Analysis of motor synergies utilization for optimal movement generation for a human-like robotic arm

Controlling human-like robots with musculoskeletal structure has been a challenging problem in engineering. In biological studies, motor synergy hypothesis has been proposed as a solution in order to control high degree-of-freedom and complex human body. In this paper, we focus on exploring the applicability of motor synergies in generating goal-directed movements by optimal control in a human-like robotic arm. We focus on three problems： 1） Can motor synergies facilitate the solving of optimal control problem？ 2） What properties should motor synergies have in order to achieve tasks？ 3） How should motor synergies be utilized better？ For the first problem we show that goal-directed movements can be achieved by utilizing motor synergies which have properties of achieving the goals. For the second problem, we testify motor synergies which have different properties and discover that energy efficiency is an important aspect in motor synergies which can also be utilized to achieve goal-directed movements. This discovery also implies that we can obtain motor synergies by other ways rather than from goal-directed optimal control signals. For the third problem, we show that the control complexity can be further reduced by utilizing a subset of motor synergies which are effective to achieve goals.     

Feedback Filtering for Digital Control Applications

Thanks to the progress in semiconductor technologies, today microcontrollers offer huge computational power. That allows using advanced control algorithms with a built-in intelligence with a sufficient speed, for many demanding applications. These capabilities make the embedded control ideal for using at complex plants and for obtaining the highest performance in a wide area of operations. However, control performance also strongly depends on the feedback. A short latency and a high precision of embedded analog peripherals allow building fast and accurate control loops. The paper proposes an easy design method of high performance analog to digital converter filtering path, optimized for control applications.     

A memristor-based architecture combining memory and image processing

Image processing is a type of memory-access-intensive application and is applied in many fields.Logic operations are very simple ones in image processing.During these operations,memory access takes a majority of the total time consumed,which puts a great pressure on memory access speed and bandwidth.However,in traditional von Neumann architecture,memory access is the inherent bottleneck of the system;that is,the speed of memory’s data supply is far lower than the data request of processor.Memristor is considered to be the fourth circuit element after resistor,capacitor and inductor.It has the capacity of both processing and memory,which supplies a new idea for solving the"memory wall"problem.In this paper,memristor is used to build an architecture combining computing and memory,where the memory has the ability to handle some simple image processing operations.This architecture can reduce readings and writings of memory effectively,which saves memory bandwidth thus improving the efficiency of the system.Logic operations of images are considered in this paper to validate the architecture.The experimental results and theoretical analysis indicate that the architecture can reduce memory access effectively.     

Achieving high throughput and TCP Reno fairness in delay-based TCP over large networks

The transport control protocol （TCP） has been widely used in wired and wireless Intemet applications such as FTP, email and HTTP. Numerous congestion avoidance algorithms have been proposed to improve the performance of TCP in various scenarios, especially for high speed and wireless networks. Although different algorithms may achieve different performance improvements under different network conditions, designing a congestion algorithm that can perform well across a wide spectrum of network conditions remains a great challenge. Delay-based TCP has a potential to overcome above challenges. However, the unfairness problem of delay-based TCP with TCP Reno blocks widely the deployment of delay-based TCP over wide area networks. In this paper, we proposed a novel delay-based congestion control algorithm, named FAST-FIT, which could perform gracefully in both ultra high speed networks and wide area networks, as well as keep graceful faimess with widely deployed TCP Reno hosts. FAST-FIT uses queuing delay as a primary input for controlling TCP congestion window. Packet loss is used as a secondary signal to adaptively adjust parameters of primary control process. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the performance of the algorithm is significantly improved as compared to other state-of-the-art algorithms, while maintaining good faimess.     

A Framework for Agent-Based Traffic Light Control

As traffic congestion rises within large cities, intelligent traffic control is becoming increasingly important. In this filed, intelligent traffic light control has received much attention. Considering the distributed characteristic of traffic light, multi-agent system can simulate the traffic light control easily. Based on analyzing the traffic light pattern at junctions, an agent-based framework is proposed in this paper, which consists of two kinds of agents： system agent and junction agent. System agent is responsible for gathering the history information of different junction agents to preset the time for each traffic light pattern. While, junction agent controls the traffic light at a road junction by preset-observe-ponder-act cycle. The detailed procedure of pondering is also given. In the authors method, not only the history information but also the dynamic data and communication between agents are considered. People expect the proposed framework can provide a more balanced, coordinated and optimal method for the traffic light control.     

Quasi Dynamic Model of Wheel Vehicle with Electric and Hybrid Drive System

The paper presents physical and mathematical models of kinetic system, drive system （electric and combustion traction motors）, and also wheel and rails traction vehicle supply system （car, special vehicle, modern tram vehicle）. Selected predictive and quasi dynamic control system algorithms of traction vehicle are presented in the paper. For selected constructions of traction vehicle drive system are presented in simulation models and are results of calculations of different exploitations work state of wheel vehicle with hybrid drive system. Results of computer calculations are verified with laboratory measurement and suitable corrections coefficient to simulations models of vehicles is introduced.     

Research of Graduation Project Management System Based on B/S Mode

Graduation project management system is designed and developed on B/S mode with C# language. The main flow of the system is students＇ selecting projects. System is designed on teachers, students and administrators, students. Focus on the project application, the project audit, the select projects and the results generated summary ect. It enables instructors to assign projects and students to select them online quickly and conveniently, and instructors can track and manage the graduation design in the whole course through the system. This system provides a good interactive platform of graduation design for teachers and students, which improves the efficiency and quality of the project selection of graduation design.     

Biped walking on level ground with torso using only one actuator

It is well known that a biped robot needs actuators to walk stably on level ground. Till now, a biped robot with torso has needed at least two actuators to achieve this. Would it be possible for this kind of robot to walk on level ground with only one actuator？ This paper responds in the affirmative and proposes a simple control strategy for a planar biped robot with torso. In this control method, there is only one low gain proportional-derivative （PD） controller between the torso and the stance leg, while the swing leg remains totally free. The PD controller utilizes states of both the torso （angle and angular velocity） and the stance leg. The numerical simulations show that, by adopting this controller, a planar biped robot with torso can walk stably on level ground, and that the robot can walk with a wide range of speeds and high energy efficiency by changing the control parameters. Four period-one gaits, one of which is stable while the other three are unstable, are found by simulations. According to the literature surveyed, we are the first to have a torso only driven biped robot walk stably on level ground.     

Network selection policy based on effective capacity in heterogeneous wireless communication systems

A great deal of previous research was based on the concept of Shannon theory without considering the delay characteristic. However, in reality, different services have different delay constraints. In this paper, two new network selection policies are proposed for heterogeneous wireless communication systems using effective capacity, which incorporate delay in the transmission rate. Users can access the proper network after considering the delay demands of different services. Our proposed policies aim to maximize the entire throughput with different delay constraints. Both the mathematicM analysis and simulations show that the proposed network selection policies can improve network throughput while providing quality-of-service guarantees.     

Mobile Station Speed Estimation with Multi-bit Quantizer in Adaptive Power Control

The adaptive power control with multi-bit quantizer of CDMA （code division multiple access） systems for communications between multiple MSs （mobile stations） with a link-budget based SIR （signal-to-interference ratio） estimate is applied to four inner loop power control algorithms. The speed estimation performances of these algorithms with their consecutive TPC （transmit-power-control） ratios are compared to each inner loop power control algorithm, and the speed shows full linearity with the consecutive TPC ratio information of CS-CLPC （consecutive TPC ratio step-size closed loop power control）, FSPC （fixed step-size power control）, and KS-CLPC （Kalman gain step-size closed loop power control）. These algorithms show more linearity with increased bit quantization. The result however, indicates consecutive TPC ratio of AS-CLPC （adaptive step-size closed loop power control） is independent of target speed. It is concluded that the speed can be estimated with the consecutive TPC ratio with CS-CLPC, FSPC and KS-CLPC.     

Performance analysis of three multi-radio access control policies in heterogeneous wireless networks

Access control policy in wireless networks has a significant impact on QoS satisfaction and resource utilization efficiency. The design of access control policy in heterogeneous wireless networks （HWNs） becomes more challenging especially for the heterogeneous multiple access protocols of each radio network. In this paper, a Markov model is proposed to analyze the performance of three access control policies for HWNs. The first policy is the optimal radio access technology （O-RAT） selection, where the incoming traffic always tries to access one network with the maximum service rate before admission. The second policy intends to allocate the same data to all networks. And the traffic will leave the system if it is accomplished first by one of these networks, which is formulated as the aggregated multi-radio access （A-MRA） technology. The third policy is named the parallel multi-radio access （P-MRA） transmission, in which the incoming traffic is split into different networks. The traffic is served with the sum of the service rates provided by overall networks. Numerical and simulate results show the effectiveness of our analytical framework and the performance gain of the three access control policies. As illustrated with some representative results, the P-MRA policy shows superior performance gain to the other two policies independent on the specific parameters of the different multiple access protocols due to the multiplexing gain.     

基于神经网络的无人机滑模飞行控制设计

针对无人机受扰运动,基于Backstepping方法和非线性滑模控制提出了一种鲁棒神经网络飞行控制方案。对无人机姿态角速度层的系统不确定性项,采用径向基函数神经网络并对其权值进行在线调整,从而实现对其进行逼近。将回馈递推设计方法与滑模控制方法结合起来,基于神经网络的输出为无人机设计了一种回馈递推滑模飞行控制器。所设计的飞行控制器用于无人机的姿态控制,仿真结果表明所研究的无人机鲁棒神经网络飞行控制方案是有效的。     

Robust attitude control of near space vehicles with time-varying disturbances

In this paper, the robust attitude control scheme is developed for near space vehicles (NSVs) with time-varying disturbances based on backstepping technique. To efficiently handle the time-varying disturbance and the system uncertainty, the disturbance observer is employed to estimate them. Using backstepping technique and the disturbance observer output, the robust attitude control is firstly developed for the NSV. And then, considering the actuator dynamics, another robust attitude control scheme is proposed for the NSV based on the disturbance observer. The uniformly ultimate bounded-ness of all closed-loop signals are guaranteed via Lyapunov analysis under both developed robust attitude control schemes. Finally, simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed attitude control schemes.     

Adaptive Sliding Mode Control for Re-entry Attitude of Near Space Hypersonic Vehicle Based on Backstepping Design

Combining sliding mode control method with radial basis function neural network (RBFNN), this paper proposes a robust adaptive control scheme based on backstepping design for re-entry attitude tracking control of near space hypersonic vehicle (NSHV) in the presence of parameter variations and external disturbances. In the attitude angle loop, a robust adaptive virtual control law is designed by using the adaptive method to estimate the unknown upper bound of the compound uncertainties. In the angular velocity loop, an adaptive sliding mode control law is designed to suppress the effect of parameter variations and external disturbances. The main benefit of the sliding mode control is robustness to parameter variations and external disturbances. To further improve the control performance, RBFNNs are introduced to approximate the compound uncertainties in the attitude angle loop and angular velocity loop, respectively. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, the tracking errors are shown to be asymptotically stable. Simulation results show that the proposed control system attains a satisfied control performance and is robust against parameter variations and external disturbances.      

用于清洗绝缘子的四旋翼无人机抗回冲力控制

本文主要针对利用四旋翼无人机清洗绝缘子时受到的回冲力干扰及姿态控制问题,提出了一种用于清洗绝缘子的无人机抗回冲力控制方法.对于无人机系统,本文运用非线性控制方法中的反步法来设计姿态控制器,使其达到输入状态稳定,并对外部扰动具有鲁棒性.本文首先根据无人机运动模型建立了其动力学方程.之后,运用动量定理和流体力学中的伯努利方程对所受的回冲力进行建模.然后,运用反步法设计姿态控制器并证明其稳定性.最后,运用MATLAB对无人机系统进行仿真实验,其结果证明了文中所提出的控制方法的有效性和鲁棒性.本文所提出的控制方案可以避免目前已有的一些技术存在的缺陷,并且为无人机抗扰动控制和绝缘子冲洗都提供了发展空间.     

控制方向未知的时变非线性系统鲁棒控制

针对一类具有未知时变控制方向、不确定时变参数以及未知时变有界干扰的严反馈非线性系统,给出一种带有死区修正算法的鲁棒控制方法.在控制系数符号未知的情况下,通过在反步法中引入Nussbaum增益和死区修正技术,得到一种修正的鲁棒反步设计方法.该方法不需要未知时变控制系数的上下界先验知识以及不确定参数和外界干扰的上界信息.算法保证了闭环系统所有信号的有界性,同时使得跟踪误差收敛于零的任意小邻域内.     

四旋翼无人机鲁棒自适应姿态控制

 四旋翼无人机的姿态控制是自主飞行控制的核心,针对四旋翼姿态易受外界环境干扰和内部参数摄动等不确定性影响的问题,设计了一种鲁棒自适应反步控制器,以提高四旋翼的鲁棒性。建立了四旋翼完整的姿态运动模型,并将其转化为含有广义不确定性的多输入多输出非线性系统。根据该系统满足严格反馈的结构特点,设计了反步控制器; 针对系统中存在的外部干扰和内部参数摄动等不确定性,引入了一类鲁棒自适应函数来抵消该不确定性对系统的影响; 采用非线性跟踪微分器估计虚拟控制量的微分信号,减小了反步控制器设计中普遍存在的“计算膨胀”问题; 通过构造Lyapunov 函数证明闭环系统是稳定且指数收敛的。仿真结果表明,所设计控制器具有良好的控制效果和鲁棒性。     

考虑输入饱和的近空间飞行器姿态容错控制

针对近空间飞行器姿态控制中出现的执行器故障,输入饱和与外部干扰等问题,设计了一种基于二阶滑模干扰观测器和辅助系统的鲁棒容错跟踪控制方法.首先,将系统不确定,外部扰动和执行器故障作为复合干扰,设计super-twisting二阶滑模干扰观测器对其进行估计.然后为解决输入饱和问题构造了辅助分析系统,并借助backstepping方法,设计姿态容错跟踪控制器.利用Lyapunov方法,严格证明了所有闭环系统信号的收敛性.最后将所设计的控制方法应用于近空间飞行器姿态控制中,仿真结果验证了该控制方法的有效性.     

Postcapture robust nonlinear control for tethered space robot with constraints on actuator and velocity of space tether

Stabilization control is an essential mission for the tethered space robot‐target combination during the postcapture phase of tethered space robot (TSR). In this paper, the stabilization problem of such a tumbling combination is studied. With the consideration of the space tether and the attitude of the TSR's gripper, the dynamic model of the combination is first derived using Lagrange method. Then a robust nonlinear controller for the combination is proposed based on the backstepping control method. Considering the constraint on the velocity of the space tether, command filter method is utilized to guarantee the velocity of the space tether within a permitted range. A feedback term is designed to compensate the saturation of the thruster. Moreover, an adaptive law is designed to estimate the disturbance of parameter uncertainties and this disturbance is compensated in the proposed controller. Numerical simulations suggest that the proposed robust controller can realize the orbit and attitude stabilization of the combination; besides, the velocity of the space tether is effectively constrained and the parameter uncertainties of the combination can be compensated via the adaptive law. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Robust adaptive control for a class of cascaded nonlinear systems with applications to space interception

This paper proposes a robust H _∞ ‐based adaptive backstepping control scheme for the output stabilization of a special class of cascaded nonlinear systems. This kind of systems possess the feature that the first sub‐equation is a linear perturbed system, whereas the rest ones perform a general semi‐strict feedback form. Different from the conventional backstepping design approach, the special cascaded structure ensures to introduce the H _∞ technique to the backstepping procedure such that both the robust performance and the robust stability can be simultaneously guaranteed. Within the Lyapunov framework, the proposed control scheme is proved to guarantee (i) the uniformly ultimate boundedness of the system signals with a bound that can be made arbitrarily small by suitably choosing control parameters; (ii) asymptotic output stabilization as long as the uncertain nonlinearities and external disturbances vanish; and (iii) ‐performance of the closed‐loop system. A space interception scenario is utilized to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.