Robust control method for the inverted pendulum system with structured uncertainty caused by measurement error

In this article, we propose a design method for an inverted pendulum system with a structured uncertainty. We consider that such an uncertainty is caused by a measurement error in the rotation angle of the pendulum and effects on the system structure that cannot be included in the nominal elements. For the uncertain system obtained, we apply an integral tracking control and the guaranteed cost control to design a robust, stable, tracking control system. Finally, we show the effectiveness of our method through a numerical example.     

Preparation of transparent,electrically conducting ZnO film from zinc acetate and alkoxide

Very uniform and transparent zinc oxide thin films doped with aluminium and indium were fabricated by the dip-coating technique using solutions prepared by the ethanolamine method. As starting materials, zinc acetate and zinc n-propoxide were used. Zinc acetate and propoxide are soluble in PrⁱOH in the presence of diethanolamine, although they are hardly soluble without the amine. The prepared solutions were very stable and suitable for dip-coating. Zinc oxide was crystallized by heating above 500 °C, and doping of aluminium and indium retarded the crystallization. The electrical resistivity of the film was decreased by doping with aluminium and indium. The lowest resistivity of 2 × 10^–2 cm was obtained by post-coating treatment in a nitrogen atmosphere.     

Linearized method: A new approach for kinetic analysis of central dopamine D(2) receptor specific binding

We proposed a new method (;linearized method') to analyze neuroleptic ligand-receptor specific binding in a human brain using positron emission tomography (PET). We derived the linear equation to solve four rate constants, k(3), k(4), k(5), k(6) from PET data. This method does not demand a radioactivity curve in plasma as an input function to the brain, and can perform fast calculations in order to determine rate constants. We also tested the nonlinearized method including nonlinear equations which is a conventional analysis using plasma radioactivity corrected for ligand metabolites as an input function. We applied these methods to evaluate dopamine D(2) receptor specific binding of [(11)C] YM-09151-2. The value of B(max)/K(d)=k(3)/k (4) obtained by the linearized method was 5.72+/-3.1 which was consistent with the value of 5.78+/-3.4 obtained by the nonlinearized method.     

A novel radial orientation treatment of nematic liquid crystals using magnetic field lines with permanent magnet and applying the assisted electric field

Recently, there has been considerable research on optical devices, such as liquid crystal (LC) lenses and special optical plates, using LCs. In such devices, relatively small LC cells are frequently used, or unique LC orientations are required. As an LC orientation process, we focused on the LC director's orientation induced by the magnetic force line distribution of a small neodymium magnet. We propose a simple method for obtaining radial orientation, which is rather difficult to obtain using the ordinary rubbing method. The initial orientation in the LC cell is a vertical orientation cell with almost zero azimuth anchoring. With the proposed method, the reorientation process is performed with an assisting electric field and a small permanent magnet, unlike the conventional magnetic field orientation process that requires a large electromagnet. Furthermore, a polymer stabilization treatment is used to fix the obtained radial orientation pattern in the LC cell. After the treatment, the applying voltage can control the tilt angle of the director in weak polymer treatment, and a completely fixed orientation pattern can be obtained that in strong.     

Numerical simulation of molding-defect formation during resin transfer molding

The present study investigated a numerical simulation of molding-defect formation during resin transfer molding using boundary element method and line dynamics. The proposed method enables to simulate small molding defects by increasing the node for required position during time evolution; thereby, the method computes high-resolution flow front without being affected by the initial mesh geometry. The method was applied to the radial injection RTM with single inlet, and it was confirmed by comparison with theoretical value based on Darcy’s law that the flow advancement was computed with high accuracy. In addition, the method was also applied to the flow advancement for inclusion problem with cylinder, and four-point injection problem. The simulated flow behavior, void formation, and shrinkage agreed with the results in references. Finally, the method was compared with experiments using two-point injection problem. The computed configuration of the flow front and weld line agreed well with the experimental results.     

Phylogenetic analyses of the matrix and non-structural genes of equine influenza viruses

Matrix (M) and nonstructural (NS) genes of thirteen equine H3N8 and H7N7 influenza viruses were sequenced and analyzed from an evolutionary point of view. The M and NS genes of H3N8 viruses isolated between 1989 and 1993 evolved into two minor branch clusters, including isolates from Europe and the American continent, respectively. It was noteworthy to reveal that the nucleotide sequences of the M and NS genes of an earlier American strain showed highest homology to those of recent European viruses. "Frozen evolution" was observed in the M and NS genes of A/eq/LaPlata/1/88. It was also evident that the NS gene of an H7N7 virus from 1977 was very similar to that of a 1979-H3N8 virus, while the M gene was closest phylogenetically to that of the earliest H7N7 virus isolated in 1956. Furthermore, the M2 protein of A/eq/Newmarket/1/77 virus contained a carboxyl terminal deletion of three amino acids. The evolutionary rates of the M and NS genes of H3N8 equine influenza viruses were estimated to be 5.4 x 10(-4) and 5.1 x 10(-4) substitutions per site per year, respectively, which were slower than those of human viruses.     

Nitric oxide decomposition in air by using nonthermal plasmaprocessing with additives and catalyst

Catalyst (copper-coated zeolite catalyst, i.e., Cu-ZSM-5) was used to enhance NO_x removal plasma chemical reactions. Two kinds of hydrocarbons (2-propane-1-ol, 2-propanol) were added to the synthesized flue gas before the nonthermal plasma process, and their effects on NO_x removal characteristics were investigated. Enhancement effects of NO_x removal by the nonthermal plasma process with hydrocarbons as the additives were confirmed. Usually, the catalyst's working temperature is much higher than the room temperature. A catalytic reactor was installed after the plasma reactor. Catalytic effects on NO_x removal characteristics disappeared when the synthesized flue gas temperature was increased (~250°C). When the synthesized flue gas temperature was at room temperature, about 90% NO _x removal efficiency was realized with a combination of hydrocarbons, the catalytic reactor, and the pulsed discharge plasma     

A Hilbert warping method for handwriting gesture recognition

We propose a novel sequence alignment algorithm for recognizing handwriting gestures by a camera. In the proposed method, an input image sequence is aligned to the reference sequences by phase-synchronization of analytic signals which are transformed from original feature values. A cumulative distance is calculated simultaneously with the alignment process, and then used for the classification. A major benefit of this method is that over-fitting to sequences of incorrect categories is restricted. The proposed method exhibited higher recognition accuracy in handwriting gesture recognition, compared with the conventional dynamic time warping method which explores optimal alignment results for all categories.     

Development of a pulse control-type MEMS microrobot with a hardware neural network

This article presents the micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) microrobot which demonstrates locomotion controlled by hardware neural networks (HNN). The size of the microrobot fabricated by the MEMS technology is 4 × 4 × 3.5 mm. The frame of the robot is made of silicon wafer, and it is equipped with a rotary-type actuator, a link mechanism, and six legs. The rotary-type actuator generates rotational movement by applying an electrical current to artificial muscle wires. The locomotion of the microrobot is obtained by the rotation of the rotary-type actuator. As in a living organism, the HNN realized robot control without using any software programs, A/D converters, or additional driving circuits. A central pattern generator (CPG) model was implemented as an HNN system to emulate the locomotion pattern. The MEMS microrobot emulated the locomotion method and the neural networks of an insect with the rotary-type actuator, the link mechanism, and the HNN. The microrobot performed forward and backward locomotion, and also changed direction by inputting an external trigger pulse. The locomotion speed was 0.325 mm/s and the step width was 1.3 mm.     

Extremely localized interaction in a market model

The model of self-organized criticality (SOC) is a useful tool to understand the complexity of natural systems in the form of the artificial life and the artificial market. However, SOC remains the question what guarantees the criticality even though the natural systems seem to keep itself in the critical state. In this paper, we focus on the locality of interaction in zero-intelligence plus (ZIP) model. The extremely localized interaction changes the behavior of the ZIP model from equilibrium to intermittency. Although the original ZIP model falls into unstable with some noise, extremely localized interaction model archives robust intermittency against the noise parameter. Further, the statistical property of intermittent behavior shows the power-law nature.