Event-driven observer-based output feedback control for linear systems

This paper concerns the problem of event-driven observer-based output feedback control of linear systems. Contrary to normal sampled-data control systems, where the controller is updated periodically, in event-driven systems, it is updated only when an “event” happens, and a typical event is defined as some error signals exceeding a given threshold. Both continuous- and discrete-time event detector cases are considered. It is shown that even with the significantly reduced sampling frequency, the global uniform ultimate boundedness of the event-driven closed-loop systems can also be guaranteed. A numerical example is finally used to illustrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed approaches.     

Squaring down of general MIMO systems to invertible uniform rank systems via pre- and/or post-compensators

Pre- and/or post-compensators are designed to square down a general MIMO system to a uniform rank system, the structure of which is almost similar to a SISO system. The method of squaring down either does not change the finite zero structure of the given MIMO system or simply adds additional finite zeros in the left half s-plane. The significance of such a squaring down lies in the simplicity of the structure of a uniform rank system lending itself for easy analysis and control design.     

Local artificial boundary conditions for Schrödinger and heat equations by using high-order azimuth derivatives on circular artificial boundary

The aim of the paper is to design high-order artificial boundary conditions for the Schrödinger equation on unbounded domains in parallel with a treatment of the heat equation. We first introduce a circular artificial boundary to divide the unbounded definition domain into a bounded computational domain and an unbounded exterior domain. On the exterior domain, the Laplace transformation in time and Fourier series in space are applied to achieve the relation of special functions. Then the rational functions are used to approximate the relation of the special functions. Applying the inverse Laplace transformation to a series of simple rational function, we finally obtain the corresponding high-order artificial boundary conditions, where a sequence of auxiliary variables are utilized to avoid the high-order derivatives in respect to time and space. Furthermore, the finite difference method is formulated to discretize the reduced initial–boundary value problem with high-order artificial boundary conditions on a bounded computational domain. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the performance of our method.     

Synthesis,characterization, and thermal properties of phosphorus‐containing,wholly aromatic thermotropic copolyesters

A series of phosphorus‐containing, wholly aromatic thermotropic copolyesters from acetylated 2‐(6‐oxide‐6H‐dibenz〈c,e〉〈1,2〉oxa phosphorin‐6‐yl)‐1,4‐dihydroxy phenylene, p‐acetoxybenzoic acid, terephthalic acid, and isophthalic acid were prepared by melting polycondensation. The structure and basic properties of the polymers, such as the glass‐transition temperature (T_g), melting temperature (T_m), thermal stability, crystallinity, and liquid crystallinity, were investigated with Fourier transform infrared, elemental analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis, wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, and hot‐stage polarizing optical microscopy. The copolyesters had relatively high T_g values ranging from 183 to 192°C. The T_m values obtained from DSC curves for samples P‐20 and P‐25 were 290 and 287°C, respectively (where the number in the sample name indicates the molar fraction of the phosphorus‐containing monomer in the reactants). The initial flow temperatures of other samples observed with hot‐stage polarizing microscopy were 271–290°C. The 5% degradation temperatures in nitrogen ranged from 431 to 462°C, and the char yields at 640°C were 41–52%. All the copolyesters, except P‐40, were thermotropic and nematic. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 1278–1284, 2002     

VideoGraph: a non-linear video representation for efficient exploration

In this paper we introduce VideoGraph, a novel non-linear representation for scene structure of a video. Unlike classical linear sequential organization, VideoGraph concentrates the video content across the time line by structuring scenes and materializes with two-dimensional graph, which enables non-linear exploration on the scenes and their transitions. To construct VideoGraph, we adopt a sub-shot induced method to evaluate the spatio-temporal similarity between shot segments of video. Then, scene structure is derived by grouping similar shots and identifying the valid transitions between scenes. The final stage is to represent the scene structure using a graph with respect to scene transition topology. Our VideoGraph can provide a condensed representation in the scene level and facilitate a non-linear manner to browse videos. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency by using VideoGraph to explore and access the video content.     

Muscular fatigue and maximum endurance time assessment for male and female industrial workers

A single arm pushing experiment was conducted in an electronic factory in Yantai, China to assess muscular fatigue using the theoretical models of muscular strength and maximum endurance time (MET) developed by Ma et al. (2009). Seventy seven workers, including 38 males and 39 females, participated in the study. The muscular strength of pushing was measured after the subject pushed a stick, with a force of 2.5 kgf, for 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 min. Fatigue rate was determined based on a regression approach. In addition to the theoretical model, the MET for such a pushing task was also determined using four empirical models in the literature. The results indicated that females were more resistant to muscular fatigue than males in the pushing task. The results of the muscular strength prediction show that the predictability of the muscular strength model is acceptable. The prediction errors for muscular strength for female subjects were significantly lower than those of the male subjects. The predicted MET using the theoretical model, with a group constant k, was highly correlated with those using the empirical models compared in the current study.     

Influence of Grain Size on Ferroelastic Toughening and Piezoelectric Behavior of Lead Zirconate Titanate

Lead zirconate titanate specimens, at composition Zr_{48.9+- 1.0}/ Ti_51.1+-1.0 of grain sizes ranging from 0.5 to 15 (μm were prepared by hot pressing. The fracture toughness showed a 40% increase in the fine-grained specimens. Poling produced anisotropy in the fracture toughness. A tensor representation for the fracture toughness, now a function of the crack plane normal and the poling direction, is developed. The maximum and minimum values in the toughness tensor are shown to be related to the unpoled toughness by a simple phenomenological relationship. We also find that the piezoelectric coefficient, d₃₃ , shows a slight increase for the fine-grained specimens, which is in conflict with the general view that smaller-grained materials can sustain vanishingly small values of spontaneous polarization.     

PVA-based activated carbon fibers with lotus root-like axially porous structure

A novel method was developed for the fabrication of activated carbon fiber (ACF) with wet spinning polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers as the precursors. Through a combination of preoxidation, dehydration, carbonization and activation under a certain tension, PVA-based ACFs (PVA-ACFs) with high yields and good mechanical properties were obtained. The surface and cross-section morphologies, pore structures, surface geometries, surface functional groups and crystal structures of the PVA-ACFs were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy, low temperature nitrogen adsorption, Fourier transformed infrared spectrophotometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray power diffraction. All the PVA-ACF samples prepared had lotus root-like axially meso- and macroporous structures with the domination of micropores. Fractal geometries of PVA-ACFs deduced from nitrogen adsorption isotherms indicates that capillary force dominated in the interactions between nitrogen and the PVA-ACFs. The surface functional groups of the PVA-ACFs depend on the activating agents. Graphitoidal crystal structures were observed for the PVA-ACFs. The small crystal size and short range ordering between the crystallites ensured a high specific surface area of the PVA-ACFs.     

自适应天线匹配低频RFID读写器设计

在工业现场、野外甚至水中,RFID读写器天线电特性参数将发生改变,导致阻抗不匹配和发射功率大幅下降,最终降低RFID读写器读写范围和效率。为了解决这个问题,构建了一个自适应天线匹配RFID读写器系统,该系统在基本读写器系统上增加了自适应电容匹配矩阵、正弦波均方根检测和模/数转换器。该系统通过依次配置电容矩阵,扫描天线发射信号幅度,检测出最佳匹配电容,实现天线阻抗的最佳匹配。通过实验表明,在一定范围内该系统能够实现自动的阻抗匹配,获取最大发射功率。     

基于FPGA的高速数据存储系统优化设计

针对遥测系统数据记录装置中数据传输速率与存储速率不匹配的问题,提出Flash的并行存储方案,采用交替双平面的编程方式可以使得存储器的存储速率达到单片Flash最高存储速率的2倍,即60 MB/s;对控制单元FPGA内部双端口RAM的逻辑设计进行改进,解决了数据存储异常的现象。在数据回收方面,提出了多备份的设计思想和备用读数接口的设计方案,已在工程应用中得到成功实践,验证了该数据记录装置的可靠性。