Maximum likelihood estimation of noise covariance matrices for state estimation of autonomous hybrid systems

A critical aspect of developing Bayesian state estimators for hybrid systems, that involve a combination of continuous and discrete state variables, is to have a reasonably accurate characterization of the stochastic disturbances affecting their dynamics. Recently, Bavdekar et al. (2011) have proposed a maximum likelihood (ML) based framework for estimation of the noise covariance matrices from operating input–output data when an EKF is used for state estimation. In this work, the ML framework is extended to estimation of the noise covariance matrices associated with autonomous hybrid systems, and, to a wider class of recursive Bayesian filters. Under the assumption that the innovations generated by an estimator form a white noise sequence, the proposed ML framework computes the noise covariance matrices such that they maximize the log-likelihood function of the estimator innovations. The efficacy of the proposed scheme is demonstrated through the simulation and experimental studies on the benchmark three-tank system.     

Modified reduced order observer based linear active disturbance rejection control for TITO systems

This paper proposes an observer based control approach for two input and two output (TITO) plant affected by the lumped disturbance which includes the undesirable effect of cross couplings, parametric uncertainties, and external disturbances. A modified reduced order extended state observer (ESO) based active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) is designed to estimate the lumped disturbance actively as an extended state and compensate its effect by adding it to the control. The decoupled mechanism has been used to determine the controller parameters, while the proposed control technique is applied to the TITO coupled plant without using decoupler to show its efficacy. Simulation results show that the proposed design is efficiently able to nullify the interactions within the loops in the multivariable process with better transient performance as compared to the existing proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control methods. An experimental application of two tanks multivariable level control system is investigated to present the validity of proposed scheme.     

Experimental study on the time change in fluidity and particle dispersion state of alumina slurries with and without sintering aid

The time change of the fluidity and particle dispersion state of alumina slurries with and without a sintering aid were investigated. The apparent viscosity of the slurry was measured at certain intervals. The hydrostatic pressure of the slurry, which represents the particle dispersion state, was also measured. We showed that the pH value, adsorbed amount of dispersant, and Mg ion concentration of the slurry hardly changed with time even though the apparent viscosity of the slurry increased with time. We suggest that the time change in the apparent viscosity, that is, the behaviour in which the apparent viscosity of the slurry increased with time, occurs when the electrostatic repulsion force is insufficient to maintain the particle dispersion state for a long time, such as shortage in the dispersant to its saturated amount.     

Template free titiania photoanodes modified with carbon black or multi-wall carbon nanotubes: Thermal treatment at low and high temperature for the fabrication of quasi-solid state dye sensitized solar cells

A simple procedure was developed to prepare modified titiania (TiO₂) photoanodes for dye sensitized solar cells at low and high temperature in order to improve overall cell efficiency. Modification of TiO₂ films achieved by the incorporation of either carbon black powder (CBP) or multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). A small quantity of titanium alkoxide was added in a dispersion of titiania (TiO₂) powder consisting of nanoparticles at room temperature, which after alkoxide׳s hydrolysis helps to the connection between titiania (TiO₂) particles and to the formation of mechanically stable relatively thick films on conductive glass substrates. The absence of surfactant allowed us to prepare films at relatively low temperature (~100 °C), while the effect of sintering at a higher temperature (500 °C) was also studied. The structural properties of the films were examined with porosimetry method and microscopy analysis. Better electrical results were obtained for the MWCNT (0.1 wt%) modified TiO₂ films, with 3.14% and 4.68% conversion efficiencies under 1 sun illumination after treatment at 100 °C and 500 °C, respectively. The enhancement in photocurrent for MWCNT-TiO₂ films compared to pure TiO₂ films is attributed to the improved interconnectivity between TiO₂ nanoparticles, which further improved the electron transport through the film. For carbon doped CBP-TiO₂ cells, lower efficiencies were observed compared to pure TiO₂.     

Physicochemical Characterization of Interaction of Ibuprofen by Solid-State Milling with Aluminum Hydroxide

This present study is a preliminary exploration of the affinity between a carboxylic model drug ibuprofen and aluminum hydroxide. Ibuprofen was comilled with aluminum hydroxide in different weight ratios in the solid state and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and in vitro dissolution studies. XRD and SEM studies indicated complete interaction of ibuprofen with aluminum hydroxide and complete amorphization of aluminum hydroxide–ibuprofen complexed salt as well, on comilling with aluminum hydroxide at 1:2 ratio. FTIR data showed the disappearance of acid carbonyl peak with the appearance and the corresponding increase in absorbance of new signal at 1,682 cm^?1 in the 1:1 and 1:2 ibuprofen–aluminum hydroxide-comilled powder. The accompanied increase in the absorbance of carboxylate peak in the ibuprofen–aluminum hydroxide physical mixture, and 1:0.1, 1:0.5, 1:1, and 1:2 (IBA_pm, and IB₁A_0.1, IB₁A_0.5, IB₁A₁, and IB₁A₂, respectively) comilled powder indicated an acid–base reaction between ibuprofen and aluminum hydroxide. On storage at 40°C and 75% relative humidity (RH) for 10 weeks, XRD study showed the absence of reversion to the crystalline state and FTIR data revealed continued increase of new signal at 1,682 cm^?1 relative to carboxylic acid peak and no reappearance of carboxylic acid peak. In vitro dissolution studies revealed that the percent release of ibuprofen from the aluminum hydroxide-comilled powder is in the following order: IB₁A₂ < IB₁A₁ < ibuprofen crystal < ibuprofen milled alone < IB₁A_0.1 < IB₁A_0.5. Aluminum metal cation might have interacted to form a complex through the carboxyl and carbonyl groups of ibuprofen. Improved dissolution of drug associated with IB₁A_0.1 and IB₁A_0.5 is because of the absence of a new signal at 1,682 cm^?1 and improved amorphization of the drug to some extent. Dissolution of drug affected in IB₁A₂ and IB₁A₁ may be because of the insoluble stable complex formation.     

Effect of holmium substitution on structural and electrical properties of barium zirconate titanate ferroelectric ceramics

The holmium substituted Ba_1−3x/2Ho_xZr_0.025Ti_0.975O₃ (x=0.01, 0.02, 0.025, 0.05) compositions were synthesized by the solid state reaction technique. The synthesized specimens were characterized for their structural and electrical properties using X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscopy, impedance analyzer and loop tracer. Phase analysis shows the formation of secondary phase Ho₂Ti₂O₇ for Ho≥2.5 mol% substitution. The microstructural investigation shows that the holmium substitution significantly reduces the grain size. The substitution of holmium increases the Curie temperature for x≤0.02 whereas Curie temperature decreases for x≥0.025. The maximum dielectric constant at transition temperature is observed for x=0.02. The solubility limit is 2 mol% and for x≥0.025 some of the holmium atoms enter B-sites and forms the secondary phase. An increase is observed in the coercive field of the specimens with the increasing holmium content.     

Spin-state regulating of cobalt assisted by iron doping and coordination for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction

Customizing catalysts from the electronic structure, such as spin state, is an effective but challenging strategy for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, an ultrafine Co–Fe material highly dispersed on nitrogen carbide matrix is fabricated by coordination polymer and self-templating method to scrutinize the impact of spin state of Co on OER through Fe doping. The optimized catalyst shows boosted OER performance, which only requires overpotential of 333 mV at 10 mA cm^?2, outperforming other control samples and commercial RuO₂. The elevated local spin states of Co by Fe doping lead to charge transfer acceleration and fast generation of oxygenated intermediates, which is proved to account for the OER elevation. In addition, the long-term stability of Co–Fe material is guaranteed by the strong coordination of Co/Fe to the melamine-formaldehyde resin, which is used to adsorb metal ions, contributing to the high dispersion of active sites during the OER process.     

Distributed data-driven observer for linear time invariant systems

This paper is concerned with distributed data-driven observer design problem. The existing data-driven observers rely on a common assumption that all the information about the system, and the calculations based upon this information are centralized. Therefore the resulting algorithms cannot be applied to the distributed systems in which each local observer receives only a part of the output signal. On the other hand, traditional model-based distributed state estimation methods generally assume that the processes are decomposed according to the known process models, while in data-driven approaches there is no such information available. The main goal of this paper is to extend the centralized data-driven observer design approach to the distributed framework. The stability of the proposed data-driven distributed observer is also proved analytically. A quadruple-tank process is simulated to demonstrate the performance of the proposed scheme.     

Analytical attractive functions and their derivatives in bulk and nanoconfined pores

In this paper, two new analytical attractive (alpha) functions and their derivatives in bulk and nanoconfined pores are developed based on the virial equation of state (EOS) and statistical thermodynamics and are evaluated at different conditions for the first time. A cubic EOS is modified to nanometer scale and applied to predict the thermodynamic and phase properties in bulk and nanoconfined pores coupled with the new analytical alpha functions. The nanoscale-extended EOS coupled with the analytical alpha functions are validated to be accurate by means of the experimental data for the thermodynamic and phase calculations. The alpha functions and dimensionless attractive term A for the O₂, Ar, CO₂, N₂, and C₁-C₁₀ are always positive and monotonically decrease with the temperature increases at T ≤ 2000 K in the bulk phase, whereas the second virial coefficients (B₂) are always negative and increase with the temperature increases. Moreover, the alpha functions, A, and B₂ for all of components remain constant with the decreasing pore radius until r_p = 50 nm, the former two of which decrease while the latter one increases by further reducing the pore radius. It should be noted that the intermolecular attractive force (ie, A) is a function of the pressure, which is gradually increased at P ≤ 10 MPa though drastically increases afterwards. Also, the enhanced confinement effects lead the same-component intermolecular attractive forces to be smaller. The analytical formulations in the SRK type slightly outperform in the gaseous or light component cases, while those in the PR type are better for the heavy component cases in terms of the thermodynamic property calculations, both of which are compatible with the modified EOS and analytical alpha functions.     

Output feedback model predictive control of hydraulic systems with disturbances compensation

Enhancing the robustness of output feedback control has always been an important issue in hydraulic servo systems. In this paper, an output feedback model predictive controller (MPC) with the integration of an extended state observer (ESO) is proposed for hydraulic systems. The ESO was designed to estimate not only the unmeasured system states but also the disturbances, which will be synthesized into the design of the output prediction equation. Based on the mechanism of receding horizon and repeating optimization of MPC, the output prediction equation will be updated in real time and the future behavior of the system will be accurately predicted since the disturbances are compensated effectively. Hence, the ability of the traditional MPC to suppress disturbances will be improved evidently. The experiment results show that the proposed controller has high-performance nature and strong robustness against various model uncertainties, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.