Adaptive Fuzzy Strong Tracking Extended Kalman Filtering for GPS Navigation

The well-known extended Kalman filter (EKF) has been widely applied to the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation processing. The adaptive algorithm has been one of the approaches to prevent the divergence problem of the EKF when precise knowledge on the system models are not available. One of the adaptive methods is called the strong tracking Kalman filter (STKF), which is essentially a nonlinear smoother algorithm that employs suboptimal multiple fading factors, in which the softening factors are involved. Traditional approach for selecting the softening factors heavily relies on personal experience or computer simulation. In order to resolve this shortcoming, a novel scheme called the adaptive fuzzy strong tracking Kalman filter (AFSTKF) is carried out. In the AFSTKF, the fuzzy logic reasoning system based on the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) model is incorporated into the STKF. By monitoring the degree of divergence (DOD) parameters based on the innovation information, the fuzzy logic adaptive system (FLAS) is designed for dynamically adjusting the softening factor according to the change in vehicle dynamics. GPS navigation processing using the AFSTKF will be simulated to validate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy. The performance of the proposed scheme will be assessed and compared with those of conventional EKF and STKF     

Agent-Based Control Framework for Mass Customization Manufacturing With UHF RFID Technology

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology adoption in business environments has seen strong growth in recent years. Adopting an appropriate RFID-based information system has become increasingly important for enterprises making complex and highly customized products. However, most firms still use conventional barcode and run-card systems to manage their manufacturing processes. These systems often require human intervention during the production process. As a result, traditional systems are not able to fulfill the growing demand for managing dynamic process flows and are not able to obtain real-time work-in-process (WIP) views in mass customization manufacturing. This paper proposes an agent-based distributed production control framework with UHF RFID technology to help firms adapt to such a dynamic and agile manufacturing environment. This paper reports the design and development of the framework and the application of UHF RFID technology in manufacturing and logistic control applications. The framework's RFID event processing agent model is implemented in a smart end-point (SEP) device. A SEP can manage RFID readers, wirelessly communicate with shop-floor machines, make local decisions, and coordinate with other SEPs. A case study of a bicycle manufacturing company demonstrates how the proposed framework could improve a firm's mass customization operations. Results of experiments show the decentralized multiagent coordination scheme among SEPs outperformed the current practice of the firm in terms of reducing work-in-process and parts inventory.     

Theoretical and experimental investigations of a two-phase thermosyphon solar water heater

This article experimentally and theoretically investigates a two-phase thermosyphon solar water heater. The performance of this innovative solar water heater at different solar radiation intensities and tilt angles are experimentally discussed. The results show the best charge efficiency of the system is 82%, which is higher than the conventional solar water heaters. The theoretical model is also developed using the thermal resistance-capacitor method. The simulation predictions agree well with the experimental data within an average error deviation of ±6%. Two methods for improving the performance of this heater, double fin tubes and nano particle, are proposed. The results show that charge efficiencies can increase 3% and 4%, respectively, according to the theoretical model.     

Plane-stress crack-tip fields for power-law hardening orthotropic materials

Plane stress mode I near-tip fields in orthotropic materials are examined. Plastic orthotropy is described by Hill's quadratic yield function and the strain hardening behavior is given by an appropriate generalization of a uniaxial tensile power-law stress-strain relation. Pronounced changes in the pattern of the angular variations of crack-tip fields have been observed with the degree of plastic orthotropy and the amount of strain hardening. Possible shapes and sizes of plastic zones (as inferred from effective stress contours) are presented for high- and low-hardening materials and a wide range of plastic orthotropy. The shape of the plastic zone for a particular case of plastic orthotropy agreed remarkably well with the zone of intense straining induced by an appropriately orientated crack within a graphite/epoxy laminate.

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Résumé On examine les champs de contraintes planes selon un mode I au voisinage de l'extrémité d'une fissure dans des matériaux orthotropes. L'orthotrope plastique est décrite par la fonction quadratique de plastification de Hill, et le comportement à l'écrouissage est donné par une généralisation adéquate d'une relation tensioncilatation de forme parabolique, sous traction mono-axiale. On a observé des modifications profondes dans l'aspect des variations angulaires des champs d'extrémité de fissure, selon le degré d'orthotropie plastique et infensité de l'écrouissage. Pour des matériaux très sujets ou peu sujets à l'écrouissage, et pour une large gamme d'orthotropies plastiques, on présente les formes et dimensions possibles des zones plastiques, telles qu'elles se deduisent des contours effectifs de contraintes. La forme de la zone plastique correspondant au cas particulier d'une orthotropie plastique s'accorde remarquablement bien à la zone de dilatation importante créée par une fissure d'orientation appropriée, dans une plaque de graphite-epoxy.

     

A novel nanofluid manufacturing process using a cylindrical flow cooling method in an induction heating system

The main purpose of this study is to develop a cylindrical flow cooling method in an induction heating system that is capable of producing the nanofluid. The system consists of a high frequency induction heating system, vacuum system, temperature control system, and a cylindrical curtain collector. The raw material Zn is evaporated by the high frequency induction heating system. The gas phase Zn is condensed and collected by a water cylindrical curtain collector. During the process, the gas phase Zn is oxidized. The ZnO nanoparticles were collected and suspended in de-ionized water. Through transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and particle size analyzer (PSA), a set of applicable parameters size can be obtained. Results show that the lower the collecting liquid temperature and the shorter the collecting distance, the smaller the nanoparticle size obtained. An aspect of UV/V is absorbency, the produced ZnO nanofluid absorbed UV when the wavelength is 360 nm to 380 nm.     

An assist-mode hybrid electric motorcycle

This paper proposes a design and implementation of an assist-mode, hybrid electric motorcycle (H.E.M.). The proposed hybrid electric motorcycle is a revised vehicle from a 50 cc motorcycle and designed to match up with a 100 cc motorcycle. In order to expedite the developing phase and lower down the cost, a master–slave tracking control method is utilized. A dc servo-motor is deployed to track the speed of the rear wheel of the motorcycle and to provide more torque through power composite into the rear wheel so that the performance of hybrid electric motorcycle can be promoted. The advance of performance as well as the energy saving can both be expected. In road trip experiment, the H.E.M. prototype achieves an average gasoline mileage of 46 km l⁻¹ compared to the original 34 km l⁻¹. The overall efficiency is about 35% lift. Experimental results confirm the feasibility and prosperities of the proposed hybrid electric motorcycle.     

A New Optimized Algorithm with Nonlinear Filter for Ultra-Tightly Coupled Integrated Navigation System of Land Vehicle

The extended particle filter (EPF) assisted by the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy logic adaptive system (FLAS) is used to design the ultra-tightly coupled GPS/INS (inertial navigation system) integrated navigation, which can maneuver the vehicle environment and the GPS outages scenario. The traditional integrated navigation designs adopt a loosely or tightly coupled architecture, for which the GPS receiver may lose the lock due to the interference/jamming scenarios, high dynamic environments, and the periods of partial GPS shading. An ultra-tight GPS/INS architecture involves the integration of I (in-phase) and Q (quadrature) components from the correlator of a GPS receiver with the INS data. The EPF is a particle filter (PF) which uses the extended Kalman filter (EKF) to generate the proposal distribution. The PF depends mostly on the number of particles in order to achieve a better performance during the high dynamic environments and GPS outages. The T-S FLAS is one of these approaches that can prevent the divergence problem of the filter when the precise knowledge on the system models is not available. The results show that the proposed fuzzy adaptive EPF (FAEPF) can effectively improve the navigation estimation accuracy and reduce the computational load as compared with the EPF and the unscented Kalman filter (UKF).     

Minimum Error Entropy Based EKF for GPS Code Tracking Loop

This paper investigates the minimum error entropy based extended Kalman filter (MEEKF) for multipath parameter estimation of the Global Positioning System (GPS). The extended Kalman filter (EKF) is designed to give a preliminary estimation of the state. The scheme is designed by introducing an additional term, which is tuned according to the higher order moment of the estimation error. The minimum error entropy criterion is introduced for updating the entropy of the innovation at each time step. According to the stochastic information gradient method, an optimal filer gain matrix is obtained. The mean square error criterion is limited to the assumption of linearity and Gaussianity. However, non-Gaussian noise is often encountered in many practical environments and their performances degrade dramatically in non-Gaussian cases. Most of the existing multipath estimation algorithms are usually designed for Gaussian noise. The I (in-phase) and Q (quadrature) accumulator outputs from the GPS correlators are used as the observational measurements of the EKF to estimate the multipath parameters such as amplitude, code delay, phase, and carrier Doppler. One reasonable way to obtain an optimal estimation is based on the minimum error entropy criterion. The MEEKF algorithm provides better estimation accuracy since the error entropy involved can characterize all the randomness of the residual. Performance assessment is presented to evaluate the effectivity of the system designs for GPS code tracking loop with multipath parameter estimation using the minimum error entropy based extended Kalman filter.     

Stress intensity factor solutions for estimation of fatigue lives of laser welds in lap-shear specimens

Fatigue behavior of laser welds in lap-shear specimens of high strength low alloy (HSLA) steel is investigated based on experimental observations and two fatigue life estimation models. Fatigue experiments of laser welded lap-shear specimens are first reviewed. Analytical stress intensity factor solutions for laser welded lap-shear specimens based on the beam bending theory are derived and compared with the analytical solutions for two semi-infinite solids with connection. Finite element analyses of laser welded lap-shear specimens with different weld widths were also conducted to obtain the stress intensity factor solutions. Approximate closed-form stress intensity factor solutions based on the results of the finite element analyses in combination with the analytical solutions based on the beam bending theory and Westergaard stress function for a full range of the normalized weld widths are developed for future engineering applications. Next, finite element analyses for laser welded lap-shear specimens with three weld widths were conducted to obtain the local stress intensity factor solutions for kinked cracks as functions of the kink length. The computational results indicate that the kinked cracks are under dominant mode I loading conditions and the normalized local stress intensity factor solutions can be used in combination with the global stress intensity factor solutions to estimate fatigue lives of laser welds with the weld width as small as the sheet thickness. The global stress intensity factor solutions and the local stress intensity factor solutions for vanishing and finite kinked cracks are then adopted in a fatigue crack growth model to estimate the fatigue lives of the laser welds. Also, a structural stress model based on the beam bending theory is adopted to estimate the fatigue lives of the welds. The fatigue life estimations based on the kinked fatigue crack growth model agree well with the experimental results whereas the fatigue life estimations based on the structural stress model agree with the experimental results under larger load ranges but are higher than the experimental results under smaller load ranges.