Tracking control and robustness analysis for planar vertical takeoff and landing aircraft under bounded feedbacks

We study feedback tracking problems for the planar vertical takeoff and landing (PVTOL) aircraft dynamics, which is a benchmark model in aerospace engineering. We provide a survey of the literature on the model. Then we construct new feedback stabilizers for the PVTOL tracking dynamics. The novelty of our work is in the boundedness of our feedback controllers and their applicability to cases where the velocity measurements may not be available, coupled with the uniform global asymptotic stability and uniform local exponential stability of the closed‐loop tracking dynamics and the input‐to‐state stable performance of the closed‐loop tracking dynamics with respect to actuator errors. Our proofs are based on a new bounded backstepping result. We illustrate our work in a tracking problem along a circle. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A case of using the Semantic Interoperability Framework for custom orthopedic implants manufacturing

The efficiency and effectiveness of the daily practice in orthopedic surgery depend on the availability, interoperability and unique access to a wide set of information, related to the patient’s medical record and diagnosis, domain knowledge and available resources and staff. The most important of the tangible resources, needed for the therapeutic or preventive actions are orthopedic implants. In some cases, the implants may be highly complex and customized products, which need to be manufactured (assembled) on basis of the above information in a shortest possible timeframe. In this paper, the case of the custom orthopedic implants manufacturing is described from the perspective of the collaborative enterprising, with special consideration of the interoperability issues of the involved enterprise collaboration. It is shown how the previously developed Semantic Interoperability Framework can be used to improve the efficiency of the manufacturing and other relevant processes.     

A new ECG beat clustering method based on kernelized fuzzy c-means and hybrid ant colony optimization for continuous domains

The kernelized fuzzy c-means algorithm uses kernel methods to improve the clustering performance of the well known fuzzy c-means algorithm by mapping a given dataset into a higher dimensional space non-linearly. Thus, the newly obtained dataset is more likely to be linearly seprable. However, to further improve the clustering performance, an optimization method is required to overcome the drawbacks of the traditional algorithms such as, sensitivity to initialization, trapping into local minima and lack of prior knowledge for optimum paramaters of the kernel functions. In this paper, to overcome these drawbacks, a new clustering method based on kernelized fuzzy c-means algorithm and a recently proposed ant based optimization algorithm, hybrid ant colony optimization for continuous domains, is proposed. The proposed method is applied to a dataset which is obtained from MIT–BIH arrhythmia database. The dataset consists of six types of ECG beats including, Normal Beat (N), Premature Ventricular Contraction (PVC), Fusion of Ventricular and Normal Beat (F), Artrial Premature Beat (A), Right Bundle Branch Block Beat (R) and Fusion of Paced and Normal Beat (f). Four time domain features are extracted for each beat type and training and test sets are formed. After several experiments it is observed that the proposed method outperforms the traditional fuzzy c-means and kernelized fuzzy c-means algorithms.     

Prevention of dark-cutting (DFD) beef in penned bulls at the abattoir

There is a large body of evidence indicating that activities associated with regrouping of bulls before slaughter, which leads to physical exhaustion mainly from mounting, are primary factors inducing dark-cutting (DFD) in beef. The aim of this study was to test several methods to control activity when regrouping cannot be avoided. Fifty bulls previously individually tied for at least 16 months were drafted into groups of five animals and released in a pen at the abattoir. After 18 to 22 h they were slaughtered. According to environmental conditions in the pen, the bulls were divided into four groups: Control group (n = 10, no experimentation); Electricity group (n = 10, an electric fence was constructed above the pen so that a mounting bull would receive an electric shock); Darkness group (n = 10, the whole stall was in darkness); and Combination group (n = 20, both treatments, of the electricity and darkness groups were applied). During the first hour of penning the behaviour of the bulls was videorecorded. After slaughter meat quality characteristics were measured. Dark-cutting was found in Control (70%), Electricity (30%) and Darkness (70%) groups, but not in the Combination group (0%). No treatment altered the repertoire of agonistic activity, but under the combined treatments the number of agonistic interactions was significantly lower than in any other group.     

Properties of WN x /GaAs Schottky contacts prepared by ion implantation of nitrogen

The formation of WN _x /GaAs Schottky contacts using selective ion implantation of nitrogen into the sputtered tungsten film has been demonstrated. The contacts were characterized by Auger electron spectroscopy and current-voltage measurements. The composition of WN _x films and the thermal stability of WN _x /GaAs contacts were investigated. Good thermal stability of WN _x /GaAs contacts compared with a W/GaAs contact was observed after capless rapid thermal annealing at 450, 800 and 950°C for 10 s.     

Modal logic as metalogic

The goal of this paper is to show how modal logic may be conceived as recording the derived rules of a logical system in the system itself. This conception of modal logic was propounded by Dana Scott in the early seventies. Here, similar ideas are pursued in a context less classical than Scott's.First a family of propositional logical systems is considered, which is obtained by gradually adding structural rules to a variant of the nonassociative Lambek calculus. In this family one finds systems that correspond to the associative Lambek calculus, linear logic, relevant logics, BCK logic and intuitionistic logic. Above these basic systems, sequent systems parallel to the basic systems are constructed, which formalize various notions of derived rules for the basic systems. The deduction theorem is provable for the basic systems if, and only if, they are at least as strong as systems corresponding to linear logic, or BCK logic, depending on the language, and their deductive metalogic is not stronger than they are.However, though we do not always have the deduction theorem, we may always obtain a modal analogue of the deduction theorem for conservative modal extensions of the basic systems. Modal postulates which are necessary and sufficient for that are postulates of S4 plus modal postulates which mimic structural rules. For example, the modal postulates which Girard has recently considered in linear logic are necessary and sufficient for the modal analogue of the deduction theorem.All this may lead towards results about functional completeness in categories. When functional completeness, which is analogous to the deduction theorem, fails, we may perhaps envisage a modal analogue of functional completeness in a modal category, of which our original category is a full subcategory.     

基于Newsvendor型产品特性的FJSP问题研究

针对新时代环境下Newsvendor型产品销售期短、期末未出售产品价值递减的产品特点,生产链要求位于上游的供应商必须快速加工出所需的工件,否则将面临着线性递增的拖期惩罚。在面对基于Newsvendor型产品的柔性作业车间调度问题时,设计了一种加入禁忌搜索的混合遗传算法,扩大了解的搜索范围,避免了传统遗传算法容易陷于局部最优的缺陷。最后利用混合遗传算法对一个仿真案例进行求解。     

铁矿石境外投资风险评估的模糊神经网络模型

论文将模糊理论与神经网络结合,对铁矿石境外投资所涉及的风险因素分别从资产影响、威胁频度两方面进行分析,建立了铁矿石境外投资的风险层次化结构,并构造了各因素所对应评判集的隶属度矩阵;综合运用模糊推理算法与神经网络仿真技术,对铁矿石境外投资的风险进行评估,进而判定铁矿石境外投资风险等级。最后,通过计算铁矿石境外投资的市场风险说明了算法的应用,并将结果与模糊综合评估得到的风险值进行比较,检测了模型的有效性。     

传感器网络启动式自组织方法

无线传感器网络如何形成一个有序的自组织网络结构是一项重要研究内容,针对按地理区域交替性工作的动态监测网络,提出了相应的网络自组织方法,该方法以启动式方式运行网络,通过单播信令的方式分配MAC地址,标记相邻节点。在数据转发过程中以局部最小代价函数为准则转发数据。仿真实验表明,该自组织方法具有较短的MAC地址,适宜相应的网络环境。