QFT design of multi‐loop nonlinear control systems

In control practice, one of the fundamental limitations of feedback is given by the sensor noise effect. This problem is still more important in uncertain nonlinear control systems. This work extends the previous multi‐loop QFT technique, specifically designed to accommodate bandwidth limitation, to the nonlinear case. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Compact Four-Quadrant Floating-Gate MOS Multiplier

A compact, four-quadrant analog CMOS multiplier featuring wide dynamic range is presented. The capacitive voltage division obtained by the use of Floating-Gate MOS (FGMOS) transistors, and an accurate wide-swing current mirror based on active bootstrapping, allow a wide input range, low harmonic distortion, and high linearity. Simulation and measurement results for a 0.8 μm CMOS prototype demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach.     

Safety performance functions incorporating design consistency variables

Highway design which ensures that successive elements are coordinated in such a way as to produce harmonious and homogeneous driver performances along the road is considered consistent and safe. On the other hand, an alignment which requires drivers to handle high speed gradients and does not meet drivers' expectancy is considered inconsistent and produces higher crash frequency.     

Input-output stability of systems with backlash

The objective of this work is to study the stability of systems with backlash, from an input-output point of view. In the first part, an L_∞ analysis is addressed. This analysis provides not only conditions for boundedness of the loop signals, but also results on existence of solutions, based on Schauder fixed point theorem. In the second part, the system is studied using an L₂ or conic sector approach. The backlash graph is confined into certain conic sector, which is shown to be optimum or maximal. The conic inequality induces frequencial conditions on the linear part, which are further relaxed introducing dynamic multipliers. In the third part, both L_∞ and L₂ techniques are combined reaching a final criterion which results in a Popov-like stability condition.     

An impulsive dynamical systems framework for reset control systems

Impulsive dynamical systems is a well-established area of dynamical systems theory, and it is used in this work to analyse several basic properties of reset control systems: existence and uniqueness of solutions, and continuous dependence on the initial condition (well-posedness). The work scope is about reset control systems with a linear and time-invariant base system, and a zero-crossing resetting law. A necessary and sufficient condition for existence and uniqueness of solutions, based on the well-posedness of reset instants, is developed. As a result, it is shown that reset control systems (with strictly proper plants) do not have Zeno solutions. It is also shown that full reset and partial reset (with a special structure) always produce well-posed reset instants. Moreover, a definition of continuous dependence on the initial condition is developed, and also a sufficient condition for reset control systems to satisfy that property. Finally, this property is used to analyse sensitivity of reset control systems to sensor noise. This work also includes a number of illustrative examples motivating the key concepts and main results.     

Roughness measurement by electronic speckle correlation and mechanical profilometry

A practical optical sensor for rough surface diagnostics has been developed for applications in mechanical engineering. The principle of the sensor is based on digital speckle correlation. First, the measuring principle and the optical system arrangement are described, then optical measurements on different rough surfaces are compared with mechanical stylus measurements and the results are discussed with consideration of the advantages and differences of the two methods.