Two new characteristic parameters for runoff computation

A method capable of estimating the hydrograph from a prescribed storm for a practical mild slope upstream catchment is proposed. This method makes use of two new characteristic parameters, andS, in conjunction with the kinematic wave equation to compute lateral inflows of the main stream of the catchment. The depth profile of overland flow at any instant within the catchment and hydrograph at any location can be easily found. Lag times for individual lateral inflows are then considered and are linearly combined to obtain the hydrograph at the outlet of the catchment or depth profile of the main stream at any instant. The validity of the excess rainfall-surface runoff linear relationship in this study has also been verified with Tatsunokuchiyama catchment, and it shows good results for this computed runoff.     

Cable-direct-driven-robot (CDDR) with a 3-link passive serial support

Cable-direct-driven-robots (CDDRs) provided with a passive serial support represent an interesting and rising evolution of planar cable robots. The paper is devoted to present and analyze a novel CDDR robot. The robot consists in a fully actuated CDDR supported against loading normal to the motion plane with a 3-link passive planar serial manipulator. This hybrid structure combines positive features of both parallel and serial architectures, and prevents out-of-plane movements without the necessity for the robot to be supported on the motion plane. The adoption of a 3-link serial manipulator ensures a greater workspace area compared with similar structures that adopt a smaller number of links, and improves specific characteristics of their dynamics. Nevertheless undesired oscillations may occur since the serial manipulator is underconstrained. For this reason damping elements are inserted in the structure. Simulation examples are presented to demonstrate the novel CDDR concept and its dynamics. In addition, a strategy to select proper values of damping coefficients is presented.     

Modeling and solving mixed-model assembly line balancing problem with setups. Part I: A mixed integer linear programming model

This paper is the first one of the two papers entitled “modeling and solving mixed-model assembly line balancing problem with setups”, which has the aim of developing the mathematical programming formulation of the problem and solving it with a hybrid meta-heuristic approach. In this current part, a mixed-integer linear mathematical programming (MILP) model for mixed-model assembly line balancing problem with setups is developed. The proposed MILP model considers some particular features of the real world problems such as parallel workstations, zoning constraints, and sequence dependent setup times between tasks, which is an actual framework in assembly line balancing problems. The main endeavor of Part-I is to formulate the sequence dependent setup times between tasks in type-I mixed-model assembly line balancing problem. The proposed model considers the setups between the tasks of the same model and the setups because of the model switches in any workstation. The capability of our MILP is tested through a set of computational experiments. Part-II tackles the problem with a multiple colony hybrid bees algorithm. A set of computational experiments is also carried out for the proposed approach in Part-II.     

Low-temperature properties of triglyceride-based diesel fuels: Transesterified methyl esters and petroleum middle distillate/ester blends

This work examines low-temperature properties of triglyceride-based alternate fuels for direct-injection compression-ignition engines. Methyl esters from transesterified soybean oil were studied as neat fuels and in blends with petroleum middle distillates (No. 1 or No. 2 diesel fuel). Admixed methyl esters composed of 5–30 vol% tallowate methyl esters in soyate methyl esters were also examined. Pour points, cloud points, and kinematic viscosities were measured; viscosities at cooler temperatures were studied to evaluate effects of sustained exposure. Low-temperature filterability studies were conducted in accordance with two standard methodologies. The North American standard was the low-temperature flow test (LTFT), and its European equivalent was the cold-filter plugging point (CFPP). With respect to cold-flow properties, blending methyl esters with middle distillates is limited to relatively low ester contents before the properties become preclusive. Under most conditions, cold-flow properties were not greatly affected by admixing the methyl esters with up to 30 vol% tallowate (before blending). Least squares analysis showed that both LTFT and CFPP of formulations containing at least 10 vol% methyl esters are linear functions of cloud point. In addition, statistical analysis of the LTFT data showed a strong 1:1 correlation between LTFT and CP. This result may prove crucial in efforts to improve low-temperature flow properties of alternate diesel fuels that contain methyl esters derived from triglycerides.     

一类离散混沌系统的传输受限同步问题

研究了一类离散混沌系统信息受限条件下的同步问题.将具有离散形式的混沌驱动系统和具有控制输入的响应系统通过一个有限容量信道的通讯网络进行连接.在这种情况下,设计了合适的编解码方法使得传输误差在一定的条件下达到渐近稳定.同时,在线性矩阵不等式条件下,获得了同步误差方程关于传输误差是输入状态稳定,从而实现了混沌系统在信道容量有限条件下的完全同步.最后,通过Fold混沌系统验证了本文方法的有效性.     

零售商资金约束供应链中的金融服务与营运管理协调策略

基于零售商存在资金约束和破产成本的条件假设,研究由一个供应商与一个零售商组成的二级供应链中的外部金融服务和营运管理协调策略.研究表明,不确定需求分布下零售商的融资能力和订购水平是有限的.资金不足零售商可通过外部金融服务实现最优订购,为供应链创造价值,并且金融市场的竞争程度、零售商的初始资金量和破产成本率会影响零售商的订购策略、供应商的批发价策略和供应链绩效.     

On control of discrete-time state-dependent jump linear systems with probabilistic constraints: A receding horizon approach

In this article, we consider a receding horizon control of discrete-time state-dependent jump linear systems, a particular kind of stochastic switching systems, subject to possibly unbounded random disturbances and probabilistic state constraints. Due to the nature of the dynamical system and the constraints, we consider a one-step receding horizon. Using inverse cumulative distribution function, we convert the probabilistic state constraints to deterministic constraints, and obtain a tractable deterministic receding horizon control problem. We consider the receding horizon control law to have a linear state-feedback and an admissible offset term. We ensure mean square boundedness of the state variable via solving linear matrix inequalities off-line, and solve the receding horizon control problem on-line with control offset terms. We illustrate the overall approach applied on a macroeconomic system.     

An analysis,design and tuning of Cascade Control Systems in the presence of constraints in actuator and process outputs

In the presence of rate constraints in actuator, design of cascade controller based on the primary controller conditional integration can result into closed-loop system oscillations. Stability analysis, performed by the describing function technique and confirmed by simulation, demonstrates that the solution based on the Anti-Reset Windup Cascade Control System (ARW CCS) structure is successful. Design and tuning of the ARW CCS secondary controller is a standard ARW single-input single-output problem. In the present paper tuning is proposed for the ARW CCS primary controller. For the serial process modeling simple rules are derived and confirmed by experimental results, obtained on a drum type boiler of a 210 MWe lignite coal fired unit. General design of the ARW CCS is based on the parallel process modeling and optimization of the primary controller. Optimization is performed in the frequency domain, under constraints on the maximum sensitivity, multiplicative uncertainty bound and sensitivity to measurement noise. Simulation and experimental results on a laboratory thermal plant demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed optimization.     

基于模态Petri网的行为有效区间寻找最优路径的方法

为满足客户需求,在行为约束下的业务流程中寻找行为执行的最优路径具有一定的实际意义。已有的研究是建立在静态分析基础上,通过优化算法或是行为分析来寻找最优执行路径,忽略了行为约束条件对执行行为有效性的影响,所得结果具有一定的局限性。文中在已有方法的基础上,利用Petri网行为轮廓序关系描述约束条件并确定行为有效区间,提出了基于模态Petri网分支有效区间的业务流程最优路径选择方法。该方法以行为有效区间替代已有的固定值方法,以便更好地描述业务流程的行为约束以及约束下的有效行为。通过一个具体的业务流程分析实例分析了该方法的有效性。     

Progressive events in supervisory control and compositional verification

This paper investigates some limitations of the nonblocking property when used for supervisor synthesis in discrete event systems. It is shown that there are cases where synthesis with the nonblocking property gives undesired results. To address such cases, the paper introduces progressive events as a means to specify more precisely how a synthesised supervisor should complete its tasks. The nonblocking property is modified to take progressive events into account, and appropriate methods for verification and synthesis are proposed. Experiments show that progressive events can be used in the analysis of industrial-scale systems, and can expose issues that remain undetected by standard nonblocking verification.