Prototyping a new car semi-active suspension by variational feedback controller

New suspension systems electronically controlled are presented and mounted on board of a real car. The system consists of variable semi-active magneto-rheological dampers that are controlled through an electronic unit that is designed on the basis of a new optimal theoretical control, named VFC-Variational Feedback Controller. The system has been mounted on board of a BMW Series 1 car, and a set of experimental tests have been conducted in real driving conditions. The VFC reveals, because of its design strategy, to be able to enhance simultaneously both the comfort performance as well as the handling capability of the car. Preliminary comparisons with several industrially control methods adopted in the automotive field, among them skyhook and groundhook, show excellent results

Generation of Earth’s Surface Three-Dimensional (3-D) Displacement Time-Series by Multiple-Platform SAR Data

In this chapter, the recent advancements of differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry (DInSAR) technique are presented, with the focus on the DInSAR-based approaches leading to the generation of three-dimensional time-series of Earth’s surface deformation, based on the combination of multi-platform line-of-sight (LOS)-projected time-series of deformation. Use of pixel-offset (PO) measurements for the retrieval of North-South deformation components, which are difficult to be extracted from DInSAR data, only, is also discussed. A review of the principal techniques based on the exploitation of amplitude and phase signatures of sequences of SAR images will be first provided, by emphasizing the limitations and strength of each single approach. Then, the interest will be concentrated on the recently proposed multi-track InSAR combination algorithm, referred as minimum acceleration InSAR combination (MinA) approach. The algorithm assumes the availability of two (or more) sets of SAR images acquired from complementary tracks. SAR data are pre-processed through one of currently available multi-temporal DInSAR toolboxes, and the LOS-projected surface deformation time-series are computed. An under-determined system of linear equations is then solved, based on imposing that the 3-D displacement time-series have minimum acceleration (MA). The presented results demonstrate the validity of the MinA algorithm

Car collision avoidance with velocity obstacle approach

The obstacle avoidance maneuver is required for an autonomous vehicle. It is essential to define the system's performance by evaluating the minimum reaction times of the vehicle and analyzing the probability of success of the avoiding operation. This paper presents a collision avoidance algorithm based on the velocity bstacle approach that guarantees collision-free maneuvers. The vehicle is controlled by an optimal feedback control named FLOP, designed to produce the best performance in terms of safety and minimum kinetic collision energy. Dimensionless accident evaluation parameters are proposed to compare different crash scenarios

Hybrid sol-gel coatings containing clay nanoparticles for corrosion protection of mild steel

The development of a new environment-friendly anticorrosive coating for mild steel substrate is afforded in this work. The combined use of cerium, as a self-healing agent, and clay nanoparticles, as improvers of the barrier properties, was considered to the development of new anticorrosive sol-gel coatings. Nanostructured hybrid films were synthesized by the sol-gel route from tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and 3-glicidoxipropyl-trimetoxisilano (GPTMS) using laminar nanoclays (Laponite Na+0.7[Si8Mg5.5Li0.3H4O24]−0.7) to improve mechanical and barrier properties, and Ce(NO3)3?6H2O as a supplier of Ce(III) to provide an inhibiting effect in the event of coating failure. Carbon steel plates, AISI 1010, were used as substrates. Prior to the application of the coating, samples were treated with a phosphoric acid 2% v/v in order to improve coating adherence.In order to evaluate cerium effect, electrochemical behaviour of films containing Laponite and cerium salts (TGL-Ce) were compared with films containing only Laponite (TGL) by means of potentiodynamic polarization tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements using a 0.35 wt% NaCl solution. Microstructural characterization and surface analysis of substrates and sol-gel coatings were performed by optical microscopy and by XPS techniques. The use of nanoclays allowed to achieve a significant improvement of the anticorrosive behaviour of the cerium doped coating at the same time that enhances the physical integrity of the coatings under immersion tests.Fil: Santana, Ianina Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Pepe, Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Schreiner, Wido H.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Pellice, Sergio Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Ceré, Silvia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; Argentin