16,695 research outputs found
Impulse-Based Hybrid Motion Control
The impulse-based discrete feedback control has been proposed in previous
work for the second-order motion systems with damping uncertainties. The
sate-dependent discrete impulse action takes place at zero crossing of one of
both states, either relative position or velocity. In this paper, the proposed
control method is extended to a general hybrid motion control form. We are
using the paradigm of hybrid system modeling while explicitly specifying the
state trajectories each time the continuous system state hits the guards that
triggers impulsive control actions. The conditions for a stable convergence to
zero equilibrium are derived in relation to the control parameters, while
requiring only the upper bound of damping uncertainties to be known. Numerical
examples are shown for an underdamped closed-loop dynamics with oscillating
transients, an upper bounded time-varying positive system damping, and system
with an additional Coulomb friction damping.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, IEEE conferenc
Teaching, Analyzing, Designing and Interactively Simulating of Sliding Mode Control
This paper introduces an interactive methodology to analize, design, and simulate sliding model controllers for R2 linear systems. This paper reviews sliding mode basic concepts and design methodologies and describes an interactive tool which has been developed to support teaching in this field. The tool helps students by generating a nice graphical and interactive display of most relevant concepts. This fact can be used so that students build their own intuition about the role of different parameters in a sliding mode controller. Described application has been coded with Sysquake using an event-driven solver technique. The Sysquake allows using precise integration methods in real time and handling interactivity in a simple manner.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Learning from Outside the Viability Kernel: Why we Should Build Robots that can Fall with Grace
Despite impressive results using reinforcement learning to solve complex
problems from scratch, in robotics this has still been largely limited to
model-based learning with very informative reward functions. One of the major
challenges is that the reward landscape often has large patches with no
gradient, making it difficult to sample gradients effectively. We show here
that the robot state-initialization can have a more important effect on the
reward landscape than is generally expected. In particular, we show the
counter-intuitive benefit of including initializations that are unviable, in
other words initializing in states that are doomed to fail.Comment: Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE International Conference on SImulation,
Modeling and Programming for Autonomous Robots (SIMPAR), Brisbane, Australia,
16-19 201
Annular billiard dynamics in a circularly polarized strong laser field
We analyze the dynamics of a valence electron of the buckminsterfullerene
molecule (C60) subjected to a circularly polarized laser field by modeling it
with the motion of a classical particle in an annular billiard. We show that
the phase space of the billiard model gives rise to three distinct
trajectories: "Whispering gallery orbits", which only hit the outer billiard
wall, "daisy orbits" which hit both billiard walls (while rotating solely
clockwise or counterclockwise for all time), and orbits which only visit the
downfield part of the billiard, as measured relative to the laser term. These
trajectories, in general, maintain their distinct features, even as intensity
is increased from 10^10 to 10^14 W*cm^-2. We attribute this robust separation
of phase space to the existence of twistless tori
Foreign Banks and Credit Volatility: The Case of Latin American Countries
Foreign bank presence has substantially increased in Latin America during the second half of the 1990s, which has prompted an intense debate on its banking and macroeconomic consequences. In this paper, we apply ARCH techniques to jointly estimate the impact of foreign bank presence on the level and volatility of real credit in a panel of eight Latin American countries, using quarterly data over the period 1995:1-2001:4. Results show that, together with financial development, foreign bank presence has contributed to reduce real credit volatility, improving the buffer shock function of the banking sector. This finding is consistent with the fact that foreign banks are typically well diversified institutions holding higher quality assets and having access to a broad set of liquidity sources. Keywords: foreign banks; credit volatility; Latin America; panel data; ARCH techniquesForeign Banks; Credit Volatility; Latin America; Panel Data; ARCH techniques
Combining Model-Based and Model-Free Updates for Trajectory-Centric Reinforcement Learning
Reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms for real-world robotic applications
need a data-efficient learning process and the ability to handle complex,
unknown dynamical systems. These requirements are handled well by model-based
and model-free RL approaches, respectively. In this work, we aim to combine the
advantages of these two types of methods in a principled manner. By focusing on
time-varying linear-Gaussian policies, we enable a model-based algorithm based
on the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) that can be integrated into the
model-free framework of path integral policy improvement (PI2). We can further
combine our method with guided policy search (GPS) to train arbitrary
parameterized policies such as deep neural networks. Our simulation and
real-world experiments demonstrate that this method can solve challenging
manipulation tasks with comparable or better performance than model-free
methods while maintaining the sample efficiency of model-based methods. A video
presenting our results is available at
https://sites.google.com/site/icml17pilqrComment: Paper accepted to the International Conference on Machine Learning
(ICML) 201
An examination of the keyboard technique of Bach, Haydn, Chopin, Scriabin and Prokofiev
Master's Project (M.Mu.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2016In this research paper, I will explore the keyboard technique of each composer presented in my recital: J.S. Bach, Franz Joseph Haydn, Frederic Chopin, Alexander Scriabin and Sergei Prokofiev. I hope to elucidate the physical approach used by each composer, and show in turn how that same approach influenced the music of each composer by analyzing the pieces performed in my recital. To understand the distinct technique of the composers, it is important to know some context. The instrument each composer wrote for necessarily influenced their technique and resulting composition. However, the instrument cannot explain every facet of technique, and it becomes necessary to understand the underlying aesthetics of technique. Moving chronologically from Bach to Prokofiev, a general trend of expansion in the use of the hand and arm will be seen throughout. Keyboards became louder and heavier in touch and the hand faced greater reaches in every generation. The technique of Bach and Haydn was largely focused on compact and relaxed hands with distinct finger movements, while Scriabin and Prokofiev at the other end require sweeping gestures that occupy the entire arm. However, it would be too easy to present this progression as a story that technique is only getting better and better, implying that the older composers were inferior to the later. That is simply false. Instead, extended study of each composer shows that many technical principles are universal. The baroque keyboardists were likely playing with more weight than popularly imagined and one cannot play Scriabin with mittens on the hands
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