Sensorless fault tolerant control for induction motors

In this paper, a sensorless fault tolerant controller for induction motors is developed. In the proposed approach, a robust controller based on backstepping strategy is designed in order to compensate for both the load torque disturbance and the rotor resistance variation caused by the broken rotor bars faults. The proposed approach needs neither fault detection and isolation schemes nor controller re-design. Moreover, to avoid the use of speed and flux sensors, a second order sliding mode observer is introduced to estimate the flux and the speed. The observer converges in a finite time and leads to good estimates of the flux and the speed even in the presence of the rotor resistance variation and the load torque disturbance. Since the observer converges in the finite time, the stability of the closed-loop system (controller with observer) is shown in two steps. First, the boundedness of the closed-loop system trajectories before the convergence of the observer is proved. Second, the convergence of the closed-loop system trajectories is proved after the convergence of the observer. To highlight the efficiency and applicability of the proposed control scheme, simulation and experimental results are conducted for a 1.5 kW induction motor.     

Reactivity of perovskites on oxidative coupling of methane

Well-defined structures like ABO₃ (A = Ba, Sr, Ca; and B = Ti, Zr) perovskites were prepared by a sol-gel method which permits the formation of a crystalline structure at low-calcination temperatures (700 °C). The perovskite structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) methods and the carbonate present at the surface was determined by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy. Reactivity studies showed that the perovskite structures are stable under oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) conditions. The yield increases followed the sequence Ca < Sr < Ba and Zr < Ti, and a stable BaTiO₃ gives a C₂ yield of 15% at 800 °C.     

Decentralised decision-making with information sharing vs. centralised decision-making in supply chains

In recent years, implementing coordination mechanisms in decentralised supply chains to reduce the well-known negative effects of decentralisation, such as the ‘bullwhip effect’, has become a considerable challenge. Furthermore, with the dramatic developments in information and communication technologies, real-time information sharing has become increasingly easier to implement. In this work, we study a mono-product divergent supply chain composed of a supplier, a warehouse, retailers and customers in the context of decentralised and centralised decisions. The main objective of this study is to compare a decentralised supply chain combined with different scenarios of simultaneous upstream and downstream information sharing vs. a centralised supply chain. A mathematical model is developed to compare the logistics costs in the two decision contexts. The experimental results clearly show that the simultaneous sharing of customer demand and supplier-warehouse lead time information in a decentralised supply chain yields nearly equivalent logistics costs as the centralised supply chain context. However, the main beneficiary of the sharing is the warehouse, which receives approximately two-thirds of the benefit. Thus, incentives and revenue sharing contracts should be implemented to motivate and balance the benefits between supply chain partners.     

Thin and thick YBCO films grown by MOCVD processes. Study of the angular magnetic field dependence of current transport properties

Thin and thick YBCO Films have been grown by Aerosol Assisted as well as by thermal MOCVD. The Aerosol Assisted MOCVD technique allows the growth of YBCO films from a single liquid source at deposition rates of up to 10m/h.Transport measurements (I-V) on etched microbridges using a single pulse technique have been performed. The angular magnetic field dependence J_c() of the critical current density from T_c down to 50 K has been measured. Transport properties are reported and discussed with respect to the microstructural features as determined by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy.     

Use of high-resolution satellite imagery in an integrated model to predict the distribution of shade coffee tree hybrid zones

In New Caledonia (21°S, 165°E), shade-grown coffee plantations were abandoned for economic reasons in the middle of the 20th century. Coffee species (Coffea arabica, C. canephora and C. liberica) were introduced from Africa in the late 19th century, they survived in the wild and spontaneously cross-hybridized. Coffee species were originally planted in native forest in association with leguminous trees (mostly introduced species) to improve their growth. Thus the canopy cover over rustic shade coffee plantations is heterogeneous with a majority of large crowns, attributed to leguminous trees. The aim of this study was to identify suitable areas for coffee inter-specific hybridization in New Caledonia using field based environmental parameters and remotely sensed predictors. Due to the complex structure of tropical vegetation, remote sensing imagery needs to be spatially accurate and to have the appropriate bands for monitoring vegetation cover. Quickbird panchromatic (black and white) imagery at 0.6 to 0.7 m spatial resolutions and multispectral imagery at 2.4 m spatial resolution were pansharpened and used for this study. The two most suitable remotely sensed indicators, canopy heterogeneity and tree crown size, were acquired by the sequential use of tree crown detection (neural network), image processing (such as textural analysis) and classification. All models were supervised and trained on learning data determined by human expertise. The final model has two remotely sensed indicators and three physical parameters based on the Digital Elevation Model: elevation, slope and water flow accumulation. Using these five predictive variables as inputs, two modelling methods, a decision tree and a neural network, were implemented. The decision tree, which showed 96.9% accuracy on the test set, revealed the involvement of ecological parameters in the hybridization of Coffea species. We showed that hybrid zones could be characterized by combinations of modalities, underlining the complexity of the environment concerned. For instance, forest heterogeneity and large crown size, steep slopes (> 53.5%) and elevation between 194 and 429 m asl, are favourable factors for Coffea inter-specific hybridization. The application of the neural network on the whole area gave a predictive map that distinguished the most suitable areas by means of a nonlinear continuous indicator. The map provides a confidence level for each area. The most favourable areas were geographically localized, providing a clue for the detection and conservation of favourable areas for Coffea species neo-diversity.     

Multivariable linearizing control of an industrial sugar crystallization process

This paper illustrates the benefits of a multivariable linearizing control approach applied to an industrial crystallization process. This relevant approach proposes a setpoint tracking for the crystal mass/concentration couple. In this purpose, a model dedicated to last stage crystallization is designed, without consideration of crystal size distribution. The controlled variables, unavailable, are obtained using an extended Luenberger observer. The observer is validated on industrial data and shows good performance in both convergence rate and accuracy. The performance of the proposed linearizing strategy, which application to cane sugar crystallization constitutes a real novelty, is tested via simulation. The good performance in setpoint tracking, even in presence of noise, disturbances and modeling error, allows to consider a significant improvement of the global productivity.     

An explicit duality for quasi-homogeneous ideals

Given r≥n$r\ge n$ quasi-homogeneous polynomials in n$n$ variables, the existence of a certain duality is shown and made explicit in terms of generalized Morley forms. This result, that can be seen as a generalization of [Corollary 3.6.14, Jouanolou, J.-P., 1996. Résultant anisotrope, compléments et applications. Electron. J. Combin. 3 (2), Research Paper 2, approx. 91 pp. (electronic), the Foata Festschrift] where this duality is proved in the case r=n$r=n$, was observed by the author at the same time. We will actually closely follow the proof of the above-cited corollary in this paper.     

Snap-stabilization and PIF in tree networks

The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, we present the paradigm of snap-stabilization. A snap- stabilizing protocol guarantees that, starting from an arbitrary system configuration, the protocol always behaves according to its specification. So, a snap-stabilizing protocol is a time optimal self-stabilizing protocol (because it stabilizes in 0 rounds). Second, we propose a new Propagation of Information with Feedback (PIF) cycle, called Propagation of Information with Feedback and Cleaning (). We show three different implementations of this new PIF. The first one is a basic cycle which is inherently snap-stabilizing. However, the first PIF cycle can be delayed O(h ²) rounds (where h is the height of the tree) due to some undesirable local states. The second algorithm improves the worst delay of the basic algorithm from O(h ²) to 1 round. The state requirement for the above two algorithms is 3 states per processor, except for the root and leaf processors that use only 2 states. Also, they work on oriented trees. We then propose a third snap-stabilizing PIF algorithm on un-oriented tree networks. The state requirement of the third algorithm depends on the degree of the processors, and the delay is at most h rounds. Next, we analyze the maximum waiting time before a PIF cycle can be initiated whether the PIF cycle is infinitely and sequentially repeated or launch as an isolated PIF cycle. The analysis is made for both oriented and un-oriented trees. We show or conjecture that the two best of the above algorithms produce optimal waiting time. Finally, we compute the minimal number of states the processors require to implement a single PIF cycle, and show that both algorithms for oriented trees are also (in addition to being time optimal) optimal in terms of the number of states. WARNING: The concept of snap-stabilization was first introduced in [12]. The concept evolved over the last eight years. We take this evolution in consideration in this paper, which includes the early results published in [10] and [12]. In particular, infinite repetition of computation cycles is a requirement of self-stabilizing systems. This is not required in snap-stabilization because snap-stabilization ensures that the first completed computation cycle is executed according to the specification of the problem. The correctness proofs conform to this basic property.