Towards a generic optimal co-design of hardware architecture and control configuration for interacting subsystems

In plants consisting of multiple interacting subsystems, the decision on how to optimally select and place actuators and sensors and the accompanying question on how to control the overall plant is a challenging task. Since there is no theoretical framework describing the impact of sensor and actuator placement on performance, an optimization method exploring the possible configurations is introduced in this paper to find a trade-off between implementation cost and achievable performance. Moreover, a novel model-based procedure is presented to simultaneously co-design the optimal number, type and location of actuators and sensors and to determine the corresponding optimal control architecture and accompanying control parameters. This paper adds the optimization of the control architecture to the current state-of-the-art. As an optimization output, a Pareto front is presented, providing insights on the optimal total plant performance related to the hardware and control design implementation cost. The proposed algorithm is not focused on one particular application or a specific optimization problem, but is instead a generally applicable method and can be applied to a wide range of applications (e.g., mechatronic, electrical, thermal). In this paper, the co-design approach is validated on a mechanical setup

Data Analytics and Techniques: A Review

Big data of different types, such as texts and images, are rapidly generated from the internet and other applications. Dealing with this data using traditional methods is not practical since it is available in various sizes, types, and processing speed requirements. Therefore, data analytics has become an important tool because only meaningful information is analyzed and extracted, which makes it essential for big data applications to analyze and extract useful information. This paper presents several innovative methods that use data analytics techniques to improve the analysis process and data management. Furthermore, this paper discusses how the revolution of data analytics based on artificial intelligence algorithms might provide improvements for many applications. In addition, critical challenges and research issues were provided based on published paper limitations to help researchers distinguish between various analytics techniques to develop highly consistent, logical, and information-rich analyses based on valuable features. Furthermore, the findings of this paper may be used to identify the best methods in each sector used in these publications, assist future researchers in their studies for more systematic and comprehensive analysis and identify areas for developing a unique or hybrid technique for data analysis

Design and validation of decision and control systems in automated driving

xxvi, 148 p.En la última década ha surgido una tendencia creciente hacia la automatización de los vehículos, generando un cambio significativo en la movilidad, que afectará profundamente el modo de vida de las personas, la logística de mercancías y otros sectores dependientes del transporte. En el desarrollo de la conducción automatizada en entornos estructurados, la seguridad y el confort, como parte de las nuevas funcionalidades de la conducción, aún no se describen de forma estandarizada. Dado que los métodos de prueba utilizan cada vez más las técnicas de simulación, los desarrollos existentes deben adaptarse a este proceso. Por ejemplo, dado que las tecnologías de seguimiento de trayectorias son habilitadores esenciales, se deben aplicar verificaciones exhaustivas en aplicaciones relacionadas como el control de movimiento del vehículo y la estimación de parámetros. Además, las tecnologías en el vehículo deben ser lo suficientemente robustas para cumplir con los requisitos de seguridad, mejorando la redundancia y respaldar una operación a prueba de fallos. Considerando las premisas mencionadas, esta Tesis Doctoral tiene como objetivo el diseño y la implementación de un marco para lograr Sistemas de Conducción Automatizados (ADS) considerando aspectos cruciales, como la ejecución en tiempo real, la robustez, el rango operativo y el ajuste sencillo de parámetros. Para desarrollar las aportaciones relacionadas con este trabajo, se lleva a cabo un estudio del estado del arte actual en tecnologías de alta automatización de conducción. Luego, se propone un método de dos pasos que aborda la validación de ambos modelos de vehículos de simulación y ADS. Se introducen nuevas formulaciones predictivas basadas en modelos para mejorar la seguridad y el confort en el proceso de seguimiento de trayectorias. Por último, se evalúan escenarios de mal funcionamiento para mejorar la seguridad en entornos urbanos, proponiendo una estrategia alternativa de estimación de posicionamiento para minimizar las condiciones de riesgo

Design and validation of decision and control systems in automated driving

xxvi, 148 p.En la última década ha surgido una tendencia creciente hacia la automatización de los vehículos, generando un cambio significativo en la movilidad, que afectará profundamente el modo de vida de las personas, la logística de mercancías y otros sectores dependientes del transporte. En el desarrollo de la conducción automatizada en entornos estructurados, la seguridad y el confort, como parte de las nuevas funcionalidades de la conducción, aún no se describen de forma estandarizada. Dado que los métodos de prueba utilizan cada vez más las técnicas de simulación, los desarrollos existentes deben adaptarse a este proceso. Por ejemplo, dado que las tecnologías de seguimiento de trayectorias son habilitadores esenciales, se deben aplicar verificaciones exhaustivas en aplicaciones relacionadas como el control de movimiento del vehículo y la estimación de parámetros. Además, las tecnologías en el vehículo deben ser lo suficientemente robustas para cumplir con los requisitos de seguridad, mejorando la redundancia y respaldar una operación a prueba de fallos. Considerando las premisas mencionadas, esta Tesis Doctoral tiene como objetivo el diseño y la implementación de un marco para lograr Sistemas de Conducción Automatizados (ADS) considerando aspectos cruciales, como la ejecución en tiempo real, la robustez, el rango operativo y el ajuste sencillo de parámetros. Para desarrollar las aportaciones relacionadas con este trabajo, se lleva a cabo un estudio del estado del arte actual en tecnologías de alta automatización de conducción. Luego, se propone un método de dos pasos que aborda la validación de ambos modelos de vehículos de simulación y ADS. Se introducen nuevas formulaciones predictivas basadas en modelos para mejorar la seguridad y el confort en el proceso de seguimiento de trayectorias. Por último, se evalúan escenarios de mal funcionamiento para mejorar la seguridad en entornos urbanos, proponiendo una estrategia alternativa de estimación de posicionamiento para minimizar las condiciones de riesgo

Modelling and Navigation of Autonomous Vehicles on Roundabouts

A path following controller was proposed that allows autonomous vehicles to safely navigate roundabouts. The controller consisted of a vector field algorithm that generated velocity commands to direct a vehicle. These velocity commands were fulfilled by an actuator controller that converts the velocity commands into wheel torques and steering angles that physically move a vehicle. This conversion is accomplished using an online optimization process that relies on an internal vehicle model to solve for necessary wheel torques and steering angles. To test the controller’s performance, a 16 degree of freedom vehicle dynamic model was developed with consideration for vehicle turn physics. Firstly, tire force data was gathered by performing driving maneuvers on a test track using a vehicle fitted with tire measurement equipment. The generated tire force data was used to compare various combined slip tire force models for their accuracy. The most accurate model was added to the high-fidelity vehicle model. Next, suspension kinematic data was generated using a simple testing procedure. The vehicle was equipped with the tire measurement equipment and the vehicle was raised a lowered with a hydraulic jack. Using displacement and orientation data from this test, a novel reduced order suspension kinematic model that reproduces the observed motion profile was developed. Application of the path following controller to the high-fidelity model resulted in close following of a roundabout path with small deviations

Vehicle and Traffic Safety

The book is devoted to contemporary issues regarding the safety of motor vehicles and road traffic. It presents the achievements of scientists, specialists, and industry representatives in the following selected areas of road transport safety and automotive engineering: active and passive vehicle safety, vehicle dynamics and stability, testing of vehicles (and their assemblies), including electric cars as well as autonomous vehicles. Selected issues from the area of accident analysis and reconstruction are discussed. The impact on road safety of aspects such as traffic control systems, road infrastructure, and human factors is also considered

The Public Service Media and Public Service Internet Manifesto

This book presents the collectively authored Public Service Media and Public Service Internet Manifesto and accompanying materials.The Internet and the media landscape are broken. The dominant commercial Internet platforms endanger democracy. They have created a communications landscape overwhelmed by surveillance, advertising, fake news, hate speech, conspiracy theories, and algorithmic politics. Commercial Internet platforms have harmed citizens, users, everyday life, and society. Democracy and digital democracy require Public Service Media. A democracy-enhancing Internet requires Public Service Media becoming Public Service Internet platforms – an Internet of the public, by the public, and for the public; an Internet that advances instead of threatens democracy and the public sphere. The Public Service Internet is based on Internet platforms operated by a variety of Public Service Media, taking the public service remit into the digital age. The Public Service Internet provides opportunities for public debate, participation, and the advancement of social cohesion. Accompanying the Manifesto are materials that informed its creation: Christian Fuchs’ report of the results of the Public Service Media/Internet Survey, the written version of Graham Murdock’s online talk on public service media today, and a summary of an ecomitee.com discussion of the Manifesto’s foundations

Proceedings of the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics 2015

This volume contains the full papers accepted for presentation at the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics 2015 held in the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, on June 29 - July 2, 2015. The ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics is an international meeting held once every two years in a European country. Continuing the very successful series of past conferences that have been organized in Lisbon (2003), Madrid (2005), Milan (2007), Warsaw (2009), Brussels (2011) and Zagreb (2013); this edition will once again serve as a meeting point for the international researchers, scientists and experts from academia, research laboratories and industry working in the area of multibody dynamics. Applications are related to many fields of contemporary engineering, such as vehicle and railway systems, aeronautical and space vehicles, robotic manipulators, mechatronic and autonomous systems, smart structures, biomechanical systems and nanotechnologies. The topics of the conference include, but are not restricted to: ● Formulations and Numerical Methods ● Efficient Methods and Real-Time Applications ● Flexible Multibody Dynamics ● Contact Dynamics and Constraints ● Multiphysics and Coupled Problems ● Control and Optimization ● Software Development and Computer Technology ● Aerospace and Maritime Applications ● Biomechanics ● Railroad Vehicle Dynamics ● Road Vehicle Dynamics ● Robotics ● Benchmark ProblemsPostprint (published version

Aeronautical engineering: A cumulative index to a continuing bibliography (supplement 274)

This publication is a cumulative index to the abstracts contained in supplements 262 through 273 of Aeronautical Engineering: A Continuing Bibliography. The bibliographic series is compiled through the cooperative efforts of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Seven indexes are included: subject, personal author, corporate source, foreign technology, contract number, report number, and accession number

Probabilistic Protein Design, Comparative Modeling, and the Structure of a Multidomain P53 Oligomer Bound to DNA

Proteins are the main functional components of all cellular processes, and most of them fold into unique three-dimensional shapes guided by their amino-acid sequence. Discovering the structure of a protein, or protein complexes, can provide important clues about how they perform their function. However, the chemical, physical or architectural properties of many proteins impede traditional approaches to structure determination. Two such proteins, the tumor suppressor p53 and the cholesterol processing enzyme endothelial lipase, are prime examples of problematic proteins that defy structural investigation via crystallographic methods. Therefore, new techniques must be developed to gain valuable structural insights, such as: computationally assisted protein design strategies, more efficient crystal screening, or a combination of both. We applied a statistical computationally assisted design strategy to stabilize a p53 variant consisting of two independently folding domains. The re-engineered variant retained normal DNA-binding activities, and allowed us to experimentally determine the first structure of a physiologically active multi-domain p53 tetramer bound to a full-length DNA response element. We then demonstrated how computational methodology can be used to gain functional detail of proteins in the absence of experimentally determined structures. By creating comparative models of endothelial lipase, we discovered structural features that describe function and regulation, and gained a better understanding of the mechanisms conferring substrate specificity. Additionally, traditional methods for protein structure determination, such as X-ray crystallography, require relatively large amounts of purified sample in order to screen a sufficient variety of conditions. To improve this process, we developed a novel method for protein crystal screening using a microfluidics platform. We show how it is possible to use smaller quantities of protein to screen larger varieties of conditions, in turn increasing the probability of success in obtaining crystals. Furthermore, in contrast to current crystallographic approaches, all steps from screening to crystal growth to data collection were performed within the same reaction chamber, without any manipulation of the crystal, dramatically increasing the efficiency of both time and sample required to realize the structure. Collectively, these results demonstrate how advances in computational and experimental approaches can provide structural detail for proteins in circumstances where traditional methodology fails