Integrated Flywheel Technology, 1983

Topics of discussion included: technology assessment of the integrated flywheel systems, potential of system concepts, identification of critical areas needing development and, to scope and define an appropriate program for coordinated activity

Application of matlab-based interface for the control of microbioreactor operation

This work presents the use of Arduino-based embedded system interfaced to MATLAB software packages as an alternative cost-effective solution for the control of the microbioreactor operation. In the presented work, a microbioreactor platform with a working volume of approximately 1.5 mL have been fabricated using a low-cost poly (methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) polymers. The reactor have been integrated with stirring control, fuzzy logic temperature control, and aeration feature via a miniature air compressor. Control program of the microbioreactor system was established using Simulink, MATLAB software were executed by interfacing the program with Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller for input and output of signals. Numbers of experimentation were performed to validate and demonstrate the potential of the proposed method. Satisfactorily degree of control and supervision was achieved (± 1-3% of the set-point values). The entire microbioreactor system can be operated stably for a least 48 hours. The work demonstrated the usefulness of MATLAB software in establishing a microbioreactor operating interface that consisted merely few Simulink program block sets and executed on a low-cost Arduino board

Implementation of an attitude control board for CubeSat on one axis with inertial wheel activated by brushless motor

The following work belongs to the PLATHON project (PLATform of integrated simulation of Hardwar in the loop for Optical communications in Nanosatellites), conducted by the research group led by Dr. Javier Gago and Dr. David González at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Terrassa, ESEIAAT (Superior School of Industrial, Audiovisual, and Aeronautical Engineering of Terrassa). The main objective of PLATHON is to replicate a network system composed of CubeSats, which collect data and establish communication with various satellites in orbit. The project heavily relies on the participation of final-year undergraduate and master's degree students from different departments, who contribute significantly to its development. Specifically, this project consists of developing a method to obtain attitude control of the CubeSat using reaction wheels, with performance similar to commercial solutions. In addition to cost reduction, certain aspects will also be improved or adapted for the final implementation in the CubeSat. The methodology followed by this project is based on the research and application of theoretical statements for the operation of BLDC motors. Moreover, having access to the UPC facilities in Terrassa has allowed us to experience each situation in the laboratory and make informed decisions. Finally, the achieved result is a closed-loop voltage control that allows a range of motor speeds and depends on the input voltage. Furthermore, a printed circuit board has been developed to apply a sensing method based on Hall effect sensors. On the other hand, there have been some limitations, all of which are due to the small size of the BLDC motor used, a characteristic that has influenced most of the project's decisions. Nevertheless, this project can be used as a research foundation or as a starting point for other projects

Design, Development and Implementation of Intelligent Algorithms to Increase Autonomy of Quadrotor Unmanned Missions

This thesis presents the development and implementation of intelligent algorithms to increase autonomy of unmanned missions for quadrotor type UAVs. A six-degree-of freedom dynamic model of a quadrotor is developed in Matlab/Simulink in order to support the design of control algorithms previous to real-time implementation. A dynamic inversion based control architecture is developed to minimize nonlinearities and improve robustness when the system is driven outside bounds of nominal design. The design and the implementation of the control laws are described. An immunity-based architecture is introduced for monitoring quadrotor health and its capabilities for detecting abnormal conditions are successfully demonstrated through flight testing. A vision-based navigation scheme is developed to enhance the quadrotor autonomy under GPS denied environments. An optical flow sensor and a laser range finder are used within an Extended Kalman Filter for position estimation and its estimation performance is analyzed by comparing against measurements from a GPS module. Flight testing results are presented where the performances are analyzed, showing a substantial increase of controllability and tracking when the developed algorithms are used under dynamically changing environments. Healthy flights, flights with failures, flight with GPS-denied navigation and post-failure recovery are presented

Test stand design and automated sequences implementation

Chemnitz University of Technology has been involved since 2018 in an academic automotive championship gathering 1:10 fuel cell/battery-powered vehicles. The goal of the race being to travel the longest distance with a limited amount of hydrogen and electricity, it would be meaningful to predict the vehicle fuel consumption prior to the race for a given driving style. For this purpose, the present work proposes a new approach which consisted in designing a chassis dynamometer allowing to implement race driving cycles and to emulate the related road load thanks to a real time industrial automation PLC software. In particular, the chassis dynamometer was designed with PTC CREO and is composed of four trunnionmounted hub dynamometers whose power absorption is performed by hysteresis brakes. The four modules can be controlled independently to adapt the type of 1:10 vehicle powertrain and are controlled from sequences that are implemented by using TwinCAT 3. The data acquisition system from Beckho Automation based on the real time eld bus EtherCAT has enabled the system to be tested under high transient driving cycles. The work has resulted of a chassis dynamometer capable of assessing the vehicle speed from 0 to 30 km=h with an accuracy lower than 3%. The vehicle battery voltage can be measuredin the range 0 to 10 V with an uncertainty lower than 0.1 %. Moreover, the test bench allow to compute the wheel's torque with a proper stability but considering a long delay between the reference torque value and dynamometer response. Finally, a driving cycle has been implemented and the vehicle associated to the PID controller has showed a response time lower than 80 ms.Chemnitz University of Technology has been involved since 2018 in an academic automotive championship gathering 1:10 fuel cell/battery-powered vehicles. The goal of the race being to travel the longest distance with a limited amount of hydrogen and electricity, it would be meaningful to predict the vehicle fuel consumption prior to the race for a given driving style. For this purpose, the present work proposes a new approach which consisted in designing a chassis dynamometer allowing to implement race driving cycles and to emulate the related road load thanks to a real time industrial automation PLC software. In particular, the chassis dynamometer was designed with PTC CREO and is composed of four trunnionmounted hub dynamometers whose power absorption is performed by hysteresis brakes. The four modules can be controlled independently to adapt the type of 1:10 vehicle powertrain and are controlled from sequences that are implemented by using TwinCAT 3. The data acquisition system from Beckho Automation based on the real time eld bus EtherCAT has enabled the system to be tested under high transient driving cycles. The work has resulted of a chassis dynamometer capable of assessing the vehicle speed from 0 to 30 km=h with an accuracy lower than 3%. The vehicle battery voltage can be measuredin the range 0 to 10 V with an uncertainty lower than 0.1 %. Moreover, the test bench allow to compute the wheel's torque with a proper stability but considering a long delay between the reference torque value and dynamometer response. Finally, a driving cycle has been implemented and the vehicle associated to the PID controller has showed a response time lower than 80 ms

An Overview of Applications of the Modular Multilevel Matrix Converter

The modular multilevel matrix converter is a relatively new power converter topology suitable for high-power alternating current (AC)-to-AC applications. Several publications in the literature have highlighted the converter capabilities, such as full modularity, fault-redundancy, control flexibility and input/output power quality. However, the topology and control of this converter are relatively complex to realise, considering that the converter has a large number of power-cells and floating capacitors. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no review papers where the applications of the modular multilevel matrix converter are discussed. Hence, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art of the modular multilevel matrix converter, focusing on implementation issues and applications. Guidelines to dimensioning the key components of this converter are described and compared to other modular multilevel topologies, highlighting the versatility and controllability of the converter in high-power applications. Additionally, the most popular applications for the modular multilevel matrix converter, such as wind turbines, grid connection and motor drives, are discussed based on analyses of simulation and experimental results. Finally, future trends and new opportunities for the use of the modular multilevel matrix converter in high-power AC-to-AC applications are identified.Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo/[Fondecyt 11191163]/ANID/ChileAgencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo/[Fondecyt 1180879]/ANID/ChileAgencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo/[Fondecyt 11190852]/ANID/ChileAgencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo/[ANID Basal FB0008]/ANID/ChileAgencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo/[Fondef ID19I10370]/ANID/ChileUniversidad de Santiago/[Dicyt 091813DD]//ChileUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ingeniería::Facultad de Ingeniería::Escuela de Ingeniería Eléctric

Integration, Testing and Validation, of a Small Hybrid-Electric Remotely-Piloted Aircraft

Parallel hybrid-electric technology offers a wide variety of new mission capabilities including low-observable loiter operations and increased fuel efficiency for small remotely-piloted aircraft. This research focused on the integration, validation, and testing of a hybrid-electric propulsion system consisting of commercially available components to fabricate a small remotely-piloted aircraft capable of extended low-observable operation. Three novel aspects contributed to the success of the design: optimization of the propulsive components to the integrated system, torque control of the components for additive power, and a one-way bearing/ pulley mechanism (patent pending) mechanically linking the hybrid system components. To the knowledge of the author at the time of publication, this project represents the first functional parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system for a remotely-piloted aircraft. The integration phase entailed the selection, testing, and assembly of components chosen based on prior design simulations. The propulsion system was retrofitted onto a glider airframe with a 12 ft wingspan and a maximum takeoff weight of 35 lbs, also based on the initial design simulations. During the validation and testing phases, results from bench, ground, and flight testing were compared to the design simulations. The designed propulsion system was well matched to the power estimates of the design simulations. Bench and ground tests demonstrated that hybrid mode, electric only mode, combustion only mode, and regeneration mode are fully functional. Comparison of bench test results to an engine only variant of the airframe indicate the HE system is capable of flying the aircraft

Event-based Vision: A Survey

Event cameras are bio-inspired sensors that differ from conventional frame cameras: Instead of capturing images at a fixed rate, they asynchronously measure per-pixel brightness changes, and output a stream of events that encode the time, location and sign of the brightness changes. Event cameras offer attractive properties compared to traditional cameras: high temporal resolution (in the order of microseconds), very high dynamic range (140 dB vs. 60 dB), low power consumption, and high pixel bandwidth (on the order of kHz) resulting in reduced motion blur. Hence, event cameras have a large potential for robotics and computer vision in challenging scenarios for traditional cameras, such as low-latency, high speed, and high dynamic range. However, novel methods are required to process the unconventional output of these sensors in order to unlock their potential. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the emerging field of event-based vision, with a focus on the applications and the algorithms developed to unlock the outstanding properties of event cameras. We present event cameras from their working principle, the actual sensors that are available and the tasks that they have been used for, from low-level vision (feature detection and tracking, optic flow, etc.) to high-level vision (reconstruction, segmentation, recognition). We also discuss the techniques developed to process events, including learning-based techniques, as well as specialized processors for these novel sensors, such as spiking neural networks. Additionally, we highlight the challenges that remain to be tackled and the opportunities that lie ahead in the search for a more efficient, bio-inspired way for machines to perceive and interact with the world