Conventional Command Research Articles

Bored and spoiling for a flight: capabilities lost and found in lockdown.

Human beings are dynamic; our innate faculties beg to engage in activities. To achieve fullness and human dignity, people "convert" personal capabilities into active "functionings," Amartya Sen explains. This means that staying still is not a normal state. It can feel like punishment. Forced inactivity will generate resentment, resistance, and boredom that can fester until pent-up energy explodes violently, or implodes in depression. Boredom defaults on capabilities and resources in many cases. In other cases, stillness is a gift. It can stimulate the imagination to fill in emptiness with memories and new explorations. Either boredom builds toward doing damage, or it releases energy to think and to create. What people don't do is stay put, mentally or physically. Authorities-including police, judges, teachers, parents -should take this dynamic human condition into account and reconsider the effects of conventional command and control policies. Then they can choose between violence and creativity as alternative outlets for the energy that boredom generates. Short of facing up to human dynamism, decision-making may continue to favor strong-arm tactics, which trigger the violence and pain that policing is meant to mitigate. Is it surprising that apparently peaceful peoplebecome enraged in lockdown conditions? Do adults wonder why students drop-out of school and suffer escalating rates of depression and suicide? Boredom is certainly not the only cause for these disastrous effects, but to ignore it risks remaining complicit with processes that perpetuate personal and collective dysfunctions. Complicity with harmful practices will miss opportunities to channel frustrated energy toward developing human capabilities. Authorities are responsible for promoting peaceful development. We are all responsible.[2] Normally, people stay busy with routine activities. We work, play, attend to family and to friends. Particular activities have even become our public badges of identity, as is evident in surnames (Cooper, Baker, Taylor, Farmer, etc.) that trace back to work that ancestors answered to. Lockdown during COVID-19 meant that many otherwise occupied people had few outlets for energy. Those who knew how to meditate managed to assuage anxiety through contemplation and the pursuit of ideal emptiness.

Optimized control of three-phase inverters to minimize total harmonic distortion in a grid-connected photovoltaic system

Currently, the energy transfer process to the grid of the PV system is based on the importance of less harmonics and high efficiency. The evaluation of harmonics distortion of current is based on the value of THDi (<<5%), this last becomes very high if the current leakage is high, which causes losses of the grid and safety problems. Therefore, our job is to improve the classic control method of PV inverters used to reduce grid loss and improve electricity prices. This study is a proposal toward the modelization and improvement of the three-phase two-level, and multi-level photovoltaic (PV) inverter command, using space vector, and sinusoidal control based on controlling the active and reactive current delivered into the grid indirectly with a resonant controller (PIR) for a nonlinear load (NLL). The results of the simulations obtained by the new control methodology, SPWM, and SVPWM show that its performance is better compared with the simple modulation (PWM); the total harmonic distortion (THD) of current in both methods (SVPWM) and (SPWM) is better than that obtained with conventional commands. Also, multilevel converters control produces better quality waveforms, reducing current harmonic distortion.

Constitutional-legal aspects of information security in the context of globalization

One of the main issues of world politics since the 21st century is a scientific and technological breakthrough that can have far-reaching consequences in all areas of human activity. The computerization and information revolution have led to scientific and technological progress in the military field. The application of high technology has radically changed the nature and capabilities of conventional armaments, intelligence and military command systems, and expanded the possibilities of long-distance warfare. Today, the tactics of creating conflicts in many military and other fields with the help of information technology are changing in the world. Who controls information and misinformation plays an important role. Sometimes misinformation becomes a dangerous weapon. Although the existing terms "Information Security" and "Information War" are more commonly used in the military field, they are beginning to take on a slightly different meaning with the development of mass media and communication technologies. This article identifies the legal characteristics and legal specifics of the information rights of citizens, proclaimed by the Constitution of Azerbaijan. The article substantiates the need to consider the constitutional and legal foundations of information security as a complex political and legal phenomenon. It is proposed to analyze the constitutional and legal aspects of information security in the synthesis of constitutional ideology, constitutional theory and constitutional practice of the development of Azerbaijani statehood. The author proves that the constitutional legal provision of the information security of Azerbaijan considers positive international experience in this field

Adaptive Command-Filtered Fuzzy Nonsingular Terminal Sliding Mode Backstepping Control for Linear Induction Motor

This paper puts forward a projection-based adaptive command filtered fuzzy nonsingular terminal sliding mode backstepping (PACFTB) control method for the speed control of the linear induction motor (LIM) with unknown end effects. Firstly, the technique of fuzzy logic systems (FLS) is investigated to approximate the nonlinear components of the LIM’s mathematical model, which reduces the difficulty and cost of controller design. Then, a constrained command-filtered backstepping controller is designed with a filtering compensator compensating for the inherent error of constrained filter. Moreover, the nonsingular terminal sliding mode control method is combined in the controller design for its advantages of finite-time convergence of the system, and the projection-operator-based adaptive laws are established at the same time. Finally, the stability analysis proves that the boundedness and stability of all signals can be ensured with the proposed PACFTB controller, and the simulation results along with experiment results verify that the proposed control strategy has better control performance than the conventional command filter backstepping and PI controller.

1145 Bridging the Gap: A Novel Approach to Communicate in the Surgical Suite in the Era of Minimally Invasive Surgery

Video Objective Communication in the era of minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery poses challenges for the assisting surgeon and novice training surgical residents. Challenges are inherent to the unified surgical view in laparoscopy and the paradoxical directional commands rendered by the trocars' hinge point mechanism. Here we demonstrate a novel communication tool that helps make communication during laparoscopic hysterectomy uniform, clear and efficient. Setting Surgical assistance during a laparoscopic hysterectomy can be challenging especially in a setting of academia with the high turn over of training surgical residents. Laparoscopic hysterectomy is also unique in requiring intra-corporeal assistance in addition to extra corporeal uterine manipulation that is usually provided by an assistant who receives reversed directional commands. Interventions The new communication code is pre-introduced to the surgical assistants via a 15 min Power Point Presentation that contains review of laparoscopic pelvic critical surgical anatomy and presents the concept of the 8 cardinal pelvic views during the laparoscopic hysterectomy. Each view is given a code (e.g. A1, A2, A3) with predefined uterine manipulation angle and a predefined camera area of focus. Utilizing the 8 codes the uterine and camera assistants would not get directional commands that might be confusing, but rather would respond to the code request by adjusting visual views to match the predefined necessary exposure similar to the presented diagrams. Conclusion Utilization of the K code tool in laparoscopic hysterectomy reinforced preoperative surgical self coaching and briefing with the assisting staff. It also helped generate a shared mental model through which all assisting staff and surgeon could more easily communicate. A brief pilot period of utilizing the tool in two different institutions was very well received by all the surgical assistants with responses favoring utilization of this tool over the conventional directional commands method utilized traditionally in the operating room.

Vibration Reduction of Axially-extending Cantilever Beams under Gravity Using Command Shaping

This study investigated the dynamics and vibration reduction for axially-extending cantilever beams subjected to gravity. Command shaping on the extension velocity was used to reduce the vertical vibration of the extending beams. Because conventional command shapers have limited effectiveness due to the time-varying properties of the system, this study presented an optimization procedure on the damping and frequency for designing the command shaper. Simulations were performed to analyze the vibration problem and to characterize the performance of the optimized command shaper. Experiments were also performed to validate the proposed, optimal command shaper.

A Non-Switching Guidance Law with Terminal Constraints

Impact angle controlled interception of stationary targets is considered in a surface-to-surface engagement. Existing Proportional Navigation based impact angle guidance methods require either a switching or a bias term to be added to the conventional guidance command. This paper presents a new guidance law with inherent terminal impact angle flexibility based on a lateral acceleration which is proportional to the product of the line-of-sight rate and the line-of-sight angle. Impact angle characteristics of the proposed guidance law are analyzed and sample simulations are carried out presenting the viability of the proposed method. (C) 2015, IFAC International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Equitable fund allocation, an economical approach for sustainable waste load allocation.

This research aims to study a novel approach for waste load allocation (WLA) to meet environmental, economical, and equity objectives, simultaneously. For this purpose, based on a simulation-optimization model developed for Haraz River in north of Iran, the waste loads are allocated according to discharge permit market. The non-dominated solutions are initially achieved through multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO). Here, the violation of environmental standards based on dissolved oxygen (DO) versus biochemical oxidation demand (BOD) removal costs is minimized to find economical total maximum daily loads (TMDLs). This can save 41% in total abatement costs in comparison with the conventional command and control policy. The BOD discharge permit market then increases the revenues to 45%. This framework ensures that the environmental limits are fulfilled but the inequity index is rather high (about 4.65). For instance, the discharge permit buyer may not be satisfied about the equity of WLA. Consequently, it is recommended that a third party or institution should be in charge of reallocating the funds. It means that the polluters which gain benefits by unfair discharges should pay taxes (or funds) to compensate the losses of other polluters. This intends to reduce the costs below the required values of the lowest inequity index condition. These compensations of equitable fund allocation (EFA) may help to reduce the dissatisfactions and develop WLA policies. It is concluded that EFA in integration with water quality trading (WQT) is a promising approach to meet the objectives.

Enhancement of surface water quality using trading discharge permits and artificial aeration

Water quality trading (WQT) is a strategy for surface water quality management. This study focused on finding the optimal waste load allocation by WQT framework based on the concentrations of BOD and dissolved oxygen (DO) in Sefidrud River. It also assessed the consequences of using artificial aeration on trading discharge permits. For these purposes, river was simulated by Qual2kw. Two checkpoints were considered for monitoring the upstream (Sangar) and downstream (Caspian). Sensitivity analysis was carried out to find the impact factors of each emission sources. The required total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) were determined through simulation results. It predicted that the concentrations of ultimate BOD in both Sangar and Caspian stations may decrease from 3.6 and 8.1 mg/L, respectively, to 2.1 mg/L. Conversely, DO may increase from 5.8 and 0.9 mg/L to 7 and 3.7 mg/L, respectively. This could solely save 7 % of total treatment costs in comparison with the conventional command and control (C&C) policy. WQT may increase the revenues to 21 %. However, this could not provide enough flexibility and robustness in regard to the permit pricing and profits attained by stakeholders. Artificial aeration was considered as an improvement solution in the second scenario. The experimental results of hydroponic systems and hydraulic river simulation by CCHE2D showed that 0.25 day−1 can be added to the aeration coefficients. This modified TMDLs and impact factors thoroughly. Results verified that this approach may increase the revenues of TMDLs and discharge permit market, respectively, to 17 and 30 %. Permits can also be sold with higher prices and stakeholders may attain considerable profits. Consequently, the integration of artificial aeration with WQT was recommended for surface water quality enhancement.

Reduced order extended command governor

Extended command governors (ECGs) are add-on schemes that modify set-point commands as necessary to ensure that imposed state and control constraints are not violated by closed-loop systems designed for set-point tracking. In this paper, we propose a reduced order ECG for systems with dynamics decomposable into slow and fast state variables. We demonstrate that ECG implementation can be based on slow states only, thus reducing the computational complexity. This is achieved by introducing additional constraints, and by slightly tightening the original constraints. We demonstrate that the proposed ECG maintains the response properties of the conventional ECG, including the convergence to the nearest feasible command in finite time in the case of constant reference commands. The results are also shown to apply to conventional command governors. For the case when the reduced order state is not directly measured, a formulation of the result in the presence of a state observer is developed.

Spectrum Trading for Efficient Spectrum Utilization

The conventional command and control based spectrum management has led to substantial underutilization of some spectrum bands while severely crowding others due to the uneven and dynamic needs that vary over time and at different locations. Spectrum trading has emerged as a promising management appr

An overview of the environmental finance policies in China: retrofitting an integrated mechanism for environmental management

Considering the significant roles of the policies in developing environmental finance, an overview is conducted on the environmental finance policies (EFPs) in China. This paper analyzed the definition, scope, evolution and main instruments of EFPs. The implementation progress of financial activities on each instrument are investigated respectively. Then the experiences learned from and failures discovered in the development of the EFPs are discussed well recommendations for further improvement of the EFPs and their implementation are provided. Our study found that the EFPs have been established in China after a four-phase evolution since the early 1980s. The policies have played a critical role in leading to a rapid development in environmental finance by involving more financial instruments to accomplish the objective-led environmental plans. Driven by the policies, the new green credit (GC), green security (GS), and green insurance (GI) instruments have been phased in as supplements to the conventional command and control approaches to improve the environmental governance of financial activities and pollution sources. However, the market mechanism of financial institution is limited due to their defensive and incapable performance on implementation some of EFP instruments. To further strengthen the effectiveness of EFPs in facilitating environmental management, recommendations are made mainly on the aspects including developing more specific policy guidelines, enhancing information sharing and disclosure, providing sufficient economic incentives, establishing environmental liabilities with financial activities, and involving issues related to climate change, and biodiversity and ecosystem service.

Surface Roughness Control Based on Digital Copy Milling Concept to Achieve Autonomous Milling Operation

An autonomous and intelligent machine tool that performs machining operations by referring to CAD product data was developed in our previous study to solve fundamental issues with the conventional command method, which uses NC programs. A system, Digital Copy Milling (DCM), digitizing the principle of copymilling, was developed to generate tool paths during milling operations for dynamic tool motion control. In the DCM, the cutting tool is controlled dynamically to follow the surface of a CAD model corresponding to product shape, eliminating the need for the preparation of NC programs. Active tool motion controls were also realized to enhance the function of DCM. In this study, surface roughness control of the finished surface is realized as an additional enhanced function of DCM to achieve autonomous milling operations. This function allows the DCM to select cutting conditions and generates tool paths dynamically to produce the desired surface roughness: from rough, through semi-finished, to finished. The verification experiment is successfully carried out.

Design and validation of an intelligent wheelchair towards a clinically-functional outcome

BackgroundMany people with mobility impairments, who require the use of powered wheelchairs, have difficulty completing basic maneuvering tasks during their activities of daily living (ADL). In order to provide assistance to this population, robotic and intelligent system technologies have been used to design an intelligent powered wheelchair (IPW). This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the design and validation of the IPW.MethodsThe main contributions of this work are three-fold. First, we present a software architecture for robot navigation and control in constrained spaces. Second, we describe a decision-theoretic approach for achieving robust speech-based control of the intelligent wheelchair. Third, we present an evaluation protocol motivated by a meaningful clinical outcome, in the form of the Robotic Wheelchair Skills Test (RWST). This allows us to perform a thorough characterization of the performance and safety of the system, involving 17 test subjects (8 non-PW users, 9 regular PW users), 32 complete RWST sessions, 25 total hours of testing, and 9 kilometers of total running distance.ResultsUser tests with the RWST show that the navigation architecture reduced collisions by more than 60% compared to other recent intelligent wheelchair platforms. On the tasks of the RWST, we measured an average decrease of 4% in performance score and 3% in safety score (not statistically significant), compared to the scores obtained with conventional driving model. This analysis was performed with regular users that had over 6 years of wheelchair driving experience, compared to approximately one half-hour of training with the autonomous mode.ConclusionsThe platform tested in these experiments is among the most experimentally validated robotic wheelchairs in realistic contexts. The results establish that proficient powered wheelchair users can achieve the same level of performance with the intelligent command mode, as with the conventional command mode.

DEMAND FOR COMMAND: RESPONDING TO TECHNOLOGICAL RISKS AND SCIENTIFIC UNCERTAINTIES

This article seeks to add to current theories of new governance by highlighting the predicament facing regulators and regulatees when dealing with new technologies. Using nanotechnologies as a study, it shows that new modes of governance (as opposed to traditional coercive, or command and control regulation) offer promising solutions to highly complex, uncertain, and contested problems of risk, such as those associated with new technologies. In this regard, nanotechnologies provide a useful test bed for the ambitions of newer, better modes of governance because there are not yet any fixed ideas about the appropriate course of action. The article suggests, however, that examples of new governance are less prominent than perhaps expected. Drawing on empirical data, it argues that, when faced with considerable epistemological, political, economic, and ethical uncertainties, regulatory stakeholders often exhibit a preference for more conventional command methods of regulation. That is not to say that new governance is entirely absent from regulatory policies on nanotechnologies, but that new governance is emerging in perhaps more subtle ways than the scholarly and policy literature predicted.

Centralised reallocation of emission permits using DEA

In this paper a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to the problem of emission permits reallocation is presented. It can be used with conventional command and control as well as with an allowance market. It uses a centralized point of view, which represents the common good. In the model it is assumed that firms produce two types of outputs: desirable outputs (i.e. good outputs with positive value for consumers) and undesirable outputs (i.e. bad outputs with negative value for consumers, such as emissions of pollutants). The proposed approach has three phases, which correspond to three objectives that are pursued lexicographically. The three objectives are maximizing aggregated desirable production, minimizing undesirable total emissions and minimizing the consumption of input resources. The relative priority of these objectives is defined by the regulator. The whole approach is units-invariant and does not require information on input and output prices. The approach is applied on a dataset from the Swedish pulp and paper industry.

A new approach to the characterisation of particle shape and surface properties of powders employed in concrete industry

Development of high-performance and versatile cement-based materials like self-compacting concrete (SCC) and reactive powder concrete (RPC) has increased the research on inert and semi-inert powders. Today, the characterisation of these materials is an emergent subject. In this study, a new and practical approach to characterise the particle shape and surface morphology of ground materials has been proposed. For this purpose, two types of powders (limestone and quartz) at two different particle size distributions (PSD) were prepared by grinding. SEM images of these fine materials were analysed by using some conventional commands of image analysis. Possible quantification methods of shape characteristics and surface roughness of fillers were proposed. The results showed that, in addition to PSD; particle shape and surface morphology of ground materials can be quantitatively determined. Success of characterisation significantly depends on preparation of appropriate and representative SEM images. The accurate preparation of samples and proper selection of methodology of analysis is mandatory. In particular, the particle concentration in image area and magnitude of magnification play significant role on the success of analysis.

Effects of PSD and surface morphology of micro-aggregates on admixture requirement and mechanical performance of micro-concrete

Micro-concrete (MC) can be defined as a high performance cement-based material proportioned with micro-aggregates whose particle sizes range from about 0.5 mm to less than 1 μm. The incorporation of micro-aggregates improve the particle packing density of the cementitious system, by this way the rheological and mechanical properties of MCs are enhanced. An experimental program has been conducted to investigate the effect of three types of micro-aggregates presenting three different particle size distributions (PSDs) on the admixture requirement, compressive and flexural strength development of MC. In order to compare the PSD of micro-aggregates and to find a correlation between fineness and admixture requirement, the concept of “Fineness Index” was described. Additionally, particle shape and surface morphology of micro-aggregates were analysed by using SEM images. Some conventional commands of image analysis were employed. Possible quantification methods of shape characteristics and surface roughness of micro-aggregates were proposed. The results showed that, in addition to PSD, particle shape and surface morphology of micro-aggregates should also be quantitatively determined. Success of characterization significantly depends on preparation of appropriate and representative SEM images and proper selection of methodology of analysis.

Pre-shaping motion input for a rotating flexible link

The interest in the design of manipulators for space operations with a light structure has grown meaningfully in comparison with rigid manipulators, even if these flexible manipulators are unavoidably characterized by a nonnegligible structural flexibility. This paper deals with the first phase of a project financed by a grant from the Italian Space Agency, which is concerned with the setting up of an open-loop control for a planar manipulator with flexible linkages. In this phase, the project is subdivided into two parts: on the one hand, different command inputs have been proposed for point-to-point operations; on the other hand, dynamic simulations have been carried out by using a multibody model with flexible parts, in order to evaluate the residual vibrations due to the selected command input at the end of the motion. These command inputs will be applied to the actual manipulator, which is already available, in a future phase of the project. The command inputs, which are described here, are based on both the convolution of special impulse inputs suitably chosen on the basis of the system natural frequencies and the reduction of impulsive inertia forces by means of a suitable algorithm proposed here and derived from cam design. The simulations are carried out by commercial software for the study of multibody systems and custom programs for the command input implementation. The results obtained for the residual vibrations are compared to those obtained by conventional command inputs in the simulations on the same model.

Informal Sector Pollution Control: What Policy Options Do We Have?

In developing countries, urban clusters of informal firms such as brick kilns and leather tanneries can create severe pollution problems. These firms are, however, quite difficult to regulate for a variety of technical and political reasons. Drawing on the literature, this paper first develops a list of feasible environmental management policies. It then examines how these policies have fared in four independent efforts to control emissions from informal brick kilns in northern Mexico. The case studies suggest that: (a) conventional command and control process standards are generally only enforceable when buttressed by peer monitoring, (b) surprisingly, clean technologies can be successfully diffused even when they raise variable costs, in part because early adopters have an economic incentive to promote further adoption, (c) boycotts of “dirty” goods sold in informal markets are unenforceable, (d) well organized informal firms can block implementation of costly abatement strategies such as relocation and (e) private sector-led initiatives may be best suited for informal sector pollution control.