Integration Of Subsystems Research Articles

Implementation of a Biometric-Based Blockchain System for Preserving Privacy, Security, and Access Control in Healthcare Records

The use of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems has emerged with the continuous advancement of the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart devices. This is driven by the various advantages for both patients and healthcare providers, including timely and distant alerts, continuous control, and reduced cost, to name a few. However, while providing these advantages, various challenges involving heterogeneity, scalability, and network complexity are still open. Patient security, data privacy, and trust are also among the main challenges that need more research effort. To this end, this paper presents an implementation of a biometric-based blockchain EHR system (BBEHR), a prototype that uniquely identifies patients, enables them to control access to their EHRs, and ensures recoverable access to their EHRs. This approach overcomes the dependency on the private/public key approach used by most blockchain technologies to identify patients, which becomes more crucial in situations where a loss of the private key permanently hinders the ability to access patients’ EHRs. Our solution covers component selection, high-level implementation, and integration of subsystems, was well as the coding of a prototype to validate the mitigation of the risk of permanent loss of access to EHRs by using patients’ fingerprints. A performance analysis of BBEHR showed our system’s robustness and effectiveness in identifying patients and ensuring access control for their EHRs by using blockchain smart contracts with no additional overhead.

Guest Editorial: Military and Government Systems Applications

The papers in this special section focus on military and government systems applications. Organizations in this sectors seek to stay on the leading edge of warfare, communications development, smart infrastructure configuration, and efficient and effective service delivery through the design of complex systems. These complex systems are referred to as System of Systems (SoS) and are defined by the internal and external integration of individual systems and subsystems working together to create newcapabilities that could not otherwise be achieved by individual systems. Due to advances in technology and engineering and the proliferation of available information, the complexity of systems continues to increase. Engineering managers and systems engineers are faced with having to integrate multiple complex systems, in which different constituents and configurations, both legacy and new, are integrated to accomplish emergent national security and humanitarian missions, as well as delivery of citizen-centered services.

Creation and development of cyber-physical systems under condition of uncertainty interaction of subsystems

The tasks of creation and development of cyber-physical systems are considered. Cybernetic and physical subsystems can be presented in digital and analog form. The physical subsystem that simulates nature is presented in an analog form. Physical subsystems and processes, both natural, in particular, and technogenic, can behave like “things in themselves.” Therefore, the processes of synchronization of analog processes with cybernetics are often difficult to formalize or are not performed correctly enough. This applies to both obvious cases in problem areas of ecology, mining, energy, and in computers under conditions of inappropriate behavior of programs, ensuring the reliability of testing. This leads to the emergence of uncertainties accompanying the integration of subsystems and control in the system as a whole. The nature of analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion in the known representation requires taking into account the features at the level of this class of systems. These problems are considered at the levels of deterministic, stochastic and uncertainty. The well-known models of monitoring, control of a physical subsystem cannot be directly used for control. The development of correct control actions is considered from the standpoint of transforming such models. These models for dynamical systems are represented by differential equations. It is necessary to develop input-output models for the subsequent synthesis of controls.

ANALYSIS OF A FLAT PLATE SOLAR COLLECTOR

In the solar-energy industry great emphasis has been placed on the development of "active" solar energy systems which involve the integration of several subsystems: solar energy collectors, heat-storage containers, heat exchangers, fluid transport and distribution systems, and control systems. The major component unique in active systems is the solar collector. This device absorbs the incoming solar radiation, converting it into heat at the absorbing surface, and transfers this heat to a fluid (usually air or water) flowing through the collector. The warmed fluid carries the heat either directly to the hot water or space conditioning equipment or to a storage subsystem from which it can be drawn for use at night and on cloudy days. The thermal analysis of a solar flat plate collector is quite complicated because of the many factors involved. Efforts have been made to combine a number of the most important factors into a single equation and thus formulate a mathematical model which will describe the thermal performance of the collector in a computationally efficient manner.

Advanced Control Subsystem for Mobile Robotic Systems in Precision Agriculture

Abstract: This concept paper presents Mobile Agricultural Robots (MARs) for the development of precision agriculture and implicitly the smart farms through knowledge, reason, technology, interaction, learning and validation. Finding new strategies and control algorithms for MARs has led to the design of an Autonomous Robotic Platform Weed Control (ARoPWeC). The paradigm of this concept is based on the integration of intelligent agricultural subsystems into mobile robotic platforms. For maintenance activities in case of hoeing crops (corn, potatoes, vegetables, vineyards), ARoPWeC benefits from the automatic guidance subsystem and spectral analysis subsystem for differentiation and classification of the weeds. The elimination of weeds and pests is done through the Drop-on-Demand spray subsystem with multi-objective control, and for increasing efficiency through the Deep Learning subsystem.

Regional ecosystem health assessment using the GA-BPANN model: a case study of Yunnan Province, China

ABSTRACT Background: Regional ecosystem health assessments are the basis for the sustainable development of society. However, an ecosystem is a complex integration of ecosystem mosaics and subsystems that influence each other, making it difficult to evaluate them using traditional assessment methods of linear and explicit functions. We introduce a back-propagation neural network model optimized by a genetic algorithm to evaluate ecosystem health in 16 districts in Yunnan Province.Result: (1) The model required fewer inputs to evaluate complex and nonlinear systems, avoided the need for subjective weights, and performed well in this practical application to regional ecosystem health assessment. (2) The ecosystem health in Yunnan Province was increasing, and there was a significant positive spatial autocorrelation during 2000–2020, showing that districts with high Ecosystem Health cluster together and the ecological protection policy of the region has produced a diffusion effect, leading to continuous improvement of the ecological health of the surrounding areas. High-low outlier areas of ecosystem health should be paid more attention, because of the increasing instability of local health levels. Conclusion: This study provides a methodological exploration for assessing spatial mosaics of different ecosystems at a regional scale.

Prospects for using soft processors in systems-on-a-chip based on field-programmable gate arrays

Objectives. Developing the element base of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) may significantly affect the design of electronic devices due to the enhanced logical capacity of such chips and the general tendency towards increased subsystem integration. The system-on-a-chip (SoC) concept is aimed at combining receiving, processing, and exchange subsystems onto a single chip, as well as at implementing control, diagnostic, and other auxiliary subsystems. The study aimed at developing a method for soft processor applications, i.e., processors based on configurable logical resources, for implementing control functions in an FPGA-based SoC.Methods. A digital system design methodology was used.Results. For soft processors, a unified design route based on selecting architectural parameters qualitatively corresponding to control tasks was considered. In particular, such parameters as instruction set addressness, number of pipeline cycles, and arithmetic logic unit configuration are adjustable at the design stage to allow the optimization of the soft processor in the discrete parameter space. An approach to rapid prototyping of the assembler based on stack-oriented programming language with regular grammar was also considered. The control of digital signal processing hardware as part of an SoC is the promising application area for soft processors. An implementation is considered on the example of an SoC based on Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA containing several processor cores developed using the proposed methodology.Conclusions. The considered approaches to soft processor design allow the rapid prototyping of the control processor core for operation as part of an FPGA-based SoC.

Conceptual design of a wide band gap based cryogenically cooled MW-class inverter

The increasing need for higher power density and closer integration of power subsystems consisting of superconducting motors/generators, degaussing coils, energy storage modules, and cables leads one to consider the merits of refrigerating the associated power electronics down to cryogenic temperatures. High temperature superconducting (HTS) components combined with cryogenic power converters resulting in high power density power conversion systems will have a significant effect on several industrial, commercial, transportation, and renewable energy applications. Cryogenic power converters provide promising benefits over their room temperature counterparts in terms of reduced size and weight due to increased power density, improved efficiency, switching speed, and reliability. Integration could result in significant weight and space savings for the overall system. In this paper, a conceptual design study on the wide-bandgap-based (especially SiC and GaN) MW-class power inverter/converter is reported. Based on the total power loss of the designed converter, different cryogenic cooling strategies are proposed. The cooling power requirements, cooler mass, the cooler cost is evaluated based on the operating temperature of MW-class power converter. Finally, a power density comparison for different types of conventional power applications and HTS applications together with MW-class power converters is presented. The future of the cryogenically cooled power electronics system together with superconducting power devices is described for large-scale applications such as for future electric aircraft.

THE FUNCTION OF TRANSPORT NETWORKS IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL SETTLEMENTS

Developing market economy and European values in Ukraine, there are principles which are aimed at resolving social and economic requirements in areas that are designed to promote their efficient development. One of the principles of balanced development is the creation of a transport network, which will contribute to the development of the economic sphere of "peripheral territories" as well as social development. The transport network prompts investment attraction and, thanks to this, the territories get impetus for further development.
 Nowadays, rural settlements in Ukraine are mostly concentrated along the roads at a distance between 5 and 15 km. Beside this, there is an interconnection between the type of transport network and the settlement pattern. Transport provides the migration mobility of the population, the intensity of land settlement, areas of reconstruction and new development. The transport system is closely interconnected with the development of cities and urban agglomeration, it provides interconnection between cities and rural settlements, and the lack of roads causes the collapse of the whole rural infrastructure.
 Comparing the main components of the impact on the development of rural areas, they should be considered from the standpoint of the theory of O. Gutnov, "skeleton and fabric", which are an integral part of the cyclical development and evolutionary dynamics of urban systems, while acting as a forming urban space, with the main components:
 – communication framework (network of various categories of roads and their junctions); areas of social activity development fabric filled with a variety of spatially localized functions.
 It has been determined that based on the theoretical model of O. Gutnov it could be possible to predict the dynamics of the impact of transport networks on the environment and on the development of existing settlements, to outline the modern system model of rural areas, as integration of subsystems:
 On the basis of systematic research, the author analyzes the areas of Zhovkva district, Lviv region which are under the influence of highways and local roads, and notes their more intensive, more diverse development and their greater occupancy within 10-15 km of roads than more distant territories.

Design of enterprise human resources decision support system based on data mining

The management and development of human resources have become one of the core contents of enterprise management. It is from the initial use as an auxiliary tool in human resources business management to the later development of a relatively independent and functional sub-system for the processing of personnel matters between modules, and then to achieve the integration of various sub-systems to form a relatively complete set of human resources information management system. In recent years, with the rapid development of data mining technology, more and more enterprises have begun to attach importance to the assistance of computer information systems to manage the completion of various decision-making activities in operation. This paper designs an enterprise human resource decision support system based on data mining to more effectively support human resource management business information, data standardization, intelligent decision analysis, optimize human resource business processes, improve human resource management business efficiency, provide more effective decision support for enterprise operation and promote enterprise development. Results of the study show the effectiveness of the research.

Minimizing Stack Memory for Partitioned Mixed-criticality Scheduling on Multiprocessor Platforms

A Mixed-Criticality System (MCS) features the integration of multiple subsystems that are subject to different levels of safety certification on a shared hardware platform. In cost-sensitive application domains such as automotive E/E systems, it is important to reduce application memory footprint, since such a reduction may enable the adoption of a cheaper microprocessor in the family. Preemption Threshold Scheduling (PTS) is a well-known technique for reducing system stack usage. We consider partitioned multiprocessor scheduling, with Preemption Threshold Adaptive Mixed-Criticality (PT-AMC) as the task scheduling algorithm on each processor and address the optimization problem of finding a feasible task-to-processor mapping with minimum total system stack usage on a resource-constrained multi-processor. We present the Extended Maximal Preemption Threshold Assignment Algorithm (EMPTAA), with dual purposes of improving the taskset’s schedulability if it is not already schedulable, and minimizing system stack usage of the schedulable taskset. We present efficient heuristic algorithms for finding sub-optimal yet high-quality solutions, including Maximum Utilization Difference based Partitioning (MUDP) and MUDP with Backtrack Mapping (MUDP-BM), as well as a Branch-and-Bound (BnB) algorithm for finding the optimal solution. Performance evaluation with synthetic task sets demonstrates the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms.

Prototype Development and Flight Controller Implementation of the Sliding-Arm Quadcopter

In this paper, the design, development, and flight testing of the technology demonstration prototype for the sliding arm quadcopter are described. Furthermore, details on the hardware component design, machining, and integration of various UAV subsystems are discussed. The sliding arm UAV is a shape changing aerial robot design that has additional servo motor inputs for actuating the length of the quadcopter's arms. The additional servo motors are actively controlled using proportional derivative (PD) control. The PD based control is implemented using an onboard Raspberry Pi computer which utilizes the command and feedback data from the UAV autopilot through the ROS/MAVROS middleware interface. This methodology shows the feasibility of integrating and accommodating the extra servo inputs in the existing Pixhawk firmware. The functionality of the technology demonstration prototype is validated via successful static bench tests paired with indoor and outdoor flight tests. Additionally, the UAV has been flight tested in both manual and semi-autonomous flight modes using an open source ground control station. The flight performance of various flight parameters and the new servo motor parameters have also been presented.

Multi-jet ice 3D printing

PurposeMulti-jet deposition of the materials is a matured technology used for graphic printing and 3 D printing for a wide range of materials. The multi-jet technology is fine-tuned for liquids with a specific range of viscosity and surface tension. However, the use of multi-jet for low viscosity fluids like water is not very popular. This paper aims to demonstrate the technique, particularly for the water-ice 3 D printing. 3 D printed ice parts can be used as patterns for investment casting, templates for microfluidic channel fabrication, support material for polymer 3 D printing, etc.Design/methodology/approachMulti-jet ice 3 D printing is a novel technique for producing ice parts by selective deposition and freezing water layers. The paper confers the design, embodiment and integration of various subsystems of multi-jet ice 3 D printer. The outcomes of the machine trials are reported as case studies with elaborate details.FindingsThe prismatic geometries are realized by ice 3 D printing. The accuracy of 0.1 mm is found in the build direction. The part height tends to increase due to volumetric expansion during the phase change.Originality/valueThe present paper gives a novel architecture of the ice 3 D printer that produces the ice parts with good accuracy. The potential applications of the process are deliberated in this paper.

A new deployable pantographic lunar habitat

Deployable lunar structures have been and are being developed as an appropriate solution to the volumetric limitations of cargo mission flights. A deployable lunar habitat consisting of linear and planar elements connected through simple movable joints is introduced. This new structure is made of some linear units consisting of two types of scissor-like elements (SLE): 1) a modified polar scissor-like element and 2) a closed-loop of angulated scissor-like elements. After conducting theoretical research on lunar habitats, the evaluation criteria of transformable lunar structures are derived and then many new concepts are evaluated. The design considerations of such structures are discussed, and a proper form for these habitat types is selected. An experimental study is run to assess the best deployment strategy for the whole structure. By introducing the dimensional properties of the lunar habitats through physical and digital modeling process per crewmember, the derived alternatives from the previous stage are analyzed and the best transformation strategy that meets the aforementioned considerations is developed. Providing relatively high degrees of protection against environmental hazards through the combination of rigid plates with membrane, this proposed structure reduces the required extravehicular activity (EVA) time for assembly because of its quick and simple deployment mechanism. The folded state of the structure provides a low volume for the integration of subsystems.

An Approach to the De Novo Synthesis of Life.

ConspectusAs the remit of chemistry expands beyond molecules to systems, new synthetic targets appear on the horizon. Among these, life represents perhaps the ultimate synthetic challenge. Building on an increasingly detailed understanding of the inner workings of living systems and advances in organic synthesis and supramolecular chemistry, the de novo synthesis of life (i.e., the construction of a new form of life based on completely synthetic components) is coming within reach. This Account presents our first steps in the journey toward this long-term goal. The synthesis of life requires the functional integration of different subsystems that harbor the different characteristics that are deemed essential to life. The most important of these are self-replication, metabolism, and compartmentalization. Integrating these features into a single system, maintaining this system out of equilibrium, and allowing it to undergo Darwinian evolution should ideally result in the emergence of life. Our journey toward de novo life started with the serendipitous discovery of a new mechanism of self-replication. We found that self-assembly in a mixture of interconverting oligomers is a general way of achieving self-replication, where the assembly process drives the synthesis of the very molecules that assemble. Mechanically induced breakage of the growing replicating assemblies resulted in their exponential growth, which is an important enabler for achieving Darwinian evolution. Through this mechanism, the self-replication of compounds containing peptides, nucleobases, and fully synthetic molecules was achieved. Several examples of evolutionary dynamics have been observed in these systems, including the spontaneous diversification of replicators allowing them to specialize on different food sets, history dependence of replicator composition, and the spontaneous emergence of parasitic behavior. Peptide-based replicator assemblies were found to organize their peptide units in space in a manner that, inadvertently, gives rise to microenvironments that are capable of catalysis of chemical reactions or binding-induced activation of cofactors. Among the reactions that can be catalyzed by the replicators are ones that produce the precursors from which these replicators grow, amounting to the first examples of the assimilation of a proto-metabolism. Operating these replicators in a chemically fueled out-of-equilibrium replication-destruction regime was found to promote an increase in their molecular complexity. Fueling counteracts the inherent tendency of replicators to evolve toward lower complexity (caused by the fact that smaller replicators tend to replicate faster). Among the remaining steps on the road to de novo life are now to assimilate compartmentalization and achieve open-ended evolution of the resulting system. Success in the synthesis of de novo life, once obtained, will have far-reaching implications for our understanding of what life is, for the search for extraterrestrial life, for how life may have originated on earth, and for every-day life by opening up new vistas in the form living technology and materials.

Polymer-loaded three dimensional microwave cavities for hybrid quantum systems

Microwave cavity resonators are crucial components of many quantum technologies and are a promising platform for hybrid quantum systems, as their open architecture enables the integration of multiple subsystems inside the cavity volume. To suspend these subsystems within the centre of a cavity where field strengths are strong and uniform, auxiliary support structures are often required, but the effects of these structures on the microwave cavity mode are difficult to predict due to a lack of a priori knowledge of the materials’ response in the microwave regime. Understanding these effects becomes even more important when frequency matching is critical and tuning is limited, for example, when matching microwave modes to atomic resonances for atomic vapour cells inside enclosed microwave cavities. Here, we study the microwave cavity mode in the presence of three commonly-used machinable polymers, paying particular attention to the change in resonance and the dissipation of energy. We demonstrate how to use the derived dielectric coefficient for cavity design in a test case, wherein we match a polymer-filled 3D microwave cavity to a hyperfine transition in rubidium.

Critic-observer-based decentralized force/position approximate optimal control for modular and reconfigurable manipulators with uncertain environmental constraints

A critic-observer decentralized force/position approximate optimal control method is presented to address the joint trajectory and contacted force tracking problem of modular and reconfigurable manipulators (MRMs) with uncertain environmental constraints. The dynamic model of the MRM systems is formulated as an integration of joint subsystems via extensive state observer (ESO) associated with the effect of interconnected dynamic coupling (IDC). A radial basis function neural network (RBF-NN) is developed to deal with the IDC effects among the independent joint subsystems. Based on adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) approach and policy iteration (PI) algorithm, the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equation is approximately solved by establishing critic NN structure and then the approximated optimal control policy can be derived. The closed-loop manipulator system is proved to be asymptotic stable by using the Lyapunov theory. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed control method.

Pushing Mechatronic Applications to the Limits via Smart Motion Control

Modern machines strive to run at limit performance and dependability while their operational area and size are getting restricted. To achieve those objectives, often swift integration of custom-made subsystems is required, either actuators, sensors, electronic, or SW modules. Such a diverse suite of elements needs specific approaches and tools for fast optimization and adjustment following model-based system engineering (MBSE) and digital twinning principles. The large-scale I-MECH project was an industry-driven initiative striving to give a scientific response to those demands. The intermediate results were summarized in the authors’ previous work. The purpose of this paper is to report on final project results, namely specific performance achievements and figures based on measurable KPIs. After a brief description of key technologies, special focus is given to industrial printing technology based on a generic substrate carrier. However, it is shown that similar and consistent methodology can be applicable in many other industrial domains, such as semiconductors, healthcare robotics, machining, packaging, etc. Thus, the main merit of this survey is a holistic approach to motion control design.

Investigations on Monolithic Radome Interactions with Active Electronically Scanned Array on Fighter Platform

The conventional fighter aircrafts are often equipped with fire control radar (FCR) using mechanically scanned antenna (MSA) with passive slots enclosed with monolithic conical radome. When the fighter platforms get upgraded with the modern active electronically steered array (AESA) FCR for better mission capabilities, even though radome change is desirable for optimum performance of AESA, it may not be feasible due to development time. This necessitate the evaluation of AESA radar with the existing monolithic radome. Hence active antenna aperture radiation pattern is required to be assessed with monolithic radome. To address this issue, simulation is preferred over physical testing, due to the reduced cost, time and complexity in measurements and ability to verify compatibility. In the present paper, the influence of monolithic radome on the active antenna radiation patterns are simulated and analysed. The characterisation studies helped for better optimisation of active aperture, optimum size for new radome development and additional space on fighter platforms that can be used for integration of new subsystems. Simulations are performed at two different locations of antenna inside radome. Experimental validations have been carried out to prove the efficacy of simulated results, which are in agreement.

Interface Definition and Integration in the Equatorial Port 01 of the ITER In-Port Radial Neutron Camera

The ITER Radial Neutron Camera is a diagnostic whose objective is measuring neutron emissivity and fusion power density through an array of detectors placed in collimating structures. The RNC is composed of two subsystems (In-Port RNC and Ex-Port RNC), located in the Equatorial Port 01 of the ITER tokamak. Although the measurements from the RNC are required for ITER D-T phase, its In-Port components must be ready for Assembly phase 2. Consequently, the two subsystems will be delivered at different times.At the current status of the design the In-Port RNC interfaces must be defined, if not fully specified, in order to allow for the subsystem integration in the Port Plug. A thorough assessment of the interfaces of the subsystem with all the diagnostics, plants and services in the port has been made, taking into account the concurrent development of the Equatorial Port 01 and the progress in the design of some of the subsystem components that may affect the identification of interfacing Plant Systems.This paper deals with the process that led to definition of the internal and external interfaces of the In-Port RNC, highlighting the main issues and the solutions adopted to perform integration within the Equatorial Port Plug 01.