Effect of bonding on the performance of a piezoactuator-based active control system

The utilization of piezoelectric actuators in controlling the structural vibrations of flexible beams is studied. A Modified Independent Modal Space Control (MIMSC) method is devised to select the optimal location, control gains and excitation voltage of the piezoelectric actuators in a way that would minimize the amplitudes of vibrations of beams to which these actuators are bonded, as well as the input control energy necessary to suppress these vibrations. The presented method accounts for the effects that the piezoelectric actuators and the bonding layers have on changing the elastic and inertial properties of the flexible beams. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the application of the MIMSC method and to demonstrate the effect of the physical and geometrical properties of the bonding layer on the dynamic performance of the actively controlled beams. The obtained results emphasize the importance of the devised method in designing more realistic active control systems for flexible beams, in particular, and large flexible structures in general

A comparison between IMSC, PI and MIMSC methods in controlling the vibration of flexible systems

A comparative study is presented between three active control algorithms which have proven to be successful in controlling the vibrations of large flexible systems. These algorithms are: the Independent Modal Space Control (IMSC), the Pseudo-inverse (PI), and the Modified Independent Modal Space Control (MIMSC). Emphasis is placed on demonstrating the effectiveness of the MIMSC method in controlling the vibration of large systems with small number of actuators by using an efficient time sharing strategy. Such a strategy favors the MIMSC over the IMSC method, which requires a large number of actuators to control equal number of modes, and also over the PI method which attempts to control large number of modes with smaller number of actuators through the use of an in-exact statistical realization of a modal controller. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the main features of the three algorithms and the merits of the MIMSC method

Climate change and Small Island developing states

About one fifth of all politically independent countries are Small Island Developing States (SIDS). These are to be found in all regions of the world, but most of them are located in the South Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. One of the greatest challenges to the sustainable development faced by these states relates to climate change. A matter of great concern for these states is that although they contribute very little to global warming, they are the ones that will be harmed most by the effects of climate change.peer-reviewe

Application of triggered lightning numerical models to the F106B and extension to other aircraft

The goal of the F106B Thunderstorm Research Program is to characterize the lightning environment for aircraft in flight. This report describes the application of numerical electromagnetic models to this problem. Topics include: (1) Extensive application of linear triggered lightning to F106B data; (2) Electrostatic analysis of F106B field mill data; (3) Application of subgrid modeling to F106B nose region, including both static and nonlinear models; (4) Extension of F106B results to other aircraft of varying sizes and shapes; and (5) Application of nonlinear model to interaction of F106B with lightning leader-return stroke event

A Modified Neutral Point Method for Kernel-Based Fusion of Pattern-Recognition Modalities with Incomplete Data Sets

It is commonly the case in multi-modal pattern recognition that certain modality-specific object features are missing in the training set. We address here the missing data problem for kernel-based Support Vector Machines, in which each modality is represented by the respective kernel matrix over the set of training objects, such that the omission of a modality for some object manifests itself as a blank in the modality-specific kernel matrix at the relevant position. We propose to fill the blank positions in the collection of training kernel matrices via a variant of the Neutral Point Substitution (NPS) method, where the term ”neutral point” stands for the locus of points defined by the ”neutral hyperplane” in the hypothetical linear space produced by the respective kernel. The current method crucially differs from the previously developed neutral point approach in that it is capable of treating missing data in the training set on the same basis as missing data in the test set. It is therefore of potentially much wider applicability. We evaluate the method on the Biosecure DS2 data set

Optimum shape control of flexible beams by piezo-electric actuators

The utilization of piezoelectric actuators in controlling the static deformation and shape of flexible beams is examined. An optimum design procedure is presented to enable the selection of the optimal location, thickness and excitation voltage of the piezoelectric actuators in a way that would minimize the deflection of the beam to which these actuators are bonded. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the application of the developed optimization procedure in minimizing structural deformation of beams using ceramic and polymeric piezoelectric actuators bonded to the beams with a typical bonding agent. The obtained results emphasize the importance of the devised rational produce in designing beam-actuator systems with minimal elastic distortions

Optimum vibration control of flexible beams by piezo-electric actuators

The utilization of piezoelectric actuators in controlling the structural vibrations of flexible beams is examined. A Modified Independent Modal Space Control (MIMSC) method is devised to enable the selection of the optimal location, control gains and excitation voltage of the piezoelectric actuators in a way that would minimize the amplitudes of vibrations of beams to which these actuators are bonded, as well as the input control energy necessary to suppress these vibrations. The developed method accounts for the effects that the piezoelectric actuators have on changing the elastic and inertial properties of the flexible beams. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the application of the developed MIMSC method in minimizing the structural vibrations of beams of different materials when subjected to different loading and end conditions using ceramic or polymeric piezoelectric actuators. The obtained results emphasize the importance of the devised method in designing more realistic active control systems for flexible beams, in particular, and large flexible structures in general

Addressing missing values in kernel-based multimodal biometric fusion using neutral point substitution

In multimodal biometric information fusion, it is common to encounter missing modalities in which matching cannot be performed. As a result, at the match score level, this implies that scores will be missing. We address the multimodal fusion problem involving missing modalities (scores) using support vector machines with the Neutral Point Substitution (NPS) method. The approach starts by processing each modality using a kernel. When a modality is missing, at the kernel level, the missing modality is substituted by one that is unbiased with regards to the classification, called a neutral point. Critically, unlike conventional missing-data substitution methods, explicit calculation of neutral points may be omitted by virtue of their implicit incorporation within the SVM training framework. Experiments based on the publicly available Biosecure DS2 multimodal (scores) data set shows that the SVM-NPS approach achieves very good generalization performance compared to the sum rule fusion, especially with severe missing modalities

Layering genetic circuits to build a single cell, bacterial half adder

Background: Gene regulation in biological systems is impacted by the cellular and genetic context-dependent effects of the biological parts which comprise the circuit. Here, we have sought to elucidate the limitations of engineering biology from an architectural point of view, with the aim of compiling a set of engineering solutions for overcoming failure modes during the development of complex, synthetic genetic circuits. Results: Using a synthetic biology approach that is supported by computational modelling and rigorous characterisation, AND, OR and NOT biological logic gates were layered in both parallel and serial arrangements to generate a repertoire of Boolean operations that include NIMPLY, XOR, half adder and half subtractor logics in a single cell. Subsequent evaluation of these near-digital biological systems revealed critical design pitfalls that triggered genetic context-dependent effects, including 5′ UTR interferences and uncontrolled switch-on behaviour of the supercoiled σ54 promoter. In particular, the presence of seven consecutive hairpins immediately downstream of the promoter transcription start site severely impeded gene expression. Conclusions: As synthetic biology moves forward with greater focus on scaling the complexity of engineered genetic circuits, studies which thoroughly evaluate failure modes and engineering solutions will serve as important references for future design and development of synthetic biological systems. This work describes a representative case study for the debugging of genetic context-dependent effects through principles elucidated herein, thereby providing a rational design framework to integrate multiple genetic circuits in a single prokaryotic cell.Published versio

The influence of sediment compositions on the decline of Metapenaeus dalli in a temperate Australian estuary

Abundances of the western school prawn (Metapenaeus dalli) in the Swan-Canning Estuary have declined markedly in the last fifty years. Together with the decrease in abundance, there is strong anecdotal evidence from recreational fishers that the spatial distribution of this penaeid has changed as this species no longer being caught in the middle and upper reaches of the estuary. This is a marked shift in distribution, as work conducted in the 1980s showed that individuals of this species moved upstream from the lower reaches of estuary once salinity in these upstream areas reached 30. While, declining rainfall has resulted in these waters being more saline, our data show that these reaches are not utilised to the same extent by individuals of M. dalli. The research presented in this poster investigates the hypothesis that changes in sediment composition may be responsible for this shift in the spatial and temporal use of the estuary by this species. The implications of this research on the restocking program for M. dalli are discussed