Short‐Time Linear Quadratic Form Technique for Estimating Fast‐Varying Parameters in Feedback Loops

The precision of a closed‐loop controller system designed for an uncertain plant depends strongly upon the maximum extent to which it is possible to track the trend of time‐varying parameters of the plant. The aim of this study is to describe a new parameter estimation algorithm that is able to follow fast‐varying parameters in closed‐loop systems. The short‐time linear quadratic form (STLQF) estimation algorithm introduced in this paper is a technique for tracking time‐varying parameters based on short‐time analysis of the regressing variables in order to minimize locally a linear quadratic form cost function. The established cost function produces a linear combination of errors with several delays. To meet this objective, mathematical development of the STLQF estimation algorithm is described. To implement the STLQF algorithm, the algorithm is applied to a planar mobile robot with fast‐varying parameters of inertia and viscous and coulomb frictions. Next, performance of the proposed algorithm is assessed against noise effects and variation in the type of parameters.     

Nonlinear Gains Recursive Sliding Mode Dynamic Surface Control with Integral Action

In this paper, by introducing a function with nonlinear gains and developing sliding surfaces with integral action in the dynamic surface control (DSC) recursive procedure, a novel DSC strategy is proposed. The drawbacks of conventional DSC methods, such as being sensitive to the design constant of the first order low‐pass filter and being unable to achieve zero steady‐state error for step reference signal, are overcome. Moreover, improvement of transient performance and reduction of control effort can be obtained. The stability analysis shows that the proposed new approach can guarantee semi‐global uniform ultimate boundedness (SGUUB) of all closed‐loop signals and that the ultimate tracking error bound in regulation can be made arbitrarily small.     

Is It Possible to Retain Customer Loyalty When a Service Has Failed?

This article aims to analyze the impact of recovery on loyalty in the context of a service chain characterized by the e‐quality–perceived value–loyalty relationship. A sample of 91 out of 1,201 respondents claimed to have had service problems with an online travel agency website. A causal model to test relationships was performed using structural equations modeling, and it was found that data fit with the proposed model. The really important point to retaining customers is quality. It is not so clear that the recovery effort might affect loyalty. Our findings underpin some previous stream of literature confirming that recovery does not always affect loyalty. Although the literature has not reached a consensus in this topic, we add new elements in this debate.     

A User‐Centric Evaluation Procedure for the Design of Child‐Resistant Medicine Bottles

Recently, people have begun to realize the importance of child‐resistant (CR) medicine packaging. However, most manufacturers and designers have not been able to effectively provide prevention strategies or design criteria to protect consumers. This research proposes a systematic approach to analyze CR packaging design problems and experiments to evaluate the identified design parameters and to generate the most suitable CR medicine packaging design. The design of a CR packaging bottle is used as an example to help explain the development procedure. During the development procedure, user trials, questionnaires, and children's anthropometric data on bottle opening and hand operations are analyzed. Five design parameters, specifically the cap diameter, cap height, bottle height, bottle diameter, and torsion, are identified and used to perform a Taguchi orthogonal array experimental analysis. A computer‐aided design system is also built to help generate the most suitable design alternatives. The results should assist designers in determining the most important CR design parameters and their most suitable combinations for bottle and related CR medicine packaging design.     

Cluster Analysis Based on T‐transitive Interval‐Valued Fuzzy Relations

In this paper, we consider cluster analysis based on T‐transitive interval‐valued fuzzy relations. A fuzzy relation with its partitional tree for obtaining an agglomerative hierarchical clustering has been studied and applied. In general, these fuzzy‐relation‐based clustering approaches are based on real‐valued memberships of fuzzy relations. Since interval‐valued memberships may be better than real‐valued memberships to represent higher order imprecision and vagueness for human perception, in this paper we first extend fuzzy relations to interval‐valued fuzzy relations and then construct a clustering algorithm based on the proposed T‐transitive interval‐valued fuzzy relations. We use two examples to demonstrate the efficiency and usefulness of the proposed method. In practical application, we apply the proposed clustering method to performance evaluations for academic departments of higher education by using actual engineering school data in Taiwan.     

Relationship between age differences and display parameters on visual comfort for autostereoscopic display

In order to investigate the age differences for viewing autostereoscopic display, we conduct a 3 × 3 × 3 × 4 mixed design with repeated measurement experiment by using three‐dimensional (3D) video clips. Visual comfort is compared between four age groups with a questionnaire. Results of subjective evaluation are compared through the chi‐square test to check if there is a statistical significance between groups with respect to the distribution of number and proportion according to five levels of visual comfort. Then we examine age differences of visual comfort under three key display parameters including crosstalk, ambient illumination, and disparity. The results indicate that the degree of comfort varies considerably among age groups as the parameters of the display system change. Although the seniors feel most discomfort and the children get best experience in general, there is no statistical difference among the subjects when the ambient illumination is medium or disparity is large. So, it is necessary to take account of the age differences in designing 3D display parameters for enhancing visual comfort.     

Recurrent neural network technique for behavioral modeling of power amplifier with memory effects

A new technique for behavioral modeling of power amplifier (PA) with short‐ and long‐term memory effects is presented here using recurrent neural networks (RNNs). RNN can be trained directly with only the input–output data without having to know the internal details of the circuit. The trained models can reflect the behavior of nonlinear circuits. In our proposed technique, we extract slow‐changing signals from the inputs and outputs of the PA and use these signals as extra inputs of RNN model to effectively represent long‐term memory effects. The methodology using the proposed RNN for modeling short‐term and long‐term memory effects is discussed. Examples of behavioral modeling of PAs with short‐ and long‐term memory using both the existing dynamic neural networks and the proposed RNNs techniques are shown. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:289–298, 2015.     

Observer based repetitive learning control for a class of nonlinear systems with non‐parametric uncertainties

In this paper, a repetitive learning control (RLC) scheme is developed for a class of nonlinear systems to handle an output tracking problem, where two state observers are introduced concurrently to estimate the unavailable control system and reference states information. The estimation of reference state information is because of the lack of reference internal model in the RLC design. By virtue of the periodicity of reference signals and the associated learning capability in control mechanism, the involved unstructured nonlinear uncertainties can be handled. The Lyapunov‐like energy function method is adopted to facilitate the learning control design as well as property analysis thus achieve the asymptotical convergence of errors in state observation and output tracking simultaneously. Moreover, owing to the robustification of the learning controller that is addressed by incorporating projection, the proposed control scheme would be applicable in practice. In the end, an illustrative example is simulated to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed RLC law. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stochastic stability and stabilization of discrete‐time singular Markovian jump systems with partially unknown transition probabilities

This paper considers the stochastic stability and stabilization of discrete‐time singular Markovian jump systems with partially unknown transition probabilities. Firstly, a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the stochastic stability is proposed in terms of LMIs, then a set of sufficient conditions is proposed for the design of a state feedback controller to guarantee that the corresponding closed‐loop systems are regular, causal, and stochastically stable by employing the LMI technique. Finally, some examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some results on disturbance attenuation for Hamiltonian systems via direct discrete‐time design

The disturbance attenuation and robust disturbance attenuation problems for Hamiltonian systems in the discrete‐time setting are considered and some new results are presented. The new results are derived utilizing the recently presented dissipativity equality obtained by adding the dissipation rate function to the classical dissipativity inequality. A selection of the dissipation rate function yields new results. These results include a condition on the dissipation structure of the system to achieve the desired disturbance attenuation level and gives direct construction of optimal control laws for any desired disturbance attenuation level. The results remove the need to solve Hamilton–Jacobi–Isaacs inequalities. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.