Characteristics Of Control System Research Articles

ADVANCED CONTROL ALGORITHMS + SIMULINK COMPATIBILITY + REAL-TIME OS = REX

This paper describes the structure and features of a new industrial control system called REX. During the system design, special attention was paid to the simulation facility of the control algorithms. The equivalent behavior of simulation and real-time control is guaranteed by a large function blocks library which is implemented for both Simulink and each target platform. REX is suitable for building real-time control systems of real, virtual and remote laboratories. REX does not utilize Real Time Workshop by The Mathworks.

Song and the limbic brain: a new function for the bird's own song.

The neurobiological investigation of the avian song system has largely focused on the unique neural features of vocal control systems that contribute to learned motor patterns in songbirds. The role of emotion has been disregarded in developing a theory of song learning and performance. Here we review emerging evidence in support of Darwin's observation that vocal communication is emotional expression. We propose that neural pathways mediating emotional state remained integrated with the vocal control system as forebrain vocal control pathways evolved to support learned communication patterns. Vocalizations are therefore both a motor component of an emotional state and can influence emotional state via sensory feedback during vocal production. By acknowledging the importance of emotion in vocal communication, we are proposing that the song system and limbic brain are functionally linked in the production and reception of song.

Diagnosis of Cervical Disorders: Exploring a Mechanistic Approach

Abstract A current direction in research into cervical disorders is towards investigating the value of a “mechanisms” approach to diagnosis. This commentary reviews some of the research investigating the pathophysiological features of neck pain, in terms of changes in the articular, muscle, sensorimotor and sensory systems. Changes have been found in patterns of cervical muscle activation in cognitive, functional and automatic tasks in neck pain patients. In addition, some patients have been found to have disturbances in features of the postural control system in association with their neck disorders. Altered responses to sensory testing have also been determined, particularly in some patients with whiplash-induced neck pain. The value of this mechanisms approach to diagnosis is in its ability to direct specific treatment strategies to address the precise impairments presenting in the individual neck pain patient. It supports the evidence that indicates that a multimodal approach to management is likely to be most efficacious.

Visualizing value creation through the management control of intangibles

Management control systems may differ markedly from organization to organization. However, the trend within many of today's organizations is to include new perspectives in their formal management control and accounting systems. This ongoing transformation of management control systems is partly driven by the notion that intangibles play an increasingly important role in an organization's value creation process and thereby has to be visualized to a greater extent than hitherto. Nowadays, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders are frequently incorporated into the value creation process of organizations. Together with the growing importance of other intangible resources, such as leadership, employee competence and internal business processes, this approach promotes a highly complex picture of the organizational value creation process. The aim of this paper is to analyze organizational value creation from a management control perspective and, based on a longitudinal case study of a Swedish bank, discuss possible key features of a management control system that enables organizations to understand and allocate attention to the value creation of the firm.

Agent-based throughput response in presence of node and/or link failure (on demand) for circuit switched telecommunication networks

An attractive feature of an agent-based control system is being studied in this paper, with respect to network throughput for a certain amount of traffic and applied to a synchronous digital hierarchy network. Algorithmically complex problems like routing a call in a network, need to be faced with a dynamically adaptive approach such as agent-based probabilistic routing. The performance of a decentralized-based routing scheme that is subject to link and/or node failures is examined while agents are moving across the network and define a cost effective path from a source to a destination. Agent-based routing scheme is proved to increase the service rate and throughput response of the system with significant reduction in call failures. Through various newly introduced metrics and simulation of the proposed scenario, we have shown that agent-based routing offer us a decentralized control in the network and an efficient way to increase overall performance.

Design Approach of Control System for Advanced Nuclear Power Plant

This paper describes design concept of control system for Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400) plant that is designed as advanced nuclear power plant. The control system for APR1400 plant is designed with data communication network-based digital control technologies to enhance the system functionality, reliability, operability, maintainability and economy.Commercially available PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and DCS (Distributed Control System) are utilized for Component Control System (CCS) for safety system and non-safety system of the APR1400. Computer-based redundant compact workstations are also adopted for the Main Control Room (MCR) to provide convenient working environment.This paper describes the approaches and methodologies taken in designing the control system for the APR1400 plant. Also, major design features of the advanced control system to better cope with regulatory requirements are introduced.

A small mobile robot for security and inspection operations

The omni-directional inspection system (ODIS) is a small, man-portable mobile robotic system that can be used for autonomous or semi-autonomous inspection under vehicles in a parking area. Customers for such a system include military police (MP) and other law enforcement and security entities. The robot features three “smart wheels” in which both the speed and direction of the wheel can be independently controlled and a vehicle electronic capability that includes multiple processors and a sensor array with a laser, sonar and IR sensors, and a video camera. ODIS employs a novel parameterized command language for intelligent behavior generation. A key feature of the ODIS control system is the use of an object recognition system that fits models to sensor data. These models are then used as input parameters to the motion and behavior control commands.

The impact of reputation and variance investigations on the creation of budget slack

Experimental research and survey studies have yielded conflicting findings about the conditions under which budget slack is likely to arise. This study begins to reconcile the contradictory evidence by examining the impact of two features of the organizational context in which budget decisions are made: reputation concerns and variance investigations. The results of a laboratory experiment show concern for maintaining a favourable reputation leads to lower budget slack as does the existence of a variance investigation policy. The findings extend the agency theory framework by incorporating both pecuniary and non-pecuniary features that influence behavior when budgets have consequences beyond the immediate period. The results also suggest reputation concerns and control system features may serve as cost-effective substitutes for exhaustive incentive contracting in practical settings.

The man-machine analogy in robotics and neurophysiology

Since the time of Descartes the machine-like control of movement in animals and the animal-like control of movement in automata has fascinated and inspired scientists, engineers and philosophers alike. In 1966, Drs. Rajko Tomovic and Robert McGhee proposed the concept of a "cybernetic actuator," a new type of control system which "possesses the property of producing continuous controlled motion from an input which may assume only four distinct states". The specific application at the time was an artificial limb prosthesis. Signals from sensors monitoring joint angle and ground contact were to be continuously compared to a set of threshold values corresponding to specific moments in the step cycle. The binary signals (above or below threshold) were listed in a look-up chart which associated sensory combinations with actuator states. It was proposed that this system would provide all of the known state transitions required of an above knee prosthesis. In this and later papers Tomovic was careful to point out the differences between such "artificial reflex control" systems and neural control systems in animals. Nonetheless in the last few years it has become commonplace to see the control of locomotion and other rhythmical behaviors described in terms of "sensory rules," that is in terms of finite state systems. With the advent of neural nets and fuzzy logic control robotic devices are taking on more and more of the features of biological control systems. In turn, neurophysiologists borrow more and more from the concepts and mechanisms of modern control theory. The influence of Tomovic's simple but powerful idea continues to spread.

QFT를 이용한 냉간 압연시스템의 조타유도형 웹 위치제어

A new steering-type web position control system for cold mills using QFT is presented. The control system features an inner-outer cascaded system in which the inner loop provides the position tracking control of hydraulic system and the outer loop provides the position regulation control of the web. By the sensitivity analysis and computer simulation, it is verified that the proposed control system has better robust stability and performance than the conventional PH) control system.

Adaptive Behavioral Fusion of Fuzzy Behavior-Based Control for Khepera

The most significant features of a behavior-based control system are the structure, the behavioral fusion or coordination, and the learning algorithm. Especially, the intelligent behavior of a robot is relying on the behavioral fusion. An adaptive behavioral fusion method for the fuzzy behavior-based control is studied in this paper. One of the conventional fusion methods is the priority based fusion. However, there exists limits in such methods in dynamic environments in addition to those of sensor's activity. The present method changes the priority of behavior groups according to the sensor's activity. The efficiency of the proposed method is illustrated with some experimental results of a miniature mobile robot called Khepera.

A Small Mobile Robot for Security and Inspection Operations

The Omni-Directional Inspection System, or ODIS, is a small, man-portable mobile robotic system that can be used for autonomous or semi-autonomous inspection under vehicles in a parking area. Customers for such a system include military police (MP) and other law enforcement and security entities. The robot features three “smart wheels” in which both the speed and direction of the wheel can be independently controlled and a vehicle electronic capability that includes multiple processors and a sensor array with a laser, sonar and IR sensors, and a video camera. ODIS employs a novel parameterized command language for intelligent behavior generation. A key feature of the ODIS control system is the use of an object recognition system that fits models to sensor data. These models are then used as input parameters to the motion and behavior control commands.

A Non-Precision Instrument Approach Procedure with Vertical Guidance (IPV) for Aircraft Landing Using GPS

In the near future, Spaced-Based Augmentation Systems (such as the Wide Area Augmentation System in North America) will become operational, permitting the use of GPS as a primary system for all phases of flight. Recently the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has recommended the use of un-augmented GPS as a supplemental navigation system for all phases of flight including non-precision approaches. In this paper, the salient features of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system in India, and the use of conventional navigational aids are described. A new landing procedure is proposed using un-augmented GPS known as ‘a non-precision instrument approach procedure with vertical guidance (IPV)’ for Hyderabad Airport, Runway 27. This procedure, if implemented, would be cost-effective and reliable for many airports in India. An algorithm has also been developed for determining the range and bearing between the departure and the arrival waypoints of an aircraft using the IPV.

Retrofitting of a vertical retort for on-line control of the sterilization process

A micro-controller-based retort control system for sterilization of foods was developed. The feature of this developed control system is that actual container cold point temperature is sensed on real time basis using temperature sensors. The on-line temperature is further processed using software to determine the sterilization value in terms of F o and is continuously displayed. The sterilization process is controlled until the set F o value is attained and at the end of the heating process cooling is automatically started. This ensures commercial sterility leading to higher nutrient retention and savings in energy by avoiding overcooking. This system can be easily incorporated onto the existing manually controlled batch retorts – horizontal or vertical. The system is more economical than the large sophisticated computer controlled systems presently available. It is mainly aimed at small and medium scale food processing industries having manually operated batch retorts.

The ALFA Laser: Beam Relay and Control System

The ALFA laser subsystem uses a 4 watt continuous wave laser beam to produce an artificial guide star in the mesospheric sodium layer as a reference for wavefront sensing. In this article we describe the system design, focusing on the layout of the beam relay system. It consists of seven mirrors, four of which are motor-controlled in closed loop operation accounting for turbulences inside the dome and flexure of the main telescope.The control system features several computers which are located close to analysis and control units. The distribution of the tasks and their interaction is presented, as well as the graphical user interface used to operate the complete system. This is followed by a discussion of the aircraft detection system ALIENS. This system shuts off the laser beam when an object passes close to the outgoing laser.

Parallel pathways mediating manual dexterity in the macaque.

Transmission of information along appropriately structured parallel pathways ensures that a great deal of information can be transferred from the source to the target very quickly, and with great security-essential features of any motor control system. Studies over the last two decades have established that the corticospinal and corticocerebellar pathways mediating manual dexterity in the primate are structurally organized to sustain the parallel transmission of sensorimotor information in multiple pathways. Serial, hierarchical control systems now seem insufficient to regulate voluntary hand movements. To achieve the required coordination, and precision and speed of execution, they must be combined with parallel control systems, which themselves incorporate elaborate feedforward and feedback controls. To illustrate these issues, two aspects of the structural organization of parallel sensorimotor pathways mediating manual dexterity in the macaque are reviewed. First, we examine the structure of the multiple corticospinal neuron subpopulations projecting from different areas of the frontoparietal cortex and how they are modified following hemisection of the cervical spinal cord. The remarkable recovery of hand function following spinal hemisection, despite the absence of any structural 'bridging' of the interrupted spinal pathways, and the fact that this is accountable in a parallel but not in a purely serial transmission system, are then reviewed. The second aspect of parallel distributed transmission examined is its occurrence within a single population of relay neurons. Our recent structural analysis of the somatic/dendritic organization of rubrospinal neurons in macaque red nucleus is used. The very large dendritic fields of individual neurons, extending over one-third or more of the nucleus, provide a framework for extracting precise somatotopic information from an input population whose axon terminal arbors overlap extensively, and, which, without effective filtering, would provide poor spatial resolution.

Variable structure control of continuous-time system with sliding sector

For any control systems, it is shown that in the state space there exists a subset around a hyperplane, inside which a norm of the state decreases without any control action. Therefore it is possible to use this natural feature of control systems to design a VS controller. In this paper, such subset is named the sliding sector. An algorithm to design the sliding sector using Riccati equation is given for controllable systems. A variable structure (VS) controller with the sliding sector for continuous-time system is proposed. With the VS control law designed in the paper, the state will move to the inside of the sliding sector and the norm of the state, i.e. some Lyapunov function decreases in all of the state space. Therefore the VS controller with the sliding sector quadratically stabilizes the system. A rotational pendulum system is used as a simulation model. The simulation results show that the proposed VS controller is chattering-free and with good control performance.

Design and Simulation of an Entry Edge Guide Control System for Tandem Cold Mills

A new entry edge guide control system for cold mills was designed using a dual-mode control system. One control loop regulated the cylinder pressure to prevent machine damage due to pressure surge while the other loop provided edge guide position control. The target control level was ±1.59 mm accuracy for a maximum operating strip speed of 530 mpm with coil sidewall location variations of ±12.5 mm/sec. A mathematical model was developed to simulate the dynamic behavior of the control system using the state space design method. The control system features two PID controllers, two hydraulic proportional valves, and a digital edge sensor. The PID tuning constants and the hydraulic proportional valves were specified by simulation results considering system response and signal noise. Data from 35 coils was used to investigate control performance. The results show that the average standard error is entirely acceptable. The majority of the coils are expected to have tracking errors less than the required accuracy.

Optimal design and real time control of the integrated urban run-off system

Traditional design of urban run-off systems is based on fixed rules with respect to the points of demarcation between the three systems involved: the sewer system, the treatment plant and the receiving water. An alternative to fixed rules is to model the total system. There is still uncertainty with respect to a more rational formulation of demands on the performance of combined sewer overflows and the performance of separate drainage outlets during rain. There are two approaches to management: The prediction-design approach: models play an essential role in the prediction of performance and evaluation of competing alternatives for design. However, the complexity of these systems is such that the parameters associated with pollution are hardly identifiable on the basis of reasonable monitoring programmes. The empirical-iterative approach: structures are built on simplified assumptions and their performance is evaluated. If inadequate, improvements are made by another trial on an empirical basis. When monitoring has proven the performance to be inadequate, improvements can be achieved by real time control of the whole system, which combines the two approaches. Due to the complexity of the real system, the experience is that simplicity and on-line adaptation are essential features of the real time control system.

Optimally Guided and Controlled Launch Vehicle System: Flight Experience of a Polar Mission

Polar satellite launch vehicle PSLV is an optimally guided and controlled vehicle that has several fault tolerant and in flight retargetting features. Several flights have proven the soundness of control and guidance design. Features of Control & Guidance system of PSLV are described.