Advanced Steering Research Articles

Understanding transcatheter edge-to-edge repair "knobology": Advanced catheter steering for different scenarios of transseptal puncture.

Following the introduction in the latest European and American guidelines, transcatheter edge-to-edge repair has become a valid alternative to surgery for ineligible patients. Among the available technologies, MitraClip (Abbott) was the first to be introduced for the percutaneous treatment of mitral regurgitation with the edge-to-edge technique. Although its safety and effectiveness has been widely demonstrated, the optimal procedural results are highly dependent from operators' experience. In this manuscript, we provide a full guide of advanced steering maneuvers of MitraClip in different scenarios of transseptal puncture.

Design of the Steering Feedback Controller of a Steer-by-Wire System Using Admittance Model

The steer-by-wire (SbW) system is a promising system in the realm of automotive engineering. It substitutes the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the front road wheels with an electronic signal-based functional connection. The SbW system offers several advantages over conventional steering systems, including weight reduction, reduced vibration, and enhanced steering functionality configuration. However, the absence of a mechanical linkage in the SbW system gives rise to certain challenges. The SbW system requires endowing adequate steering feel such as damping and reaction force using feedback motor, and the road wheel needs robust control of pinion motor for normal load variation by passengers and self-aligning torque as external disturbance. The SbW system is composed of the steering feedback module (SFM) and the road wheel module (RWM). This paper proposes a control approach to generate steering feel for SFM, in which steering feel is generated using an admittance model based on velocity control. A disturbance observer is applied to ensure robustness of velocity control. The steering wheel torque versus steering wheel angle (T–A) curve is used to analyze steering feel characteristic and evaluate steering feel. The proposed steering system is validated through experiments that confirm its ability to provide satisfactory steering feel for vehicles. This work may offer a novel solution for the design of advanced steering systems in the field for the future mobility such as an autonomous driving.

Mitral Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair With the PASCAL Precision System: Device Knobology and Review of Advanced Steering Maneuvers

In 2022, the Food and Drug Administration approved a second mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair device for the treatment of primary mitral regurgitation (PASCAL Precision Transcatheter Valve Repair System, Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA). The PASCAL Precision system consists of a guide sheath, implant system, and accessories. The implant system consists of a steerable catheter, an implant catheter, and the implant (PASCAL or PASCAL Ace). The guide sheath and steerable catheter move and flex independently from each other and are not keyed, allowing for freedom of rotation in three dimensions. This manuscript provides an overview of the PASCAL Precision system and describes the basic and advanced steering maneuvers to facilitate effective and safe mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair.

Design and comparative study of steering controller for tracked vehicle based on disturbance observation

Tracked vehicles are suitable for rough, low-bearing ground or complex environments because of the large contact area and low pressure between tracks and the ground, and the great obstacle crossing and avoidance capabilities of tracked vehicles. For fast and safe turns, an advanced steering controller is required to achieve precise tracking and stability under system uncertainty. In this study, a steering controller is proposed for tracked vehicles by combining a parameter adaptive law and a second order disturbance observer (DO-2). The friction coefficient between track and ground is estimated online as an uncertain parameter. Random disturbance and function uncertainty are resisted by DO-2. Using Lyapunov’s theory, the input-state stabilities of DO-2 and the closed loop system are proved under random disturbance. A sufficient condition is proposed to check the stability of the system under function uncertainty. Field tests are carried out on rough and slippery grounds using a small-scale electric tracked vehicle. Compared with the controllers based on first order disturbance observer (DO-1) or linear extended state observer (LESO), the optimized DO-2-based steering controller has a smaller root-mean-square error of yaw rate tracking. Adaptive law improves tracking accuracy by 22% on slippery ground.

Real-Time Control Algorithm of Well Trajectory for Push-the-Bit Rotary Steering Drilling System

Summary A “push-the-bit” rotary steering system (RSS) is one kind of advanced steering technology widely used in the drilling of extended-reach wells and horizontal wells. However, some problems, including instability of buildup rate and large deviation of well trajectory, still occur frequently in directional drilling with push-the-bit RSS due to the drillability anisotropy of formation rock, external disturbance, and so on, especially under complex operating conditions. In this paper, we build a compound control algorithm for well trajectory of push-the-bit RSS to solve this problem. The compound control algorithm includes two novel control modules—slight hole deviation control and severe hole deviation control. The slight hole deviation control can improve the smoothness of well trajectory, and the severe hole deviation control can ensure high control accuracy. The comprehensive performances of the compound control algorithm are compared with other control algorithms, including severe hole deviation control, slight hole deviation control, and intelligent switch control, in terms of trajectory smoothness, trajectory control accuracy, control smoothness of pushing force, and computational efficiency. The results indicate that the compound control algorithm is the best. This algorithm is also applicable for trajectory correction in cases of severe hole deviation and azimuth drift on different well sections.

Advanced Steering Maneuvers for Special Situations in Mitral Valve Transcatheter Edge-to-edge Repair

The use of transcatheter percutaneous edge-to-edge mitral valve repair with the MitraClip (Abbott) for the treatment of mitral regurgitation has rapidly expanded since it received Food and Drug Administration approval. Currently, patients with more complex mitral valve anatomies are undergoing this procedure with progressively improving clinical outcomes. This review focuses on the advanced steering maneuvers needed for the technical success of the MitraClip procedure and discusses several scenarios where such advanced steering maneuvers may be needed. These include an anterior transseptal puncture, low or high transseptal puncture with unfavorable transseptal height to mitral valve, large gap height, patients with mitral regurgitation due to dehiscence of a prior mitral valve annuloplasty ring, placing multiple/adjacent MitraClips, or redo edge-to-edge mitral valve repair. Knowledge and mastery of such advanced steering maneuvering techniques can allow operators to complete the procedure successfully with low rate of complications even in difficult scenarios.

Application of new geosteering technology in thin reservoir

Because some oilfields in China belong to the thin bottom water reservoir model, the actual drilling process is technically difficult. In order to ensure the maximum drilling operation of the target layer and the basic development effect of the oilfield, technicians should introduce advanced steering tools and study new geosteering technology to fundamentally ensure the exploitation quality of thin oil reservoirs.After exploring the introduction of new geological guidance technology in detail, this paper further explores the principle of new geological guidance technology, and summarizes the application strategy of new geological guidance technology combined with the development of thin-layer reservoir.

Design of a 40mm Caliber Ballistic Correction Steering Gear System

The ballistic correction projectile uses several limited open-loop corrections to reduce the error of the projectile flight or the deviation of the projectile from the target due to the target movement, thereby reducing the projectile dispersion error and improving the hit rate. This paper draws on the existing advanced steering gear design, and improves the rudder blade airfoil and its plane shape according to the flight speed of the ballistic correction projectile (Mach 2). Through the analysis of degrees of freedom, a pair of limit devices have been added to the housing to make the servo system work more stable and efficient. At the end of the paper, the conclusion that the 5V voltage is better than the 3.3V power supply is obtained through the control experiment. The safety and reliability of the servo system are further verified by the anti-torque simulation of the cam mechanism and the anti-overload simulation of the servo motor.

A Study on the Control Performance of Electronic Differential System for Four-Wheel Drive Electric Vehicles

The electronic differential system (EDS) is an important issue for four-wheel drive electric vehicles. This paper delineates an advanced EDS steering strategy and carries out a careful study of its control performance by numerical simulations that comply with the requirements of ISO4238:2012. The results demonstrate that the EDS feedback gain plays an important role to its control performance, particularly to its steering characteristics. Moreover, the analysis and discussion disclose the mechanism of the relationship between the feedback gain and the steering characteristics, which will contribute to further research and EDS development.

Modeling of an Advanced Steering Wheel and Column Assembly for Frontal and Side Impact Simulations

Modeling of an Advanced Steering Wheel and Column Assembly for Frontal and Side Impact Simulations

Driver steering model for closed-loop steering function analysis

In this paper, a two level preview driver steering control model for the use in numerical vehicle dynamics simulation is introduced. The proposed model is composed of cascaded control loops: The outer loop is the path following layer based on potential field framework. The inner loop tries to capture the driver's physical behaviour. The proposed driver model allows easy implementation of different driving situations to simulate a wide range of different driver types, moods and vehicle types. The expediency of the proposed driver model is shown with the help of developed driver steering assist (DSA) function integrated with a conventional series production (Electric Power steering System with rack assist servo unit) system. With the help of the DSA assist function, the driver is prevented from over saturating the front tyre forces and loss of stability and controllability during cornering. The simulation results show different driver reactions caused by the change in the parameters or properties of the proposed driver model if the DSA assist function is activated. Thus, the proposed driver model is useful for the advanced driver steering and vehicle stability assist function evaluation in the early stage of vehicle dynamics handling and stability evaluation.

Cancellation of Unnatural Reaction Torque in Variable-Gear-Ratio

Variable-gear-ratio steering, also known as active steering, is an advanced steering technology which enhances the driver’s comfort and vehicle operability. However, one big problem, namely the unnatural reaction torque created by the variable actuator, restricts the further practical-use of the variable-gear-ratio steering. This paper proposes a control method to cancel the unnatural torque using a simple concept called friction relocation. Effectiveness of the method is experimentally confirmed using a hardware-in-the-loop simulator.

A Customizable Automotive Steering System With a Haptic Feedback Control Strategy for Obstacle Avoidance Notification

Increased global use of motorized vehicles has led to a higher number of automotive crashes involving human injuries and fatalities. Greater driver awareness through haptic feedback can provide vital information from the vehicle and surroundings to the driver while minimizing driver distraction. In this paper, steering wheel haptic feedback will be provided to increase the drivers' knowledge of the roadway and driving conditions. This increased knowledge should enable the driver to avoid obstacles presented in the roadway earlier than without any feedback. A high-fidelity customizable driving simulator was utilized to provide nine different levels of sinusoidal haptic feedback via the steering wheel. Mathematical models for the vehicle steering system, with adjustable controller gains, were developed to create torsional feedback. The testing included 25 human subjects ranging in age and driving experience. Driver preferences for feedback amplitude and frequency were gathered, whereas driver/vehicle performance was used as the measure of feedback effectiveness. The laboratory results demonstrate that haptic steering feedback improved driver performance as measured by a 62% reduction in obstacle hit rates, small reductions in peak steering wheel angle and peak vehicle yaw rate, as well as a nearly 10 m (32.8 ft) increase in reaction distance to the obstacles. The research contribution is the successful application of an advanced steering simulator with a steering control strategy to introduce supplemental haptic feedback to the driver through the steering system for roadway avoidance notification.

Commissioning of the University of Maryland Electron Ring (UMER): Advances toward multiturn operation

The University of Maryland Electron Ring (UMER) is a low-energy, high current recirculator for beam physics research [M. Reiser et al., in Proceedings of the 1999 Particle Accelerator Conference, New York, NY (IEEE, New York, 1999), p. 234]. Ring construction is completed for multiturn operation of beams over a broad range of intensities and initial conditions. UMER is an extremely versatile experimental platform with a beam current of up to 100mA and a pulse length as long as 100ns. UMER is addressing issues in beam physics relevant to many applications that require intense beams of high quality, such as advanced concept accelerators, free electron lasers, spallation neutron sources, and future heavy-ion drivers for inertial fusion. The primary focus of this paper is to present experimental results in the areas of beam steering and multiturn operation of the ring. Unique beam steering algorithms now include measurement of the beam response matrix at each quadrupole and matrix inversion by singular value decomposition. With these advanced steering methods, transport of an intense beam over four turns (144 full lattice periods) of the ring has been achieved.

Advanced Steering System Adaptable to Lateral Control Task and Driver's Intention

This paper proposes an advanced steering system that adaptively varies the static gain and dynamics of the steering system. The steering system gain is adjusted, depending on whether the driver is in an aggressive or leisurely driving mood. The steering system dynamics is so designed that the command mode of the steering system will be either a rate-command or an attitude-command according to the lateral control task performed by the driver. The recognition system for lateral control tasks, a lane-following or lane-change task is proposed. The findings of simulator tests indicate proposed advanced steering system would remarkably improve the vehicle handling qualities.

An Analytical Approach to the Prediction of Handling Qualities of Vehicles With Advanced Steering Control System Using Multi-Input Driver Model

This paper describes an analytical approach to predict the subjective rating on handling qualities of actively controlled vehicles. The approach was applied to the evaluation on handling qualities of 4 wheel steering vehicles. The validity of the approach is confirmed by comparison of the predicted results with test data. The essential feature of the approach is to use an objective function that takes into account three principal factors, i.e., the task performance, the driver’s mental workload, and his or her physical workload, to predict analytically the subjective ratings. The findings indicate that the predicted rating directly corresponds to the driver’s subjective ratings obtained through the proving ground test with a good correlation. [S0022-0434(00)00303-8]

An Advanced Steering System with Active Kinesthetic Feedback for Handling Qualities Improvement

SUMMARY Advanced Steering System with artificial steering wheel torque-active kinesthetic information feedback for improving handling qualities is discussed. Fundamentally the structure of the system may be considered to another form of model following control. In this system, a driver always remains in the control loop and receives steering control information which give him/her a direct hint to steer a steering wheel. This system works as a stability and control augmentation system of the vehicle to improve the vehicle handling qualities both in compensatory and pursuit control task, and is expected to reduce driver's workload. Effects of this system are analyzed in terms of man-machine system characteristics. Identification of driver dynamics was carried out to find why such improvement could be achieved. Availability of the proposed system is verified by analysis, simulator and proving ground tests.