Control schemes for stable teleoperation with communication delay based on IOS small gain theorem

The problem of stabilization of a force-reflecting telerobotic system in presence of time delay in the communication channel is addressed. We introduce an approach that is based on application of the input-to-output stability (IOS) small gain theorem for functional differential equations (FDEs). A version of the stabilization algorithm as well as its two adaptive extensions are proposed. For all these control schemes, the input-to-state stability (ISS) of the overall telerobotic system is guaranteed in the global, global practical, or semiglobal practical sense for any constant communication delay under the assumption that the environmental dynamics satisfy a weak form of finite-gain stability property. As an intermediate step, we formulate and prove a general IOS (ISS) small gain result for FDEs.     

Simultaneous reconstruction of the time-dependent Robin coefficient and heat flux in heat conduction problems

This paper aims to solve an inverse heat conduction problem in two-dimensional space under transient regime, which consists of the estimation of multiple time-dependent heat sources placed at the boundaries. Robin boundary condition (third type boundary condition) is considered at the working domain boundary. The simultaneous identification problem is formulated as a constrained minimization problem using the output least squares method with Tikhonov regularization. The properties of the continuous and discrete optimization problem are studied. Differentiability results and the adjoint problems are established. The numerical estimation is investigated using a modified conjugate gradient method. Furthermore, to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm, obtained results are compared with results obtained from the well-known finite-element software COMSOL Multiphysics under the same conditions. The numerical results show that the proposed algorithm is accurate, robust and capable of simultaneously representing the time effects on reconstructing the time-dependent Robin coefficient and heat flux.     

Optimal control of electromagnetic wave displacement with an unknown velocity of propagation

The aim of this paper is to control an electromagnetic wave that penetrates in a medium with some missing information about its physical properties. The missing value of wave velocity of propagation leads us to use averaged control notion which is recently introduced by E. Zuazua, also the boundary Dirichlet condition is unknown which requires using the notion of no-regret control introduced by J. L. Lions. In this work, we combine these two techniques where we introduce the notion of averaged no-regret control to solve our optimal control problem with missing data. The averaged no-regret control will be characterised by an optimality system.     

A survey of multidisciplinary design optimization methods in launch vehicle design

Optimal design of launch vehicles is a complex problem which requires the use of specific techniques called Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) methods. MDO methodologies are applied in various domains and are an interesting strategy to solve such an optimization problem. This paper surveys the different MDO methods and their applications to launch vehicle design. The paper is focused on the analysis of the launch vehicle design problem and brings out the advantages and the drawbacks of the main MDO methods in this specific problem. Some characteristics such as the robustness, the calculation costs, the flexibility, the convergence speed or the implementation difficulty are considered in order to determine the methods which are the most appropriate in the launch vehicle design framework. From this analysis, several ways of improvement of the MDO methods are proposed to take into account the specificities of the launch vehicle design problem in order to improve the efficiency of the optimization process.     

Joint loss pattern characterization and unequal interleaved FEC protection for robust H.264 video distribution over wireless LAN

The recently adopted H.264 standard achieves efficient video encoding and bandwidth savings. Thus, designing communication protocols and QoS control mechanisms for H.264 video distribution over wireless IP networks is a topic of intense research interest. Delivering video streams to terminals via a wireless last hop is indeed a challenging task due to the varying nature of the wireless link. While a common approach suggests exploiting the variations of the wireless channel, an alternative is to exploit characteristics of the video stream to improve the transmission. In this paper, we combine both approaches through an efficient wireless loss characterization and a low-delay unequal interleaved FEC protection. Besides deriving new QoS metrics for FEC block allocation, the wireless loss characterization is as well used to adjust the interleaving level depending on the loss correlation exhibited by the wireless channel. This novel unequal interleaved FEC (UI-FEC) protocol allows graceful video quality degradation over error-prone wireless links while minimizing the overall bandwidth consumption and the end-to-end latency.     

Adaptive iterative learning control for robot manipulators

In this paper, we propose some adaptive iterative learning control (ILC) schemes for trajectory tracking of rigid robot manipulators, with unknown parameters, performing repetitive tasks. The proposed control schemes are based upon the use of a proportional-derivative (PD) feedback structure, for which an iterative term is added to cope with the unknown parameters and disturbances. The control design is very simple in the sense that the only requirement on the PD and learning gains is the positive definiteness condition and the bounds of the robot parameters are not needed. In contrast to classical ILC schemes where the number of iterative variables is generally equal to the number of control inputs, the second controller proposed in this paper uses just two iterative variables, which is an interesting fact from a practical point of view since it contributes considerably to memory space saving in real-time implementations. We also show that it is possible to use a single iterative variable in the control scheme if some bounds of the system parameters are known. Furthermore, the resetting condition is relaxed to a certain extent for a certain class of reference trajectories. Finally, simulation results are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controllers.     

Tautomerism and Reactions of 1H-1,2,4-Triazole-5-thiones with Hydrazonoyl Halides

The acid dissociation constants (K_a) of a series of 3,4-diaryl-1H-1,2,4-triazole-5-thiones ( 1 ) were determined and were found to correlated linearly with Hammett substituent constants; log K_a = 1.06 σ_x − 11.01. Such a result indicates that 1 exists essentially in one tautomeric form namely the thione form. Reactions of 1 with hydrazonoyl chlorides 2 gave the thiohydrazides 5 . Similiar reaction of 3-phenyl-1H(4H)- 1,2,4-triazole-5-thione 1g with 2a gave the thiohydrazide 5h which was converted into 1,3,5-triphenyl-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-c]-1,2,4-triazole ( 9 ). The latter was also prepared from 3-phenyl-5-methylthio-4H-1,2,4-triazole ( 6 ) and 2a . The mechanism of the reaction of 1 with 2 is discussed.     

Study of the recrystallization process of AlMgSi alloys containing transition elements

The addition of small amounts of the transition elements such as Zr, Mn and Cr, which have a low solubility in the α-aluminium solid solution and thus form dispersoids, to AlMgSi alloys showed that these elements inhibit recrystallization when the alloys are pre-heated prior to deformation. The formation of coarse particles during casting is mainly due to the presence of Fe. This type of particles found, even, in solution treated samples. The particles, with a diameter exceeding 3 μm, accelerate the recrystallization as they provide good sites for nucleation of recrystallization. Precipitate free zones (PFZ's) developed around the coarse particles favour nucleation of recrystallization by subgrain growth. The presence of dispersoid particles is found to shift the recrystallization energy peak towards higher temperatures. Intermediate annealing before deformation allowed to achieve a high rate of deformation by cold rolling due to the removal of the solute from the matrix by the formation of the hardening phases. Optical and transmission electron microscopy, hardness measurements and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to study the kinetics of precipitation and recrystallization of the AlMgSi alloys.     

Preservation of fatty duck liver by high pressure treatment

Fatty liver samples from duck were treated with high pressures and packaged in multilayer films. Microbiological analysis, permeability of the films to oxygen and fat loss, caused by melting, were assessed after pressure or thermal treatment. Microbiological analysis showed a noteworthy reduction in the total aerobic mesophilic flora and eradication of the coliform flora, whichever film or treatment was used. Nevertheless, a significant bacterial flora was observed during storage at 4 °C from 42 days with a polyethylene/polyamide/polyethylene film and a sample which had been treated with pressure. But, treatment at 550 MPa for 55 °C and 20 min, in combination with two low oxygen permeability films (ethylene and vinyl alcohol copolymer) gave a product with long storage life (90 days) at 4 °C and a significant reduction in the melting of lipids.     

Preparation and catalytic activity of nanostructured Pd catalysts supported on hydrogenotitanate nanotubes

Nanostructured palladium particles (nanorods, icosahedra, cubes) were synthesized in aqueous solution using a seeding-mediated approach with a structure-directing agent. These nanostructured Pd particles were then impregnated onto hydrogenotitanate nanotubes using two different impregnation procedures. The as-prepared catalysts were then tested in the selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde at 323 K under 10 bars of H₂. The selectivity is influenced by the morphology of the Pd nanostructured particles with a higher selectivity into saturated alcohols when the proportion of (111) Pd sites increases.