A survey on fuzzy fractional differential and optimal control nonlocal evolution equations

We survey some representative results on fuzzy fractional differential equations, controllability, approximate controllability, optimal control, and optimal feedback control for several different kinds of fractional evolution equations. Optimality and relaxation of multiple control problems, described by nonlinear fractional differential equations with nonlocal control conditions in Banach spaces, are considered.Comment: This is a preprint of a paper whose final and definite form is with 'Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics', ISSN: 0377-0427. Submitted 17-July-2017; Revised 18-Sept-2017; Accepted for publication 20-Sept-2017. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1504.0515

New Approaches in Automation and Robotics

The book New Approaches in Automation and Robotics offers in 22 chapters a collection of recent developments in automation, robotics as well as control theory. It is dedicated to researchers in science and industry, students, and practicing engineers, who wish to update and enhance their knowledge on modern methods and innovative applications. The authors and editor of this book wish to motivate people, especially under-graduate students, to get involved with the interesting field of robotics and mechatronics. We hope that the ideas and concepts presented in this book are useful for your own work and could contribute to problem solving in similar applications as well. It is clear, however, that the wide area of automation and robotics can only be highlighted at several spots but not completely covered by a single book

FCMpy: A Python Module for Constructing and Analyzing Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

FCMpy is an open source package in Python for building and analyzing Fuzzy Cognitive Maps. More specifically, the package allows 1) deriving fuzzy causal weights from qualitative data, 2) simulating the system behavior, 3) applying machine learning algorithms (e.g., Nonlinear Hebbian Learning, Active Hebbian Learning, Genetic Algorithms and Deterministic Learning) to adjust the FCM causal weight matrix and to solve classification problems, and 4) implementing scenario analysis by simulating hypothetical interventions (i.e., analyzing what-if scenarios).Comment: 22 pages, 9 Figure

The posterity of Zadeh's 50-year-old paper: A retrospective in 101 Easy Pieces – and a Few More

International audienceThis article was commissioned by the 22nd IEEE International Conference of Fuzzy Systems (FUZZ-IEEE) to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Lotfi Zadeh's seminal 1965 paper on fuzzy sets. In addition to Lotfi's original paper, this note itemizes 100 citations of books and papers deemed “important (significant, seminal, etc.)” by 20 of the 21 living IEEE CIS Fuzzy Systems pioneers. Each of the 20 contributors supplied 5 citations, and Lotfi's paper makes the overall list a tidy 101, as in “Fuzzy Sets 101”. This note is not a survey in any real sense of the word, but the contributors did offer short remarks to indicate the reason for inclusion (e.g., historical, topical, seminal, etc.) of each citation. Citation statistics are easy to find and notoriously erroneous, so we refrain from reporting them - almost. The exception is that according to Google scholar on April 9, 2015, Lotfi's 1965 paper has been cited 55,479 times

SciTech News Volume 71, No. 2 (2017)

Columns and Reports From the Editor 3 Division News Science-Technology Division 5 Chemistry Division 8 Engineering Division 9 Aerospace Section of the Engineering Division 12 Architecture, Building Engineering, Construction and Design Section of the Engineering Division 14 Reviews Sci-Tech Book News Reviews 16 Advertisements IEEE

Developing DNS Tools to Study Channel Flow Over Realistic Plaque Morphology

In a normal coronary artery, the flow is laminar and the velocity is parabolic in nature. Over time, plaques deposit along the artery wall, narrowing the artery and creating an obstruction, a stenosis. As the stenosis grows, the characteristics of the flow change and transition occurs, resulting in turbulent flow distal to the stenosis. To date, direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulent flow has been performed in a number of studies to understand how stenosis modifies flow dynamics. However, the effect of the actual shape and size of the obstruction has been disregarded in these DNS studies. An ideal approach is to obtain geometrical information of the stenotic channel using medical imaging methods such as IVUS (Intravascular Ultrasound) and couple them with numerical solvers that simulate the flow in the stenotic channel. The purpose of the present thesis is to demonstrate the feasibility of coupling the IVUS geometry with DNS solver. This preliminary research will provide the necessary tools to achieve the long term goal of developing a framework for the morphological features of the stenosis on the flow modifications in a diseased coronary artery. In the present study, the geometrical information of the stenotic plaque has been provided by the medical imaging team at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation for 42 patients who underwent IVUS. The integration of the geometrical information of the stenotic plaque with the DNS was performed in 3 stages 1) fuzzy logic scheme was used to group the 42 patients into categories, 2) meshing algorithm was generated to interface with the DNS solver, and 3) the existing DNS for channel flow was modified to account for inhomogeneity in the streamwise direction. A plaque classification system was developed using statistical k-means clustering with fuzzy logic. Four distinct morphological categories were found in plaque measurements obtained from the 42 patients. Patients were then assigned a degree of membership to each category based on a fuzzy evaluation system. Flow simulations showed distinct turbulent flow characteristics when comparing the four categories, and similar characteristics within each category. An existing DNS solver that used the fourth-order velocity second-order vorticity formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations was modified to account for inhomogeneity in the streamwise direction. A multigrid method was implemented, using Green\u27s method to compute unknown boundary conditions at the walls in using an influence matrix approach. The inflow is the free stream laminar flow condition; the outflow is computed explicitly with a buffer domain and by parabolizing the Navier Stokes equation. The transitional flow solver was tested using blowing and suction disturbances at the wall to generate the Tollmien-Schlichting waves predicted by linear stability theory. The toolset developed as a part of this thesis demonstrates the feasibility of integrating realistic geometry with DNS. This tool can be used for patient-specific simulation of stenotic flow in coronary and carotid arteries. Additionally, within the field of fluid dynamics, this framework will contribute to the understanding of transition and turbulence in stenotic flows

Multiobjective optimization techniques for the solution of free-boundary plasma equilibrium inverse problems

Lo scopo di questo studio è quello di sviluppare un codice per la soluzione numerica del problema inverso per l’equilibrio di plasmi confinati magneticamente con un approccio di ottimizzazione multiobiettivo e un controllo analitico funzionale della forma del boundary di plasma. Il problema inverso consiste nel determinare i valori ottimali di correnti circolanti nelle bobine attive della macchina tali da mantenere in equilibrio un plasma il cui boundary sia prestabilitoope