The Application of Predictor Feedback in Designing a Preview Controller for Discrete-Time Systems with Input Delay

© 2016 Fucheng Liao et al.This paper presents a method for designing a type one servomechanism for a discrete-time linear system with input delay subject to a previewable desired output and a nonmeasurable constant disturbance. The tracking problem of a delay system is transformed into a regulation problem of a delay-free system via constructing an augmented error system and a variable substitution. A controller is obtained with delay compensation and preview compensation based on preview control theory and the predictor method. When the state vector is not directly measurable, a full-dimensional observer is offered. The effectiveness of the design method is demonstrated by numerical simulations

Timing of hard palate repair and facial growth in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate.

Lateral cephalometric radiographs from the growth archive of the Sri Lankan Cleft Lip and Palate Project were analyzed to elucidate the relationship between timing of hard palate repair and facial growth in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). One hundred and twenty-five adult patients with nonsyndromic UCLP operated on at different ages for hard palate repair were recruited and their last cephalometric radiographs were used in the cross sectional analysis 104 patients with nonsyndromic UCLP operated on at different ages for hard palate repair and their 290 cephalometric radiographs were available in the longitudinal analysis. The design utilized statistical control for gender, age, and other covariates such as the timing and surgeon of lip repair as well as the technique and surgeon of hard palate repair. Results showed that the length of the alveolar maxilla (PMP-A, p = 0.05) and the anteroposterior alveolar jaw relation (ANB, p 0.05), were related to the timing of hard palate repair. These results suggest that in patients with UCLP late hard palate repair has a smaller adverse effect than early hard palate repair on the forward growth of the maxilla, and that timing of hard palate repair does not significantly affect the growth of the mandible

Measuring and analysing vibration motors in insoles via accelerometers

Purpose: Falling is a major public health concern among elderly people, and they often cause serious injuries1,2. They most frequently occur during walking and are associated with the chronic deterioration in the neuromuscular and sensory systems, as well as with ankle muscle weakness and lower endurance of these muscles to fatigue1,3. Vibrating insoles, providing a subsensory mechanical noise signal to the plantar side of the feet, may improve balance in healthy young and older people and in patients with stroke or diabetic neuropathy4. The object of this study is to find the most suitable vibrator to put into the insole which can effectively improve the balance control of the elderlies. Method: We choose three different vibration actuators (micro vibration motor, brushless motor and eccentric motor) with two different weights on the insole. First, we put three same motors and two accelerometers on the insole, as shown in Figure1, then attach another layer on both side of the insole. Second, connect the motors to the power supply and the accelerometer to NI PXI-1033 spectrum analyzer which is used to collect the accelerometers' data. At last, using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to analyze and compare the results to see which motor is the most stable and suitable to put into the insole. Results & Discussion: The results showed that the most stable one is the brushless motor. The reason why the frequency is stable is that the relationship between voltage and frequency is linear, and the error is small through continuous measurements. On the other hand, when a person weight 55 kg stands on the insole, the frequency isn't affected by the weight. These two results appear very similar to each other, as shown in Figure 2. According to the result, we use the brushless motor to be our vibrator in the insole, and hope this will help the elderlies improve their balance control ability more efficiency

Increase in soil organic carbon by agricultural intensification in northern China

Acknowledgements. This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 31370527 and 31261140367) and the National Science and Technology Support Program of China (no. 2012BAD14B01-2). The authors gratefully thank the Huantai Agricultural Station for providing of the Soil Fertility Survey data. We also thank Zheng Liang from China Agricultural University for the soil sampling and analysis in 2011. Thanks are extended to Jessica Bellarby for helpful discussion and suggestions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The influence of structural defects on intra-granular critical currents of bulk MgB2

Bulk MgB2 samples were prepared under different synthesis conditions and analyzed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The critical current densities were determined from the magnetization versus magnetic field curves of bulk and powder-dispersed-in-epoxy samples. Results show that through a slow cooling process, the oxygen dissolved in bulk MgB2 at high synthesis temperatures can segregate and form nanometer-sized coherent precipitates of Mg(B,O)2 in the MgB2 matrix. Magnetization measurements indicate that these precipitates act as effective flux pinning centers and therefore significantly improve the intra-grain critical current density and its field dependence.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in IEE Transactions in Applied Superconductivit

Microwave performance of high-density bulk MgB2

We have performed microwave measurements on superconducting hot-isostatically- pressed (HIPed) bulk MgB2 using a parallel-plate resonator technique. The high density and strength of the HIPed material allowed preparation of samples with mirror-like surfaces for microwave measurements. The microwave surface resistance decreased by about 40% at 20 K when the root-mean-square surface roughness was reduced from 220 nm to 110 nm through surface-polishing and ion-milling. The surface resistance was independent of surface microwave magnetic field at least up to 4 Oe and below 30 K. We attribute this behavior, and the overall low surface resistance (~0.8 mOhms at 10 GHz and 20 K), to the high density of our samples and the absence of weak links between grains

Finite-Time Bounded Tracking Control for Linear Discrete-Time Systems

© 2018 Fucheng Liao et al. A finite-time bounded tracking control problem for a class of linear discrete-time systems subject to disturbances is investigated. Firstly, by applying a difference method to constructing the error system, the problem is transformed into a finite-time boundedness problem of the output vector of the error system. In fact, this is a finite-time boundedness problem with respect to the partial variables. Secondly, based on the partial stability theory and the research methods of finite-time boundedness problem, a state feedback controller formulated in form of linear matrix inequality is proposed. Based on this, a finite-time bounded tracking controller of the original system is obtained. Finally, a numerical example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the controller