Pre-control form of the generalized Campbell–Baker–Hausdorff–Dynkin formula for affine nonholonomic systems

In this paper a pre-control form of the generalized Campbell–Baker–Hausdorff–Dynkin (gCBHD) formula is presented. This form is dedicated to nonholonomic (affine) systems often encountered in robotics. The simplest possible expression for the pre-control gCBHD is obtained as control-dependent functions pre-multiply elements of the Ph. Hall basis. Algorithmic aspects of deriving the formula are highlighted. An application of the pre-control form of the gCBHD formula in motion planning of nonholonomic systems is also reported.     

Thermodynamic assessments of the Ni–Pt and Al–Ni–Pt systems

The Ni–Pt system is assessed using the CALPHAD method. The four fcc-based phases, i.e. disordered solid solution phase, Ni₃Pt–L1₂, NiPt–L1₀ and NiPt₃–L1₂, are described by a four-sublattice model. The calculated thermodynamic properties and order/disorder phase transformations are in good agreement with the experimental data. In order to facilitate the assessment, first-principles pseudopotential calculations are also performed to calculate the enthalpy of formation at 0 K, and comparison with the assessed values is discussed. By combining the assessments of Al–Ni and Al–Pt, the Al–Ni–Pt ternary system is assessed within a narrow temperature range, focusing on the fcc-based phases and their phase equilibria with B2 phase.     

On a computationally simple form of the generalized Campbell–Baker–Hausdorff–Dynkin formula

In this paper a computationally simple form of the generalized Campbell–Baker–Hausdorff–Dynkin formula (GCBHD) is given. Simplifications arise from both combinatorial (explicit) as well as algorithmic (implicit) arguments. On generating the Ph. Hall basis in a special form, and introducing a specific structure representation of the vector field, vector fields appearing in GCBHD are automatically transformed into the reduced Ph. Hall basis. The formula can be exploited in nonholonomic motion planning what is illustrated with examples.     

LASS: A language for stochastic systems

A new problem oriented language for finding solutions to problems to probability theory is presented. A system is first described as a structure of probabilistic cause and effect relationships. The, questions concerning outcome probabilities are posed. The programming system then provides exact answers to such questions by applying discrete probability theory.     

Joyce—A programming language for distributed systems

This paper describes a secure programming language called Joyce based on CSP and Pascal. Joyce permits unbounded (recursive) activation of communicating agents. The agents exchange messages through synchronous channels. A channel can transfer messages of different types between two or more agents. A compiler can check message types and ensure that agents use disjoint sets of variables only. The use of Joyce is illustrated by a variety of examples.     

Control design for suppressing transversal patterns in reaction–(convection)–diffusion systems

The stabilization of planar stationary fronts solutions in a two-dimensional rectangular or cylinder domain, in which a diffusion–convection–reaction process occurs, is studied by reducing the original two-variable PDEs model to an approximate one-dimensional model that describes the behavior of the front line. We consider the control strategy based on sensors placed at the designed front line position and actuators that are spatially-uniform or space dependent. We present a systematic control design that determines the number of required sensors and actuators, their position and their form. The control used linear analysis of a lumped truncated model and concepts of finite and infinite zeros of linear multidimensional systems.     

L2–L∞ filtering for nonlinear stochastic systems

A sufficient condition for a general nonlinear stochastic system to have L₂?L_∞ gain less than or equal to a prescribed positive number is established in terms of a certain Hamilton–Jacobi inequality (HJI). Based on this criterion, the existence of an L₂?L_∞ filter is given by a second‐order nonlinear HJI, and the filter matrices can be obtained by solving such an HJI. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society     

Atomic mobilities and diffusional growth in solid phases of the V–Nb and V–Zr systems

In conjunction with the thermodynamic parameters in the literature, the atomic mobilities of the V–Nb and V–Zr bcc alloys were assessed from experimental diffusion coefficients. The assessed atomic mobilities are given as functions of temperatures and composition in the CALPHAD format. Comparisons between the calculated and experimental quantities show that the obtained mobility parameters enable most of the experimental diffusion data to be well reproduced. Based on the velocity constructions for lattice planes in V/Nb diffusion couples, the displacements of Kirkendall makers were investigated under various annealing conditions, and the results are in general agreement with experimental values. In addition, computational studies of V/Zr diffusion couples were carried out for the kinetic behaviors of V ₂Zr at various annealing temperatures, from which the temperature dependence of the interdiffusion coefficients for V ₂Zr was evaluated.     

Remote research methods for Human–AI–Robot Teaming

This study focuses on methodological adaptations and considerations for remote research on Human–AI–Robot Teaming (HART) amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Themes and effective remote research methods were explored. Central issues in remote research were identified, such as challenges in attending to participants' experiences, coordinating experimenter teams remotely, and protecting privacy and confidentiality. Instances of experimental design overcoming these challenges were identified in methods for recruitment and onboarding, training, team task scenarios, and measurement. Three case studies are presented in which interactive in-person testbeds for HART were rapidly redesigned to function remotely. Although COVID-19 may have temporarily constrained experimental design, future HART studies may adopt remote research methods to expand the research toolkit.     

Asymptotic characterizations of input–output-to-state stability for discrete-time systems

We establish the equivalence between global detectability and output-to-state stability for difference inclusions with outputs, and we present equivalent asymptotic characterizations of input–output-to-state stability for discrete-time nonlinear systems. These new stability characterizations for discrete-time systems parallel what have been developed for continuous-time systems in Angeli et al. [Uniform global asymptotic stability of differential inclusions, J. Dynamical Control Systems 10 (2004) 391–412] and Angeli et al. [Seperation principles for input–output and integral-input-to-state stability, SIAM J. Control Optim. 43 (2004) 256–276].     

Controllability for a class of simple Wiener–Hammerstein systems

Controllability for a class of simple Wiener–Hammerstein systems is considered. Necessary and sufficient conditions for dead-beat and complete controllability for these systems are presented. The controllability tests consist of two easy-to-check tests for the subsystems.     

Nonlinear–nonquadratic optimal and inverse optimal control for stochastic dynamical systems

In this paper, we develop a unified framework to address the problem of optimal nonlinear analysis and feedback control for nonlinear stochastic dynamical systems. Specifically, we provide a simplified and tutorial framework for stochastic optimal control and focus on connections between stochastic Lyapunov theory and stochastic Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman theory. In particular, we show that asymptotic stability in probability of the closed‐loop nonlinear system is guaranteed by means of a Lyapunov function that can clearly be seen to be the solution to the steady‐state form of the stochastic Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation and, hence, guaranteeing both stochastic stability and optimality. In addition, we develop optimal feedback controllers for affine nonlinear systems using an inverse optimality framework tailored to the stochastic stabilization problem. These results are then used to provide extensions of the nonlinear feedback controllers obtained in the literature that minimize general polynomial and multilinear performance criteria. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The experimental study of the Bi–Sn, Bi–Zn and Bi–Sn–Zn systems

The binary Bi–Sn was studied by means of SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy)/EDS (Energy-Dispersive solid state Spectrometry), DTA (Differential Thermal Analysis)/DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry) and RT-XRD (Room Temperature X-Ray Diffraction) in order to clarify discrepancies concerning the Bi reported solubility in (Sn). It was found that (Sn) dissolves approximately 10 wt% of Bi at the eutectic temperature.

The experimental effort for the Bi–Zn system was limited to the investigation of the discrepancies concerning the solubility limit of Zn in (Bi) and the solubility of Bi in (Zn). Results indicate that the solubility of both elements in the respective solid solution is approximately 0.3 wt% at 200 C.

Three different features were studied within the Bi–Sn–Zn system. Although there are enough data to establish the liquid miscibility gap occurring in the phase diagram of binary Bi–Zn, no data could be found for the ternary. Samples belonging to the isopleths with w(Bi) 10% and w(Sn) 5%, 13% and 19% were measured by DTA/DSC. The aim was to characterize the miscibility gap in the liquid phase. Samples belonging to the isopleths with w(Sn) 40%, 58%, 77/81% and w(Zn) 12% were also measured by DTA/DSC to complement the study of Bi–Sn–Zn. Solubilities in the solid terminal solutions were determined by SEM/EDS. Samples were also analyzed by RT-XRD and HT-XRD (High Temperature X-Ray Diffraction) confirming the DTA/DSC results for solid state phase equilibria.     

Periodic motion planning for virtually constrained Euler–Lagrange systems

The paper suggests an explicit form of a general integral of motion for some classes of dynamical systems including n-degrees of freedom Euler–Lagrange systems subject to (n-1) virtual holonomic constraints. The knowledge of this integral allows to extend the classical results due to Lyapunov for detecting a presence of periodic solutions for a family of second order systems, and allows to solve the periodic motion planning task for underactuated Euler–Lagrange systems, when there is only one not directly actuated generalized coordinate. As an illustrative example, we have shown how to create a periodic oscillation of the pendulum for a cart–pendulum system and how then to make them orbitally exponentially stable following the machinery developed in [A. Shiriaev, J. Perram, C. Canudas-de-Wit, Constructive tool for an orbital stabilization of underactuated nonlinear systems: virtual constraint approach, IEEE Trans. Automat. Control 50 (8) (2005) 1164–1176]. The extension here also considers time-varying virtual constraints.     

The Bang‐bang principle of time optimal controls for the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky–KdV equation with internal control

This paper is concerned with the time optimal control problem governed by the internal controlled Kuramoto–Sivashinsky–Korteweg‐de Vries equation, which describes many physical processes in motion of turbulence and other unstable process systems. We prove the existence of optimal controls with the help of the Carleman inequality, which has been widely used to obtain the local controllability or null controllability of parabolic differential systems. More precisely, with the help of the Carleman inequality, we obtain a relationship between the null controllability and time optimal control problem. Moreover, we give the bang‐bang principle for an optimal control of our original problem by using the one of approximate problems. This method is new for time optimal control problems. The bang‐bang principle established here seems also to be new for fourth‐order parabolic differential equations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Boltzmann–Hamel equations for the optimal control of mechanical systems with nonholonomic constraints

In this paper, we generalize the Boltzmann–Hamel equations for nonholonomic mechanics to a form suited for the kinematic or dynamic optimal control of mechanical systems subject to nonholonomic constraints. In solving these equations one is able to eliminate the controls and compute the optimal trajectory from a set of coupled first‐order differential equations with boundary values. By using an appropriate choice of quasi‐velocities, one is able to reduce the required number of differential equations by m and 3m for the kinematic and dynamic optimal control problems, respectively, where m is the number of nonholonomic constraints. In particular we derive a set of differential equations that yields the optimal reorientation path of a free rigid body. In the special case of a sphere, we show that the optimal trajectory coincides with the cubic splines on SO(3). Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Extended stochastic gradient identification algorithms for Hammerstein–Wiener ARMAX systems

An extended stochastic gradient algorithm is developed to estimate the parameters of Hammerstein–Wiener ARMAX models. The basic idea is to replace the unmeasurable noise terms in the information vector of the pseudo-linear regression identification model with the corresponding noise estimates which are computed by the obtained parameter estimates. The obtained parameter estimates of the identification model include the product terms of the parameters of the original systems. Two methods of separating the parameter estimates of the original parameters from the product terms are discussed: the average method and the singular value decomposition method. To improve the identification accuracy, an extended stochastic gradient algorithm with a forgetting factor is presented. The simulation results indicate that the parameter estimation errors become small by introducing the forgetting factor.