Development of Novel Compound Controllers to Reduce Chattering of Sliding Mode Control

The robotics and dynamic systems constantly encountered with disturbances such as micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) gyroscope under disturbances result in mechanical coupling terms between two axes, friction forces in exoskeleton robot joints, and unmodelled dynamics of robot manipulator. Sliding mode control (SMC) is a robust controller. The main drawback of the sliding mode controller is that it produces high-frequency control signals, which leads to chattering. The research objective is to reduce chattering, improve robustness, and increase trajectory tracking of SMC. In this research, we developed controllers for three different dynamic systems: (i) MEMS, (ii) an Exoskeleton type robot, and (iii) a 2 DOF robot manipulator. We proposed three sliding mode control methods such as robust sliding mode control (RSMC), new sliding mode control (NSMC), and fractional sliding mode control (FSMC). These controllers were applied on MEMS gyroscope, Exoskeleton robot, and robot manipulator. The performance of the three proposed sliding mode controllers was compared with conventional sliding mode control (CSMC). The simulation results verified that FSMC exhibits better performance in chattering reduction, faster convergence, finite-time convergence, robustness, and trajectory tracking compared to RSMC, CSMC, and NSFC. Also, the tracking performance of NSMC was compared with CSMC experimentally, which demonstrated better performance of the NSMC controller

Structural Identification and Damage Detection in Bridges using Wave Method and Uniform Shear Beam Models: A Feasibility Study

This report presents a wave method to be used for the structural identification and damage detection of structural components in bridges, e.g., bridge piers. This method has proven to be promising when applied to real structures and large amplitude responses in buildings (e.g., mid-rise and high-rise buildings). This study is the first application of the method to damaged bridge structures. The bridge identification was performed using wave propagation in a simple uniform shear beam model. The method identifies a wave velocity for the structure by fitting an equivalent uniform shear beam model to the impulse response functions of the recorded earthquake response. The structural damage is detected by measuring changes in the identified velocities from one damaging event to another. The method uses the acceleration response recorded in the structure to detect damage. In this study, the acceleration response from a shake-table four-span bridge tested to failure was used. Pairs of sensors were identified to represent a specific wave passage in the bridge. Wave velocities were identified for several sensor pairs and various shaking intensities are reported; further, actual observed damage in the bridge was compared with the detected reductions in the identified velocities. The results show that the identified shear wave velocities presented a decreasing trend as the shaking intensity was increased, and the average percentage reduction in the velocities was consistent with the overall observed damage in the bridge. However, there was no clear correlation between a specific wave passage and the observed reduction in the velocities. This indicates that the uniform shear beam model was too simple to localize the damage in the bridge. Instead, it provides a proxy for the overall extent of change in the response due to damage

Novel Robust Control of a 7-DOF Exoskeleton Robot

This paper proposes a novel robust control method for the control of a 7-DOF exoskeleton robot. The external disturbances and unknown dynamics in the form of friction forces, different upper-limb\u27s mass, backlash, and input saturation make robot unstable, which prevents the robot from correctly following the defined path. A new fractional sliding mode controller (NFSMC) is designed, which is robust against unknown dynamic and external disturbances. Fractional PID controller (FPID) has high trajectory tracking, but it is not robust against external disturbances. Therefore, by combining NFSMC and FPID controllers, a new compound fractional PID sliding mode controller (NCFPIDSMC) is proposed, which benefits high trajectory tracking of FPID and robustness of NFSMC. The stability of the proposed control method is verified by Lyapunov theory. A random noise is applied in order to confirm the robustness of the proposed control method

PRIMATE/HUMAN-SPECIFIC FEATURES AND FUNCTION OF TROPHOBLAST LINEAGE

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Damage Detection and Damage Localization in Bridges with Low-Density Instrumentations Using the Wave-Method: Application to a Shake-Table Tested Bridge

This study presents a major development to the wave method, a methodology used for structural identification and monitoring. The research team tested the method for use in structural damage detection and damage localization in bridges, the latter being a challenging task. The main goal was to assess capability of the improved method by applying it to a shake-table-tested prototype bridge with sparse instrumentation. The bridge was a 4-span reinforced concrete structure comprising two columns at each bent (6 columns total) and a flat slab. It was tested to failure using seven biaxial excitations at its base. Availability of a robust and verified method, which can work with sparse recording stations, can be valuable for detecting damage in bridges soon after an earthquake. The proposed method in this study includes estimating the shear (cS) and the longitudinal (cL) wave velocities by fitting an equivalent uniform Timoshenko beam model in impulse response functions of the recorded acceleration response. The identification algorithm is enhanced by adding the model’s damping ratio to the unknown parameters, as well as performing the identification for a range of initial values to avoid early convergence to a local minimum. Finally, the research team detect damage in the bridge columns by monitoring trends in the identified shear wave velocities from one damaging event to another. A comprehensive comparison between the reductions in shear wave velocities and the actual observed damages in the bridge columns is presented. The results revealed that the reduction of cS is generally consistent with the observed distribution and severity of damage during each biaxial motion. At bents 1 and 3, cS is consistently reduced with the progression of damage. The trends correctly detected the onset of damage at bent 1 during biaxial 3, and damage in bent 3 during biaxial 4. The most significant reduction was caused by the last two biaxial motions in bents 1 and 3, also consistent with the surveyed damage. In bent 2 (middle bent), the reduction trend in cS was relatively minor, correctly showing minor damage at this bent. Based on these findings, the team concluded that the enhanced wave method presented in this study was capable of detecting damage in the bridge and identifying the location of the most severe damage. The proposed methodology is a fast and inexpensive tool for real-time or near real-time damage detection and localization in similar bridges, especially those with sparsely deployed accelerometers

Evaluating Financing Mechanisms and Economic Benefits to Fund Grade Separation Projects

Investment in transportation infrastructure projects generates benefits, both direct and indirect. While emissions reductions, crash reductions, and travel time savings are prominent direct benefits, there are indirect benefits in the form of real estate enhancements that could pay off debt or loan incurred in the improvement of the infrastructure itself. Studies have shown that improvements associated with rail transportation (such as station upgrades) trigger an increase in the surrounding real estate values, increasing both the opportunity for monetary gains and, ultimately, property tax collections. There is plenty of available guidance that provides blueprints for benefits calculations for operational improvements in rail transportation. However, resources are quite limited in the analysis of benefits that accrue from the separation of railroad at-grade crossings. Understanding the impact of separation in a neighborhood with high employment or population could generate revenues through increased tax collections. In California, the research need is further amplified by a lack of guidance from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on at-grade crossing for separation based on revenue generated. There is a critical need to understand whether grade separation projects could impact neighboring real estate values that could potentially be used to fund such separations. With COVID-19, as current infrastructure spending in California is experiencing a reboot, an approach more oriented to benefits and costs for railroad at-grade separation should be explored. Thus, this research uses a robust benefits-to-cost analysis (BCA) to probe the economic impacts of railroad at-grade separation projects. The investigation is carried out across twelve railroad-highway at-grade crossings in California. These crossings are located at Francisquito Ave., Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station, Sassafras St., Palm St., Civic Center Dr., L St., Spring St. (North), J St., E St., H St., Parkmoor West, and Nursery Ave. The authors found that a majority of the selected at-grade crossings analyzed accrue high benefits-to-cost (BC) ratios from travel time savings, safety improvements, emissions reductions, and potential revenue generated if property taxes are collected and used to fund such separation projects. The analysis shows that with the estimated BC ratios, the railroad crossing at Nursery Ave. in Fremont, Palm St. in San Diego, and H St. in Chula Vista could be ideal candidates for separation. The methodology presented in this research could serve as a handy reference for decision-makers selecting one or more at-grade crossings for the separation considering economic outputs and costs

Observability and Estimation of Distributed Space Systems via Local Information-Exchange Networks

Spacecraft formation flying involves the coordination of states among multiple spacecraft through relative sensing, inter-spacecraft communication, and control. Most existing formation-flying estimation algorithms can only be supported via highly centralized, all-to-all, static relative sensing. New algorithms are proposed that are scalable, modular, and robust to variations in the topology and link characteristics of the formation exchange network. These distributed algorithms rely on a local information exchange network, relaxing the assumptions on existing algorithms. Distributed space systems rely on a signal transmission network among multiple spacecraft for their operation. Control and coordination among multiple spacecraft in a formation is facilitated via a network of relative sensing and interspacecraft communications. Guidance, navigation, and control rely on the sensing network. This network becomes more complex the more spacecraft are added, or as mission requirements become more complex. The observability of a formation state was observed by a set of local observations from a particular node in the formation. Formation observability can be parameterized in terms of the matrices appearing in the formation dynamics and observation matrices. An agreement protocol was used as a mechanism for observing formation states from local measurements. An agreement protocol is essentially an unforced dynamic system whose trajectory is governed by the interconnection geometry and initial condition of each node, with a goal of reaching a common value of interest. The observability of the interconnected system depends on the geometry of the network, as well as the position of the observer relative to the topology. For the first time, critical GN&C (guidance, navigation, and control estimation) subsystems are synthesized by bringing the contribution of the spacecraft information-exchange network to the forefront of algorithmic analysis and design. The result is a formation estimation algorithm that is modular and robust to variations in the topology and link properties of the underlying formation network