A Study of Pharmacist-Patient Communication: Examining Optimal Distance and Angle Using an Eye-Tracking System

This study focuses on seating arrangement and interpersonal distance as important aspects of nonverbal communication and aims to elucidate the optimal distance and angle between pharmacist and patient through an analysis based on the subjective evaluation of the patient and the objective evaluation of eye movements. Seven female simulated patients and one male and one female pharmacist cooperated as patients and pharmacists, respectively. The medication teaching scenes were set up with three pharmacist placements (face-to-face at 50 cm and 70 cm, 90-degree at 70 cm) and three hospital rooms (0-degree, 45-degree, 90-degree). Pupil diameter, blink rate, saccades, and fixation rate of the patient at each of these locations were measured using a Tobii Pro Glass 2. The patient’s subjective evaluation at each placement was also investigated using the conversation scale, which assesses the optimal distance for conversation. The results for the pharmacy setting revealed that pupils were significantly more mydriatic at the 50 cm point than at the other points. The results for the hospital room setting showed the greatest mydriasis at the 0-degree point. The result of the 50 cm point for the pharmacy setting and the 0-degree point for the hospital room setting was similar to that of the subjective evaluation. When the likelihood of saccades occurrence in the hospital room setting was compared, saccades were found to be most likely to occur when medication instructions were given to patients at the 0-degree point. We believe that using pupil diameter for interpersonal distance, and saccades for angle will enable more accurate determinations of the optimal distance and angle between pharmacist and patient. The results of the present study suggest that the 70 cm face-to-face point in the pharmacy and the 45-degree point in the ward may be suitable for medication instruction.

Theoretical and Experimental Quantification of Solar Radiation through a Tracking System

This work deals with the estimation of solar radiation through a solar tracker aimed at evaluating the effect of solar tracking on the solar deposit in Burkina Faso. Using a two-axis solar tracking system, we experimentally measured solar radiation at our Joseph KI-ZERBO University site and compared it with that obtained by a numerical simulation run using Fortran programming software based on a mathematical model by Brichambaut. The results obtained from the mathematical and experimental studies show that, with a solar tracker, on a clear-sky day, solar irradiation is between 800 W·m−2 and 1000 W·m−2 between about 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., i.e. a duration of 8 hours of insolation. Analysis of the numerical and experimental results shows very good quantitative and qualitative agreement, with an average relative error of 18%.

Probabilistic Global Maximum Power Point Tracking Algorithm for Continuously Varying Partial Shading Conditions on Autonomous PV Systems

A photovoltaic (PV) string with multiple modules with bypass diodes frequently deployed on a variety of autonomous PV systems may present multiple power peaks under uneven shading. For optimal solar harvesting, there is a need for a control schema to force the PV string to operate at global maximum power point (GMPP). While a lot of tracking methods have been proposed in the literature, they are usually complex and do not fully take advantage of the available characteristics of the PV array. This work highlights how the voltage at operating point and the forward voltage of the bypass diode are considered to design a global maximum power point tracking (GMPPT) algorithm with a very limited global search phase called Fast GMPPT. This algorithm successfully tracks GMPP between 94% and 98% of the time under a theoretical evaluation. It is then compared against Perturb and Observe, Deterministic Particle Swarm Optimization, and Grey Wolf Optimization under a sequence of irradiance steps as well as a power-over-voltage characteristics profile that mimics the electrical characteristics of a PV string under varying partial shading conditions. Overall, the simulation with the sequence of irradiance steps shows that while Fast GMPPT does not have the best convergence time, it has an excellent convergence rate as well as causes the least amount of power loss during the global search phase. Experimental test under varying partial shading conditions shows that while the GMPPT proposal is simple and lightweight, it is very performant under a wide range of dynamically varying partial shading conditions and boasts the best energy efficiency (94.74%) out of the 4 tested algorithms.

Tracking Performance of Electric Power Steering System Based on the Mixed H_2/H_∞ Strategy

The tracking performance of motor current is an important factor that affects the assistance torque of electric power steering （EPS） system. Bad tracking performance will cause assistant torque delay, and make road feeling bad, and is influenced by the input steering torque and system measuring noise. However the existing methods have some shortages on system＇s robust dynamic performance and robust stability. The mixed H2/H∞ strategy for recirculating ball-type EPS system in a pure electric bus is proposed, and vehicle dynamic model of the system is established. Due to the existence of system model uncertainty, disturbance signals, sensor noises and the demand of system dynamic performance, the indexes of robust performance and road feeling for drivers are defined as the appraisal control objectives. The H∞ method is introduced to design the H∞ controller, and the H2 method is applied to optimize the H∞ controller, thus the mixed H2/H∞ controller is designed. The response of EPS system to the motor current command with amplitude of 20 A, the road disturbance with amplitude of 500 N and the sensor random noise with the amplitude of 1 A is simulated. The simulation results show that the recirculating ball-type EPS system with the mixed H2/H∞ controller can attenuate the random noises and disturbances and track the boost curve well, so the mixed H2/H∞ controller can improve the system＇s robust performance and dynamic performance. For the purpose of verifying the performance of the designed control strategy, the motor current tracking performance ground tests are conducted with step response input of the steering wheel, double-lane steering test and lemniscate steering test, respectively. The tests show that the mixed H2/H∞ controller for the recirculating ball-type EPS system of pure electric bus is feasible. The designed controller can solve the robust performance and robust stability of the system, thus improve the tracking performance of the EPS system and provide satisfied road feeling for the drivers.

Robust Controller Design for Satellite Attitude Tracking System

The attitude tracking control problem for a satellite with parameter uncertainties and external disturbances is considered in this paper. For this class of multi-input multi-output uncertain nonlinear systems, a design method of robust output tracking controllers is proposed based on the upper-bounds of the uncertainties. Using the input/output feedback linearization approach and Lyapunov method, a control law is designed, which guarantees that the system output exponentially tracks the given desired output. The proposed controller is easy to compute and complement. Simulation results show that, in the closed-loop system, precise attitude control is accomplished in spite of the uncertainties in the system.

Backstepping tracking control for nonlinear time-delay systems

Two design approaches of state feedback and output feedback tracking controllers are proposed for a class of strict feedback nonlinear time-delay systems by using backstepping technique. When the states of system cannot be observed, the time-delay state observer is designed to estimate the system states. Domination method is used to deal with nonlinear time-delay function under the assumption that the nonlinear time-delay functions of systems satisfy Lipschitz condition. The global asymptotical tracking of the reference signal is achieved and the bound of all signals of the resultant closed-loop system is also guaranteed. By constructing a Lyapunov-Krasoviskii functional, the stability of the closed-loop system is proved. The feasibility of the proposed approach is illustrated by a simulation example.

Tracking Control of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems With Unknown Constant Input Delay

A robust delay compensator has been developed for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with an unknown constant input delay.The control law consists of feedback terms based on the integral of past control values and a novel filtered tracking error,capable of compensating for input delays.Suitable Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals are used to prove global uniformly ultimately bounded(GUUB)tracking,provided certain sufficient gain conditions,dependent on the bound of the delay,are satisfied.Simulation results illustrate the performance and robustness of the controller for different values of input delay.

Tracking consensus for nonlinear heterogeneous multi-agent systems subject to unknown disturbances via sliding mode control

We investigate the tracking control for a class of nonlinear heterogeneous leader-follower multi-agent systems（MAS）with unknown external disturbances. Firstly, the neighbor-based distributed finite-time observers are proposed for the followers to estimate the position and velocity of the leader. Then, two novel distributed adaptive control laws are designed by means of linear sliding mode（LSM） as well as nonsingular terminal sliding mode（NTSM）, respectively. One can prove that the tracking consensus can be achieved asymptotically under LSM and the tracking error can converge to a quite small neighborhood of the origin in finite time by NTSM in spite of uncertainties and disturbances. Finally, a simulation example is given to verify the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results.

DERIVATION AND INTEGRAL SLIDING MODE VARIABLE STRUCTURE CONTROL OF HYDRAULIC VELOCITY TRACKING SYSTEM

The velocity tracking control of a hydraulic servo system is studied. Sincethe dynamics of the system are highly nonlinear and have large extent of model uncertainties, suchas big changes in load and parameters, a derivation and integral sliding mode variable structurecontrol scheme (DI-SVSC) is proposed. An integral controller is introduced to avoid the assumptionthat the derivative of desired signal must be known in conventional sliding mode variable structurecontrol, a nonlinear derivation controller is used to weaken the chattering of system. The designmethod of switching function in integral sliding mode control, nonlinear derivation coefficient andcontrollers of DI-SVSC is presented respectively. Simulation shows that the control approach is ofnice robustness and improves velocity tracking accuracy considerably.

Assimilating the along-track sea level anomaly into the regional ocean modeling system using the ensemble optimal interpolation

The ensemble optimal interpolation （EnOI） is applied to the regional ocean modeling system （ROMS） with the ability to assimilate the along-track sea level anomaly （TSLA）. This system is tested with an eddy-resolving system of the South China Sea （SCS）. Background errors are derived from a running seasonal ensemble to account for the seasonal variability within the SCS. A fifth-order localization function with a 250 km localization radius is chosen to reduce the negative effects of sampling errors. The data assimilation system is tested from January 2004 to December 2006. The results show that the root mean square deviation （RMSD） of the sea level anomaly decreased from 10.57 to 6.70 cm, which represents a 36.6% reduction of error. The data assimilation reduces error for temperature within the upper 800 m and for salinity within the upper 200 m, although error degrades slightly at deeper depths. Surface currents are in better agreement with trajectories of surface drifters after data assimilation. The variance of sea level improves significantly in terms of both the amplitude and position of the strong and weak variance regions after assimilating TSLA. Results with AGE error （AGE） perform better than no AGE error （NoAGE） when considering the improvements of the temperature and the salinity. Furthermore, reasons for the extremely strong variability in the northern SCS in high resolution models are investigated. The results demonstrate that the strong variability of sea level in the high resolution model is caused by an extremely strong Kuroshio intrusion. Therefore, it is demonstrated that it is necessary to assimilate the TSLA in order to better simulate the SCS with high resolution models.

ANALYSIS OF TARGET TRACKING BASED ON RANGE DIFFERENCE MEASUREMENT OF MULTISTATIC RADAR SYSTEM

An analysis is presented for target tracking with short range multistatic radar system in this paper. The velocity vector is introduced into the model to depict target motion more precisely. The system measurement equation is such constructed on the basis of range difference that make the tracking model independent of the transmitter position. Therefore the algorithm is very much suitable for the case that the transmitter is not fixed. Simulation results show that the algorithm has the advantages of fast tracking and small steady tracking errors, and can be used for tracking target in short range with multistatic radar system.

Distributed tracking for networked Euler-Lagrange systems without velocity measurements

The problem of distributed coordinated tracking control for networked Euler-Lagrange systems without velocity measurements is investigated. Under the condition that only a portion of the followers have access to the leader, sliding mode estimators are developed to estimate the states of the dynamic leader in finite time. To cope with the absence of velocity measurements, the distributed observers which only use position information are designed. Based on the outputs of the estimators and observers, distributed tracking control laws are proposed such that all the fol- lowers with parameter uncertainties can track the dynamic leader under a directed graph containing a spanning tree. It is shown that the distributed observer-controller guarantees asymptotical stability of the closed-loop system. Numerical simulations are worked out to illustrate the effectiveness of the control laws.

Global κ-exponential Tracking Control of Nonholonomic Systems in Chained-form by Output Feedback

追踪 nonholonomic 的控制问题的输出锁住形式系统在这份报纸被学习，没有坚持的刺激，全球指数的输出追踪者被介绍或对零不收敛在参考书轨道上。首先，变化时间的并列转变被介绍避免操作指数地收敛的信号。在串联系统和线性使不安的系统的理论的帮助下，然后，全球指数的产量追踪者成功地被获得。没有坚持的刺激的流行条件，建议控制器的新特征是追踪 nonholonomic 的控制问题的输出锁住形式系统的 A 也是可溶解的在以前的工作在引用信号上收敛到零。建议方法与一辆大蓬车借助于 nonholonomic 被示威并且讨论活动机器人和汽车。

A novel explosion-proof walking system: Twin dual-motor drive tracked units for coal mine rescue robots

A new explosion-proof walking system was designed for the coal mine rescue robot(CMRR) by optimizing the mechanical structure and control algorithm. The mechanical structure innovation lies mainly in the dual-motor drive tracked unit used, which showed high dynamic performance compared with the conventional tracked unit. The control algorithm, developed based on decision trees and neural networking, facilitates autonomous switching between "Velocity-driven Mode" and "Torquedriven Mode". To verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the control strategy, we built a self-designed test platform and used it to debug the control program; we then made a robot prototype and conducted further experiments on single-step, ramp, and rubble terrains. The results show that the proposed walking system has excellent dynamic performance and the control strategy is very efficient, suggesting that a robot with this type of explosion-proof walking system can be successfully applied in Chinese coal mines.

Adaptive Track Predicting Control for Target Tracking Control Systems

According to the characteristic of maneuvering targets tracking system, adaptive track predicting control is proposed from the point of predicting the motion track of the maneuvering target. For this method, least mean square（LMS） adaptive filter is applied to estimate the future track of the target. The structure of this filter is simple and the calculation amount is small. It is therefore suitable to being used in real-time control system. Testing results have proved that the control method can improve the tracking precision for maneuvering targets obviously.

Analyses and Simulation of Fuzzy Logic Control for Suspension System of a Track Vehicle

The vibration caused by terrible road excitation affects the ride quality and safety of track vehicles. The vibration control of suspension systems is a very important factor for modern track vehicles. A fuzzy logic control for suspension system of a track vehicle is presented. A mechanical model and a system of difft, rential equations of motion taking account of the mass of loading wheel are established. Then the fuzzy logic control is applied to control the vibration of suspension system of track vehicles for sine signal and random road surfaces. Numerical simulation shows that the maximum acceleration of suspension system can be reduced to 44 % of the original value for sine signal road surface, and the mean square root of acceleration of suspension system can be reduced to 21% for random road surface. Therefore, the proposed fuzzy logic control is an efficient method for the suspension systems of track vehicles.

Fuzzy Logic Control for Suspension Systems of Tracked Vehicles

A scheme of fuzzy logic control for the suspension system of a tracked vehicle is presented. A mechanical model for the whole body of a tracked vehicle, which is totally a fifteen-degree-of-freedom system, is established. The model includes the vertical motion, the pitch motion as well as the roll motion of the tracked vehicle. In contrast to most previous studies, the coupling effect among the vertical, the pitch and the roll motions of the suspension system of a tracked vehicle is considered simultaneously. The simulation of fuzzy logic control under road surface with random excitation shows that the acceleration, pitch angle and roll angle of suspension system can be efficiently controlled.

Robust Fuzzy Tracking Control for Nonlinear Networked Control Systems with Integral Quadratic Constraints

This paper investigates the robust tracking control problcm for a class of nonlinear networked control systems （NCSs） using the Takagi-Sugeno （T-S） fuzzy model approach. Based on a time-varying delay system transformed from the NCSs, an augmented Lyapunov function containing more useful information is constructed. A less conservative sufficient condition is established such that the closed-loop systems stability and time-domain integral quadratic constraints （IQCs） are satisfied while both time-varying network- induced delays and packet losses are taken into account. The fuzzy tracking controllers design scheme is derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities （LMIs） and parallel distributed compensation （PDC）. Furthermore, robust stabilization criterion for nonlinear NCSs is given as an extension of the tracking control result. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and merits of the proposed method.

Design of Objects Tracking System Based on ARM Embedded Platform

In recent years, according to the need of intelligent video surveillance system increasing rapidly in metropolitan cities ,a design based on $3C2440 microprocessor and embedded Linux operating system is adopted for real-time video target tracking. However, it is very challenging as embedded systems usually afford limited processing power and limited resources. Therefore, to address this problem, a real-time tracking algorithm using multi-features based on compressive sensing is proposed and implemented The algorithm uses multiple matrix as the projection matrix of the compressive sensing and the compressed date as the multiple features to extract useful information needed by tracking process. Functions and libraries in OpenCV which were developed by Intel Corporation are utilized for building the tracking algorithms. It is tested with variant video sequences and the results show that the algorithm achieves stable tracking for the target moved of the light changed.