Global optimization of tool path for five-axis flank milling with a conical cutter

In this paper, optimum positioning of the conical cutter for five-axis flank milling of slender surfaces is addressed from the perspective of approximating the tool envelope surface to the data points on the design surface following the minimum zone criterion recommended by ANSI and ISO standards for tolerance evaluation. Based on the observation that a conical surface can be treated as a canal surface, i.e. envelope surface of one-parameter family of spheres, the swept envelope of a conical cutter is represented as a sphere-swept surface. Then, an approach is presented to efficiently compute the signed distance between a point in space and the swept surface without constructing the swept surface itself. The first order differential increment of the signed point-to-surface distance with respect to the differential deformation of the tool axis trajectory surface is derived. By using the distance function, tool path optimizations for semi-finish and finish millings are formulated as two constrained optimization problems in a unified framework, and a sequential approximation algorithm along with a hierarchical algorithmic structure is developed for the optimization. Numerical examples are given to confirm the validity and efficiency of the proposed approach. Comparing with the existing approaches, the present one improves the machining accuracy greatly. The rationale developed applies to general rotary cutters.     

Parameterized complexity of control problems in Maximin election

Elections are a central model in a variety of areas. This paper studies parameterized computational complexity of five control problems in the Maximin election. We obtain the following results: constructive control by adding candidates is W[2]-hard with respect to the parameter “number of added candidates”; both constructive and destructive control by adding/deleting voters are W[1]-hard with respect to the parameter “number of added/deleted voters”.     

Some improved results on communication between information systems

To study the communication between information systems, Wang et al. [C. Wang, C. Wu, D. Chen, Q. Hu, C. Wu, Communicating between information systems, Information Sciences 178 (2008) 3228-3239] proposed two concepts of type-1 and type-2 consistent functions. Some properties of such functions and induced relation mappings have been investigated there. In this paper, we provide an improvement of the aforementioned work by disclosing the symmetric relationship between type-1 and type-2 consistent functions. We present more properties of consistent functions and induced relation mappings and improve upon several deficient assertions in the original work. In particular, we unify and extend type-1 and type-2 consistent functions into the so-called neighborhood-consistent functions. This provides a convenient means for studying the communication between information systems based on various neighborhoods.     

On filter theory of residuated lattices

The aim of this paper is to develop the filter theory of general residuated lattices. First, we extend some particular types of filters and fuzzy filters in BL-algebras and MTL-algebras naturally to general residuated lattices, and further enumerate some relative results obtained in BL-algebras or MTL-algebras, which still hold in general residuated lattices. Next, we introduce the concepts of regular filters and fuzzy regular filters to general residuated lattices, which are two new types of filters and fuzzy filters, and derive some of their characterizations. Finally, we discuss the relations between (fuzzy) regular filters and several other special (fuzzy) filters, and also characterize some special classes of residuated lattices by filters or fuzzy filters.     

Missile target automatic recognition from its decoys based on image time-series

As the development of the technology for radar target recognition, missile target automatic recognition has received considerable attention in recent years. Missile target, compared with the plane target, is hard to recognize for its smallness, feebleness and maneuver. In this paper, a new recognition method based on radar image time-series, which can significantly reduce the recognition time and classification error, is proposed. The image time-series are produced by range instantaneous Doppler imaging algorithm firstly, and then cross-range scaling of the images is processed. In particular, the inertia ratio, extracted from the obtained image time-series, is introduced to distinguish the missile from decoys. Furthermore, the effectiveness of this method is demonstrated by application to simulated data and it has been shown that this method has the potential to be used in a number of real-time applications.     

Parameter estimation and stabilization for a wave equation with boundary output harmonic disturbance and non‐collocated control

This paper is concerned with the parameter estimation and stabilization of a one‐dimensional wave equation with harmonic disturbance suffered by boundary observation at one end and the non‐collocated control at the other end. An adaptive observer is designed in terms of measured velocity corrupted by harmonic disturbance with unknown magnitude. The backstepping method for infinite‐dimensional system is adopted in the design of the feedback law. It is shown that the resulting closed‐loop system is asymptotically stable. Meanwhile, the estimated parameter is shown to be convergent to the unknown parameter as time goes to infinity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental investigation and comparison of super‐wideband antipodal slot antennas

Three novel, super‐wideband antipodal slot antennas with different tuning stubs are studied and compared with each other. Smooth, half‐circular slot profile is used to improve the antennas' polarization purity and impedance bandwidth, and different tuning stubs are used to finely tune the antennas' radiation performance. As will be reported, low crosspolarization level, stable dipole‐like pattern, and flat gain performances can be obtained within an operation bandwidth of 6.3:1 by introducing a smooth antipodal slot structure and a cup‐shape tuning patch. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2011.     

On improved calibration method for the catadioptric omnidirectional vision with a single viewpoint

The single viewpoint constraint is a principal optical characteristic for most catadioptric omnidirectional vision. Single viewpoint catadioptric omnidirectional vision is very useful because it allows the generation of geometrically correct perspective images from one omnidirectional image. Therefore precise calibration for single viewpoint constraint is needed during system assembling. However, in most image detection based calibration methods, the nonlinear optical distortion brought by lens is often neglected. Hence the calibration precision is poor. In this paper, a new calibration method of single viewpoint constraint for the catadioptric omni-directional vision is proposed. Firstly, an image correction algorithm is obtained by training a neural network. Then, according to characteristics of the space circular perspective projection, the corrected image of the mirror boundary is used to estimate its position and attitude relative to the camera to guide the calibration. Since the estimate is conducted based on actual imaging model rather than the simplified model, the estimate error is largely reduced, and the calibration accuracy is significantly improved. Experiments are conducted on simulated images and real images to show the accuracy and the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Community discovery using nonnegative matrix factorization

Complex networks exist in a wide range of real world systems, such as social networks, technological networks, and biological networks. During the last decades, many researchers have concentrated on exploring some common things contained in those large networks include the small-world property, power-law degree distributions, and network connectivity. In this paper, we will investigate another important issue, community discovery, in network analysis. We choose Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) as our tool to find the communities because of its powerful interpretability and close relationship between clustering methods. Targeting different types of networks (undirected, directed and compound), we propose three NMF techniques (Symmetric NMF, Asymmetric NMF and Joint NMF). The correctness and convergence properties of those algorithms are also studied. Finally the experiments on real world networks are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed methods.     

Role-based access to facilities lifecycle information on RFID tags

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based systems have been used in different applications in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Owner and Operator (AECOO) industry. Applications are mainly designed for specific lifecycle stage of the facility and serve the needs of only one of the stakeholders. This would increase the cost and the labor for adding and removing tags and eliminate the chance of using shared resources. In this paper, the usage of tags permanently attached to components is proposed where the memory of the tags is used during the lifecycle by different stakeholders for data storage and handover. A Building Information Model (BIM) database is used for tackling the interoperability issues allowing different users to access and share the data. To securely and efficiently store data on RFID tags in ifcXML format, multi-level encryption together with role-based access control is applied on the data stored on RFID tags. Each user is assigned a certain role and can only access the part of data for which he has authorization according to a predefined role and the Access Control Policy. To explore the technical feasibility of the proposed approach, a case study considering both facilities management and emergency management has been implemented and tested at Concordia University.