43 research outputs found
A Concurrent Fuzzy-Neural Network Approach for Decision Support Systems
Decision-making is a process of choosing among alternative courses of action
for solving complicated problems where multi-criteria objectives are involved.
The past few years have witnessed a growing recognition of Soft Computing
technologies that underlie the conception, design and utilization of
intelligent systems. Several works have been done where engineers and
scientists have applied intelligent techniques and heuristics to obtain optimal
decisions from imprecise information. In this paper, we present a concurrent
fuzzy-neural network approach combining unsupervised and supervised learning
techniques to develop the Tactical Air Combat Decision Support System (TACDSS).
Experiment results clearly demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed
technique
Failure detection and separation in SOM based decision support
Failure management in process industry has difficult tasks. Decision support in control rooms of nuclear power plants is needed. A prototype that uses Self-Organizing Map (SOM) method is under development in an industrial project. This paper has focus on failure detection and separation. A literature survey outlines the state-of-the-art and reflects our study to related works. Different SOM visualizations are used. Failure management scenarios are carried out to experiment the methodology and the Man-Machine Interface (MMI). U-matrix trajectory analysis and quantization error are discussed more in detail. The experiments show the usefulness of the chosen approach. Next step will be to add more practical views by analyzing real and simulated industrial data with the control room tool and by feedback from the end users
Failure detection and separation in SOM based decision support
Failure management in process industry has difficult tasks. Decision support in control rooms of nuclear power plants is needed. A prototype that uses Self-Organizing Map (SOM) method is under development in an industrial project. This paper has focus on failure detection and separation. A literature survey outlines the state-of-the-art and reflects our study to related works. Different SOM visualizations are used. Failure management scenarios are carried out to experiment the methodology and the Man-Machine Interface (MMI). U-matrix trajectory analysis and quantization error are discussed more in detail. The experiments show the usefulness of the chosen approach. Next step will be to add more practical views by analyzing real and simulated industrial data with the control room tool and by feedback from the end users
A technique for determining viable military logistics support alternatives
A look at today's US military will see them operating much beyond the scope of protecting and defending the United States. These operations now consist of, but are not limited to humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and conflict resolution. This broad spectrum of operational environments has necessitated a transformation of the individual military services into a hybrid force that can leverage the inherent and emerging capabilities from the strengths of those under the umbrella of the Department of Defense (DOD), this concept has been coined Joint Operations.
Supporting Joint Operations requires a new approach to determining a viable military logistics support system. The logistics architecture for these operations has to accommodate scale, time, varied mission objectives, and imperfect information. Compounding the problem is the human in the loop (HITL) decision maker (DM) who is a necessary component for quickly assessing and planning logistics support activities. Past outcomes are not necessarily good indicators of future results, but they can provide a reasonable starting point for planning and prediction of specific needs for future requirements.
Adequately forecasting the necessary logistical support structure and commodities needed for any resource intensive environment has progressed well beyond stable demand assumptions to one in which dynamic and nonlinear environments can be captured with some degree of fidelity and accuracy. While these advances are important, a holistic approach that allows exploration of the operational environment or design space does not exist to guide the military logistician in a methodical way to support military forecasting activities. To bridge this capability gap, a method called A Technique for Logistics Architecture Selection (ATLAS) has been developed.
This thesis describes and applies the ATLAS method to a notional military scenario that involves the Navy concept of Seabasing and the Marine Corps concept of Distributed Operations applied to a platoon sized element. This work uses modeling and simulation to incorporate expert opinion and knowledge of military operations, dynamic reasoning methods, and certainty analysis to create a decisions support system (DSS) that can be used to provide the DM an enhanced view of the logistics environment and variables that impact specific measures of effectiveness.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Mavris, Dimitri; Committee Member: Fahringer, Philip; Committee Member: Nixon, Janel; Committee Member: Schrage, Daniel; Committee Member: Soban, Danielle; Committee Member: Vachtsevanos, Georg
Dynamic modelling and control of a flexible manoeuvring system.
In this research a twin rotor multi-input multi-output system (TRMS), which is a
laboratory platform with 2 degrees of freedom (DOF) is considered. Although, the
TRMS does not fly, it has a striking similarity with a helicopter, such as system
nonlinearities and cross-coupled modes. Therefore, the TRMS can be perceived as
an unconventional and complex "air vehicle" that poses formidable challenges in
modelling, control design and analysis, and implementation. These issues constitute
the scope of this research.
Linear and nonlinear models for the vertical movement of the TRMS are
obtained via system identification techniques using black-box modelling. The
approach yields input-output models without a priori defined model structure or
specific parameter settings reflecting any physical attributes of the system. Firstly,
linear parametric models, characterising the TRMS in its hovering operation mode,
are obtained using the potential of recursive least squares (RLS) estimation and
genetic algorithms (GAs). Further, a nonlinear model using multi-layer perceptron
(MLP) neural networks (NNs) is obtained. Such a high fidelity nonlinear model is
often required for nonlinear system simulation studies and is commonly employed in
the aerospace industry. Both time and frequency domain analyses are utilised to
investigate and develop confidence in the models obtained. The frequency domain
verification method is a useful tool in the validation of extracted parametric models.
It allows high-fidelity verification of dynamic characteristics over a frequency range
of interest. The resulting models are utilized in designing controllers for low
frequency vibration suppression, development of suitable feedback control laws for
set-point tracking, and design of augmented feedforward and feedback control
schemes for both vibration suppression and set-point tracking performance. The
modelling approaches presented here are shown to be suitable for modelling
complex new generation air vehicles, whose flight mechanics are not well
understood.
Modelling of the TRMS revealed the presence of resonance modes, which are
responsible for inducing unwanted vibrations in the system. Command shaping
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control strategies are developed to reduce motion and uneven mass induced
vibrations, produced by the main rotor during the vertical movement around the
lateral axis of the TRMS rig. 2-impulse, 3-impulse and 4-impulse sequence input
shapers and Iow-pass and band-stop digital filters are developed to shape the
command signals such that the resonance modes are not overly excited. The
effectiveness of this concept is then demonstrated in both simulation and real-time
experimental environments in terms of level of vibration reduction using power
spectral density profiles of the system response.
Combinations of intelligent and conventional techniques are commonly used
the control of complex dynamic systems. Such hybrid schemes have proved to be
efficient and can overcome the deficiencies of conventional and intelligent
controllers alone. The current study is confined to the development of two forms of
hybrid control schemes that combine fuzzy control and conventional PID
compensator for input tracking performance. The two hybrid control strategies
comprising conventional PO control plus PlO compensator and PO-type fuzzy
control plus PlO compensator are developed and implemented for set-point tracking
control of the vertical movement of the TRMS rig. It is observed that the hybrid
control schemes are superior to other feedback control strategies namely, PlO
compensator, pure PO-type and PI-type fuzzy controllers in terms of time domain
system behaviour.
This research also witnesses investigations into the development of an
augmented feedforward and feedback control scheme (AFFCS) for the control of
rigid body motion and vibration suppression of the TRMS. The main goal of this
framework is to satisfy performance objectives in terms of robust command tracking,
fast system response and minimum residual vibration. The developed control
strategies have been designed and implemented within both simulation and real-time
environments of the TRMS rig. The employed control strategies are shown to
demonstrate acceptable performances. The obtained results show that much
improved tracking is achieved on positive and negative cycles of the reference
signal, as compared to that without any control action. The system performance with
the feedback controller is significantly improved when the feedforward control
component is added. This leads to the conclusion that augmenting feedback control
with feedforward method can lead to more practical and accurate control of flexible
systems such as the TRMS