Robust Control of Robot Manipulator based on QFT and H∞

Robust controllers have been developed by both control techniques QFT and H∞ applied in the waist, shoulder and elbow of a manipulator of 6 degrees of freedom. The design is based on the identification of a linear model of the robot dynamics which represents the non-linearity of the system using parametric uncertainty. QFT control methodology is used to tune the robust PID-controller and pre-filters of the system, and H∞ controllers are obtained by designing the weighting functions and using the MATLAB hinfopt tool. Finally the performance of robust controllers is compared designed based on the calculation and analysis of some behavioral indices.

Optimization of Fuzzy Logic Based Virtual Pilot for Wargaming

This paper deals with the design of an autopilot based on a set of fuzzy controllers. The model of the aircraft that the autopilot controls is defined as a model with 6 degrees of freedom, where the inputs to this model are the settings of the engine thrust (DX), rudder rotation (Dl) and elevators (Dm and Dn). The fuzzy controllers are of the Mamdani type, where the set of parameters defining the controller allow the derivation of membership functions of the input variables and membership functions of the output variables. The parameters of fuzzy controllers are determined by the optimization process. For the purpose of optimization, a fitness function is defined, which derives the simulation parameters from its parameter (vector), and the simulation subsequently performed and evaluated determines whether it is a feasible solution in addition the value of this solution. By this optimization process, the sub-optimal solution is found and is then used to define the settings of the fuzzy controllers and, therefore, the autopilot. This paper contains a description of each step of the solution of the described problem, and with the help of the obtained results, it is determined that the presented procedure allows us to find an autopilot capable of controlling the defined model of the aircraft. In addition, there is a brief description regarding the misconceptions explored during the development of the experiment.

WPO-Net: Windowed Pose Optimization Network for Monocular Visual Odometry Estimation

Visual odometry is the process of estimating incremental localization of the camera in 3-dimensional space for autonomous driving. There have been new learning-based methods which do not require camera calibration and are robust to external noise. In this work, a new method that do not require camera calibration called the “windowed pose optimization network” is proposed to estimate the 6 degrees of freedom pose of a monocular camera. The architecture of the proposed network is based on supervised learning-based methods with feature encoder and pose regressor that takes multiple consecutive two grayscale image stacks at each step for training and enforces the composite pose constraints. The KITTI dataset is used to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The proposed method yielded rotational error of 3.12 deg/100 m, and the training time is 41.32 ms, while inference time is 7.87 ms. Experiments demonstrate the competitive performance of the proposed method to other state-of-the-art related works which shows the novelty of the proposed technique.

Ex vivo study of the intradiskal pressure in the C6-7 intervertebral disk after experimental destabilization and distraction-fusion of the C5-C6 vertebrae in canine cadaveric specimens

OBJECTIVE To evaluate intradiskal pressure (IDP) in the C6-7 intervertebral disk (IVD) after destabilization and distraction-fusion of the C5-C6 vertebrae. SAMPLE 7 cadaveric C4-T1 vertebral specimens with no evidence of IVD disease from large-breed dogs. PROCEDURES Specimens were mounted in a custom-made 6 degrees of freedom spinal loading simulator so the C5-C6 and C6-C7 segments remained mobile. One specimen remained untreated and was used to assess the repeatability of the IDP measurement protocol. Six specimens underwent 3 sequential configurations (untreated, partial diskectomy of the C5-6 IVD, and distraction-fusion of the C5-C6 vertebrae). Each construct was biomechanically tested under neutral, flexion, extension, and right-lateral bending loads. The IDP was measured with a pressure transducer inserted into the C6-7 IVD and compared between the nucleus pulposus and annulus fibrosus and across all 3 constructs and 4 loads. RESULTS Compared with untreated constructs, partial diskectomy and distraction-fusion of C5-C6 decreased the mean ± SD IDP in the C6-7 IVD by 1.3 ± 1.3% and 0.8 ± 1.3%, respectively. During motion, the IDP remained fairly constant in the annulus fibrosus and increased by 3.8 ± 3.0% in the nucleus pulposus. The increase in IDP within the nucleus pulposus was numerically greatest during flexion but did not differ significantly among loading conditions. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Distraction-fusion of C5-C6 did not significantly alter the IDP of healthy C6-7 IVDs. Effects of vertebral distraction-fusion on the IDP of adjacent IVDs with degenerative changes, such as those in dogs with caudal cervical spondylomyelopathy, warrant investigation.

Prediction of dynamics and seaworthiness of amphibious hovercraft

Annotation – The creation of hovercraft projects is a very expensive procedure, and the emergence of new ships of this type and their evolution is proceeding at a very slow pace. Despite the fact that hovercraft have been used for decades and there is a large amount of literature that is related to the theory of such ships and the practice of their design, there are still a number of unresolved problems associated with these ships. There are various methods, theories and publications that allow to calculate and design various complexes and systems of hovercraft, and as a result, this allows to create vessels that are successful in operation and with good seaworthiness. But at the same time, until now, the main problem remains to achieve sufficient accuracy in predicting the operational characteristics of hovercraft under various modes. Therefore, it is not uncommon for a successful hovercraft project to be born after a series of unsuccessful trial and error. The presented work describes a methodology for creating simulations of hovercraft for various modes of their operation. Various types of simulations of such ships and the ways of their implementation into functioning software are considered. The main mathematical models that are involved in the implementation of such simulations are described and their structure is shown for various hovercraft. The described complex of mathematical models, embodied in the program, allows an in-depth analysis of the dynamics and operational characteristics of hovercraft before the completion of their design and before the start of construction. It is argued that the most difficult, but suitable for real practical problems of analyzing the dynamics of hovercraft is the simulation of this ship with 6 degrees of freedom. The study allows us to conclude that the described methodology for creating a complex of mathematical models makes it possible with high accuracy to predict the dynamics of hovercraft and simulate any hovercraft with 6 degrees of freedom, which will reduce the cost of designing and building a lead hovercraft with accurately predictable seaworthiness and operational characteristics.

On trajectory tracking control of fluid-driven actuators

Fluid-driven actuators are not only well-established in automation, but also a promising drive technology for collaborative robots. Their inherent compliance due to the compressibility of suitable fluids such as air, as well as their direct drive properties are advantageous safety features for human-machine collaboration. In this work, we provide an overview of different fluid-driven manipulators, namely fluidic muscle actuated ones, continuum manipulators, and those with rotary joints. For the latter, we introduce the mathematical model including mechanics and pressure dynamics and describe its properties such as strong nonlinearities, which make trajectory tracking control challenging. A model-based nonlinear cascaded controller is presented. Experimental results on a 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) prototype demonstrate the resulting trajectory tracking performance.

Application of a central composite face-centered design in the optimization of an Archimedean hydrokinetic turbine

Currently, in the literature, there are no general guidelines for the optimal hydraulic design of Archimedean screw turbines (AST) used in hydrokinetic applications. Therefore, this study is aiming at selecting the most significant geometric factors, such as the diameter ratio between the inner (𝐷𝑖 ) and the outer (𝐷𝑜) diameters (i.e., 𝐷𝑖/𝐷𝑜), the axle length (𝐿) and the blade stride (𝑝), influencing the AST performance by using a central composite face-centered (CCF) experimental design combined with the response surface methodology (RSM). The statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) test identified with a significance level of 0.05 that the most significant variables on the performance of the turbine were 𝑝 and 𝐷𝑖/𝐷𝑜. The AST efficiency was evaluated by means of the power coefficient (𝐶𝑃), which was calculated by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods coupled with the 6-degrees of freedom (6-DoF) approach. The second-order polynomial model was used to predict the 𝐶𝑃 and the coefficient of determination (𝑅 2 ) was found to be 97.4%.

Subtitling 3D VR Content with Limited 6DoF: Presentation Modes and Guiding Methods

All multimedia services must be accessible. Accessibility for multimedia content is typically provided by means of access services, of which subtitling is likely the most widespread approach. To date, numerous recommendations and solutions for subtitling classical 2D audiovisual services have been proposed. Similarly, recent efforts have been devoted to devising adequate subtitling solutions for VR360 video content. This paper, for the first time, extends the existing approaches to address the challenges remaining for efficiently subtitling 3D Virtual Reality (VR) content by exploring two key requirements: presentation modes and guiding methods. By leveraging insights from earlier work on VR360 content, this paper proposes novel presentation modes and guiding methods, to not only provide the freedom to explore omnidirectional scenes, but also to address the additional specificities of 3D VR compared to VR360 content: depth, 6 Degrees of Freedom (6DoF), and viewing perspectives. The obtained results prove that always-visible subtitles and a novel proposed comic-style presentation mode are significantly more appropriate than state-of-the-art fixed-positioned subtitles, particularly in terms of immersion, ease and comfort of reading, and identification of speakers, when applied to professional pieces of content with limited displacement of speakers and limited 6DoF (i.e., users are not expected to navigate around the virtual environment). Similarly, even in such limited movement scenarios, the results show that the use of indicators (arrows), as a guiding method, is well received. Overall, the paper provides relevant insights and paves the way for efficiently subtitling 3D VR content.

IMPROVING THE CALCULATION OF FLEXIBLE CFST-COLUMNS, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT STRESSES IN THE SECTION PLANES

the article is devoted to a newly developed complex finite element that allows modeling concrete-filled steel tubular columns taking into account the compression of the concrete core from the steel tube, as well as ge-ometric nonlinearity. The derivation of the resolving equations, as well as expressions for the elements of the stiffness matrix, is based on the hypothesis of plane sections. The complex testing of the finite element was performed using the program code written by the authors in the MATLAB language and the ANSYS software, as well as the analysis of the effectiveness of the new FE in comparison with the classical methods of modeling CFST-columns in modern software systems. A significant decrease in the order of the system of FEM equations is demonstrated in comparison with the modeling of CFST-structures in a volumetric formu-lation in existing design complexes using SOLID elements for a concrete core with 3 degrees of freedom in each of the nodes, and SHELL elements for a steel tube with 6 degrees of freedom in each of the nodes, with a comparable accuracy in determining the stress-strain state. The behavior of steel and concrete in the presented work is assumed to be linearly elastic, however, the described calculation method can be generalized to the case of using nonlinear deformation models of materials.