nets

The concept of process expression of bounded Petri nets is presented.Moreover,an algorithm to find the process expression for a bounded Petri net is given.A process expression of a bounded Petri net is a regular expression whose every alphabet symbol represents a basic subprocess of the net.The regular set expressed by the regular expression is the set of all surjective processes of a bounded Petri net.A surjective process of a bounded Petri net is a process of this net in which every s-cut corresponds to a reachable marking of the net.Therefore,all surjective processes of a bounded Petri net can be obtained as long as its process expression and the basic subprocess represented by the alphabet symbols of the process expression are given.     

Theory and methodology for kinematic design of Gough-Stewart platforms

The kinematic design issue of Gough-Stewart platforms is investigated. Based upon a full understanding of the geometrical characteristics of workspace boundary, a spherically-shaped prescribed workspace having a given orientation capability is defined for the synthesis of a well behaved workspace. Two performance measures are presented, i.e. the local dexterity and workspace radius ratio. The dimensions of the platform are determined with a prior knowledge of how the design parameters affect the dexterity and workspace radius ratio, resulting in an optimal design in terms of these performance indices. An example of application to the kinematic design of a hexapod machine tool is given to illustrate the effectiveness of this approach.     

Obstacle avoidance technology of bionic quadruped robot based on multi-sensor information fusion

In order to improve the ability of a bionic quadruped robot to percept the location of obstacles in a complex and dynamic environment, the information fusion between an ultrasonic sensor and a binocular sensor was studied under the condition that the robot moves in the Walk gait on a structured road. Firstly, the distance information of obstacles from these two sensors was separately processed by the Kalman filter algorithm, which largely reduced the noise interference. After that, we obtained two groups of estimated distance values from the robot to the obstacle and a variance of the estimation value. Additionally, a fusion of the estimation values and the variances was achieved based on the STF fusion algorithm. Finally, a simulation was performed to show that the curve of a real value was tracked well by that of the estimation value, which attributes to the effectiveness of the Kalman filter algorithm. In contrast to statistics before fusion, the fusion variance of the estimation value was sharply decreased. The precision of the position information is 4.6.cm, which meets the application requirements of the robot.     

Effects of the Change in Average Permittivity and Conductivity of Grating on Diffraction Efficiency

A model describing the propagation of optical waves in a hologram volume grating is studied. Then the effects of the change in the average permittivity and conductivity of a grating on diffraction efficiency are discussed. Finally a comparision of the results of this model with those by Solymar is made. The authors come to a conclusion that the effects of the change can be compensated.     

The Combustion Synthesis Process of Al-Ti-C System in an Elevated-temperature Al-melt

One of the main disadvantages of combustion synthesis of ceramic/metal composite materials is the relatively high level of porosity present in the products. To synthesize TiC/ Al composites with a dense structure, this paper proposes a novel application of an elevated-temperature Al-melt to directly ignite and simultaneously in-filtrate Al-Ti-C preform dipped in the melt. The emphasis was placed on the combustion synthesis process and mi-crostructural evolution of the preform in the melt, by a liquid quenching test combined with the measurtment of the temperatwe history of the dipped preform. The results show that the combustion synthesis process of the preform in the elevated-temperature melt involves a series of reactions, and that higher temperature of the melt is favourable for the formation of TiC. The synthesized TiC / Al composites exhibit a dense strucame, which is attributed to the infiltration of the melt into the preform.     

A STUDY ON THE DECLINE FUNCTION OF THE PROPERTIES OF CEMENT COMPOSITE SUFFERING iN THE FREEZING-THAWING CIRCLE

This Paper is a study on the rule of the decline of properties of cement composite being damaged in the freezing thawing circle. By analyzing the damaging process of cement composite in such a circle,the author sets up a model of "vicious circle" and then deduces and proves the decline function of the properties of the cement composite. It is proved that the frost-resistance of cement composite depends on its internal hydraulic pressure. A fast testing method and a judging index R_f for the frost resistance of cement composite are also suggested.     

An architecture for mobile database management system

In order to design a new kind of mobile database management system(DBMS) more suitable for mobile computing than the existent DBMS,the essence of database systems in mobile computing is analyzed.An opinion is introduced that the mobile database is a kind of dynamic distributed database,and the concept of virtual servers to translate the clients‘ mobility to the servers‘ mobility is proposed.Based on these opinions.a kind of architecture of mobile DBMS,which is of versatility,is presented.The architecture is composed of a virtual server and a local DBMS,the virtual server is the kernel of the architecture and its functions are described.Eventually,the server kernal of a mobile DBMS prototype is illustrated.     

Analytical solutions to a compressible boundary layer problem with heat transfer

The problem of momentum and heat transfer in a compressible boundary layer behind a thin expansion wave was solved by the application of the similarity transformation and the shooting technique. Utilizing the analytical expression of a two-point boundary value problem for momentum transfer, the energy boundary layer solution was represented as a function of the dimension-less velocity, and as the parameters of the Prandtl number, the velocity ratio, and the temperature ratio.     

Algebraic algorithm for reliability index weighted capacity of communication network

Communication network has communication capacity and connection reliability of the links. They can be independently defined and can be used separately, and when the reliability of a communication network is analyzed from a macroscopical angle of view, it is more objective to express the performance index of a communication network as a whole. The reliability index weighted capacity is just obtained by integrating these two parameters. It is necessary to further study the algorithm to calculate the reliability index of the communication network with a complicated topologic structure and a whole algebraic algorithm is therefore proposed for calculation of the reliability index weighted capacity of a communication network with a topologic structure. The whole computational procedure of the algorithm is illustrated with a typical example.     

Study of a Comprehensive Assessment Method for Coal Mine Safety Based on a Hierarchical Grey Analysis

Coal mine safety is a complex system, which is controlled by a number of interrelated factors and is difficult to estimate. This paper proposes an index system of safety assessment based on correlated factors involved in coal mining and a comprehensive evaluation model that combines the advantages of the AHP and a grey clustering method to guarantee the accuracy and objectivity of weight coefficients. First, we confirmed the weight of every index using the AHP, then did a general safety assessment by means of a grey clustering method. This model analyses the status of mining safety both qualitatively and quantitatively. It keeps management and technical groups informed of the situation of the coal production line in real time, which aids in making correct decisions based on practical safety issues. A case study in the application of the model is presented. The results show that the method is applicable and realistic with regard to the core of a coal mine＇s safety management. Consequently, the safe production of a mine and the awareness of advanced safe production management is accelerated.     

Assessment on reliability of water quality in water distribution systems

Water leaving the treatment works is usually of a high quality but its properties change during the transportation stage, Increasing awareness of the quality of the service provided within the water industry today and assessing the reliability of the water quality in a distribution system has become a major significance for decision on system operation based on water quality in distribution networks. Using together a water age model, a chlorine decay model and a model of acceptable maximum water age can assess the reliability of the water quality in a distribution system. First, the nodal water age values in a certain complex distribution system can be calculated by the water age model. Then, the acceptable maximum water age value in the distribution system is obtained based on the chlorine decay model. The nodes at which the water age values are below the maximum value are regarded as reliable nodes, Finally, the reliability index on the percentile weighted by the nodal demands reflects the reliability of the water quality in the distribution system. The approach has been applied in a real water distribution network. The contour plot based on the water age values determines a surface of the reliability of the water quality, At any time, this surface is used to locate high water age but poor reliability areas, which identify parts of the network that may be of poor water quality. As a result, the contour water age provides a valuable aid for a straight insight into the water quality in the distribution system.     

Evaluation of Security of Mine Ventilation Systems

A mine ventilation system has a deterministic function for the ~fety of coal production and for the control of mine accidents. So, it has an important meaning to evaluate the security of a mine ventilation system. This paper studied the evaluation index system of the security of a mine ventilation system, and the security of a mine ventilation system was dc,described quantitatively in the safety degree. Finally, an example of the seurity evaluation was given.     

Theoretical analysis and simulation of thermoelastic deformation of bimorph microbeams

In this paper, a purely mechanical model for the thermoelastic behavior of a bimorph microbeam is presented. The thermoelastic coupling problem of the microbeam is converted to a mechanical problem by simply replacing the thermal stress in the beam with a bulk force and a surface force. Thermoelastic deformation of the bimorph microbeams with constraints frequently used in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) devices has been derived based on this model and is characterized by FEA simulation. Coincidence of the results from theory and simulation demonstrates the validity of the model. The analysis shows that a bimorph microbeam with a soft constraint and a uniform temperature field has a larger thermoelastic deformation than that with a hard constraint and a linear temperature field. In addition to the adoption of materials with large CTE mismatch,thickness ratio and length ratio of the two layers need to be optimized to get a large thermoelastic deformation.     

Shear flow analyses for polymer melt extruding under superimposed vibration

The introduction of a vibration force field has a profound influence on the polymer formation process.However, its formation mechanism has not been explored until now, With the application of experimental equipment designed by the authors named “Constant Velocity Type Dynamic Rheometer of Capillary” or (CVDRC) ,we were able to analyze in detail the whole extrusion process of a polymer melt. We did this after superimposing a sine vibration of small amplitude parallel to the extruding direction of the polymer melt, Then, we created a calculation model to determine the shear stress at the wall of the capillary using a superimposed vibration, We also determined the calculation steps needed to establish the afore-mentioned shear stress. Through measurement and analysis, the instantaneous entry pressure of the capillary, the pressure gradient, and the shear stress of the polymer melt within the capillary under vibration force field can be calculated.