A coarse-to-fine quasi-physical optimization method for solving the circle packing problem with equilibrium constraints

This paper addresses an important extension of the circle packing problem (CPP), the circle packing problem with equilibrium constraints (CPPEC). It considers the dense packing of n circular disks in a large circular container at the same time satisfying the equilibrium constraints. Under the industrial background of the layout design on satellite modules, this NP-hard global optimization problem is important in both theory and practice. We introduce two new quasi-physical models for solving CPPEC in this paper. One is to mimic the elastic movement driven by repelling forces from extruded disks, the other is to simulate a whole translation movement of the disks driven by a pulling force from an imaginative elastic rope connecting the centroid of the disks and the center of the container. Then, inspired by the coarse-to-fine control strategy in the manufacture industry, we propose a coarse-to-fine quasi-physical (CFQP) optimization method that adopts the two quasi-physical models for the quasi-physical descent procedure and combines a basin hopping with tabu method for the search procedure. In this way, not only could CFQP take into account the diversity of the search space to facilitate the global search, but it also does fine search to find the corresponding local minimum in a promising local area. Experiments were on two sets of 11 representative test instances. Computational results showed that CFQP achieved new and better results on four instances, at the same time it matched the current best records on the other six (accurate to 0.0001). Moreover, CFQP resulted in smaller equilibrium deviations than that of others published in the literature. In addition, we generated 34 new CPPEC instances basing on the CPP benchmarks, and provided computational results on the two sets of 34 new CPPEC instances, and the container radii obtained are close to the published results on CPP.     

An empirical investigation of end-users’ switching toward cloud computing: A two factor theory perspective

With the diffusion of cloud services, they are becoming an alternative to traditional information technology (IT). Despite the importance of cloud services, relatively few studies have been devoted to an empirical examination of the switching behavior from traditional IT to cloud services at the individual level. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the switching factors (i.e. switching enablers and switching inhibitors) and to empirically examine the relationships between those and users’ intention to switch to cloud services, based on the two-factor theoretic perspective. This study uses a longitudinal design to get survey data from undergraduate students at two universities in Korea in the context of IT switching to Google Apps settings. According to our findings, this study found that users’ switching intention to cloud services was not only positively influenced by expected switching benefits whose antecedents are omnipresence of cloud services and collaboration support, but also negatively influenced by expected switching costs whose antecedents are satisfaction with incumbent IT and breath use of inclement IT. The impacts of switching benefits and costs on switching intention were also positively moderated by end users’ personal innovativeness.     

Development of Wall Climbing Robot System by Using Impeller Type Adhesion Mechanism

In this paper, we present a wall climbing robot system, called “LARVA”, developed for visual inspection of structures with flat surfaces. The robot has two differential driving wheels with a suspension and an adhesion mechanism. The adhesion mechanism is composed of an impeller and two–layered suction seals. It is designed to provide sufficient adhesion force and be controlled so that the robot can move freely on various wall surfaces. The static and aerodynamic modeling of the adhesion mechanism is given and the analysis of the adhesion mechanism, air leakage, and inner flow are carried out to be useful for the design as well as the control. Finally, the performances of the robot are experimentally verified on several kinds of walls and its feasibility is validated.     

Automated visual inspection of imprint quality of pharmaceutical tablets

Visual appearance is an important quality factor of pharmaceutical tablets. Moreover, it plays a key role in identification of tablets, which is needed to prevent mix-ups among various types of tablets. Since identification of tablets is most frequently done by imprints, good imprint quality, a property that makes the imprint readable, is of utmost importance in preventing mix-ups among the tablets. In this paper, we propose a novel method for automated visual inspection of tablets. Besides defect detection, imprint quality inspection is also considered. Performance of the method was evaluated on three different real tablet image databases of imprinted tablets. A “gold standard” was established by manually classifying tablets into a good and a defective class. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis indicated that the proposed method yields better sensitivity and specificity than the previous defect detection method.     

Synchronization in complex dynamical networks based on the feedback of scalar signals

This paper proposes a new approach of synchronization in complex dynamical networks. In this method, the scalar signals are used to instead the output variables of every node as the feedback variables and transmitted signals between every two coupling nodes. As a result, it not only simplifies the topological structure but also saves channel resources at the same time. Especially, some of the criteria are expressed in normal algebraic inequalities instead of matrix inequalities, which means that the original computational effort required is greatly decreased. Finally, several simulation examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed results.     

短程反渗透海水淡化工艺在海岛中的应用

根据海岛海水淡化的应用环境,分析了海岛对集约型海水淡化工艺的需求,提出了短程反渗透海水淡化工艺,从工艺原理、技术特点及在海岛中的应用优势进行了阐述,并通过300m3/d的工程案例从反渗透产水水质、压差能量回收装置性能和系统能耗等方面考察了短程反渗透海水淡化工艺的运行效果,处理效果验证了该工艺的可行性和技术优势。     

An asymptotically exact LMI solution to the robust discretisation of LTI systems with polytopic uncertainties and its application to sampled-data control

In this paper, the problem of robust discretisation of linear time-invariant (LTI) systems with polytopic uncertainties is introduced. More specifically, the main objective is to provide a systematic way to find an approximate discrete-time (DT) model of a continuous-time (CT) plant with uncertainties in polytopic domain. The system matrices of polytopic DT model to be found are expressed as parameter-dependent matrices which are homogeneous polynomials of arbitrary degree with respect to the uncertain variables in the simplex, and is obtained in such a way that the norm between the system matrices and the truncated power series of the exact DT model is minimised while preserving the polytopic structure of the original CT plant. The solution procedures proposed are presented in terms of single-parameter minimisation problems subject to linear matrix inequality (LMI) constraints which are numerically tractable via LMI solvers. Finally, examples are given to show the validity and effectiveness of the proposed techniques.     

Development of a Shape‐Memory Tube to Prevent Vascular Stenosis

Inserting a graft into vessels with different diameters frequently causes severe damage to the host vessels. Poor flow patency is an unresolved issue in grafts, particularly those with diameters less than 6 mm, because of vessel occlusion caused by disturbed blood flow following fast clotting. Herein, successful patency in the deployment of an ≈2 mm diameter graft into a porcine vessel is reported. A new library of property‐tunable shape‐memory polymers that prevent vessel damage by expanding the graft diameter circumferentially upon implantation is presented. The polymers undergo seven consecutive cycles of strain energy‐preserved shape programming. Moreover, the new graft tube, which features a diffuser shape, minimizes disturbed flow formation and prevents thrombosis because its surface is coated with nitric‐oxide‐releasing peptides. Improved patency in a porcine vessel for 18 d is demonstrated while occlusive vascular remodeling occurs. These insights will help advance vascular graft design.     

φ8800mm焦炭塔的焊后整体热处理

介绍了直径8800mm的两台焦炭塔采取燃油法焊后整体热处理的工艺系统及热处理过程,各项 数据表明,整体热处理效果良好,完全符合设计要求。