On-line real-time path planning of mobile robots in dynamic uncertain environment

A new path planning method for mobile robots in globally unknown environment with moving obstacles is pre- sented. With an autoregressive (AR) model to predict the future positions of moving obstacles, and the predicted position taken as the next position of moving obstacles, a motion path in dynamic uncertain environment is planned by means of an on-line real-time path planning technique based on polar coordinates in which the desirable direction angle is taken into consideration as an optimization index. The effectiveness, feasibility, high stability, perfect performance of obstacle avoidance, real-time and optimization capability are demonstrated by simulation examples.

Orientation Mechanism Based on Insect Polarization Navigation

A method to determine the direction angle for bionic navigation is proposed. In order to do it, observation models of polarized light were obtained through full-sky imaging polarimetry, and the symmetry line （ solar meridian） was detected firstly; then the angle between solar meridian and the system moving direction was derived from simultaneous model, and the relative position of the sun was calculated by astronomical knowledge ; finally, the direction angle for bionic navigation was evaluated by utilizing sun azimuth to revise the angle between solar meridian and the system moving direction. This study improves previous conception with the changing solar meridian as a reference direction （0°） and provides a theoretic foundation for polarized light to be applied into navigation.

Wind rotation characteristics of the upper tropospheric monsoon over the central and eastern tropical Pacific

In this study, to investigate whether the variation of wind direction in the upper tropospheric monsoon over the central and eastern tropical Pacific shows similar characteristics to the classical monsoon region, the authors introduced a wind vector angle methodology that describes the size of the angle of the wind direction variation, as well as the directed rotary angle, which includes not only the size of the angle but also how the wind vector rotates. On this basis, the authors utilized and improved the directed rotary angle methodology to investigate the evolution of wind direction in detail, and the study confirmed the presence of the same four rotation features in the upper tropospheric monsoon region. Furthermore, the authors also identified the precise variation of wind direction in pentads with seasonal evolution, and found the onset time of the upper tropospheric monsoon may be earlier than the classical monsoon while the termination time may be later. The results further support and supplement the theory of global monsoons, which unifies the low-level and upper tropospheric monsoon as one monsoon system.

Anisotropic tribology and electrification properties of slidingmode triboelectric nanogenerator with groove textures

Sliding-mode triboelectric nanogenerator(S-TENG)is based on the coupling of triboelectrification and electrostatic induction,converting electrical energy from sliding motion.Introducing micro-textures into the sliding surface,and adjusting the angle between the texture and sliding direction(direction angle)may achieve performance anisotropy,which provides novel ideas for optimizing the tribology and electrification performance of S-TENG.To guide the performance optimization based on the anisotropy,in this paper,groove micro-textures were fabricated on the surface of S-TENG,and anisotropic tribology and electrification performance were obtained through changing the direction angle.Based on the surface analysis and after-cleaning tests,the mechanism of the anisotropy was explained.It is shown that the anisotropy of friction coefficient can be attributed to the changes of texture edge induced resistance and groove captured wear debris,while the voltage anisotropy is due to the variations of debris accumulated on the sliding interface and the resulting charge neutralization.Among the selected 0°–90°direction angles,S-TENG at angle of 90°exhibits relatively small stable friction coefficient and high open-circuit voltage,and thus it is recommended for the performance optimization.The open-circuit voltage is not directly associated with the friction coefficient,but closely related to the wear debris accumulated on the sliding interface.This study presents a simple and convenient method to optimize the performance of S-TENG,and help understand the correlation between its tribology and electrical performance.

Robust multi-objective optimization of rolling schedule for tandem cold rolling based on evolutionary direction differential evolution algorithm

According to the actual requirements,profile and rolling energy consumption are selected as objective functions of rolling schedule optimization for tandem cold rolling.Because of mechanical wear,roll diameter has some uncertainty during the rolling process,ignoring which will cause poor robustness of rolling schedule.In order to solve this problem,a robust multi-objective optimization model of rolling schedule for tandem cold rolling was established.A differential evolution algorithm based on the evolutionary direction was proposed.The algorithm calculated the horizontal angle of the vector,which was used to choose mutation vector.The chosen vector contained converging direction and it changed the random mutation operation in differential evolution algorithm.Efficiency of the proposed algorithm was verified by two benchmarks.Meanwhile,in order to ensure that delivery thicknesses have descending order like actual rolling schedule during evolution,a modified Latin Hypercube Sampling process was proposed.Finally,the proposed algorithm was applied to the model above.Results showed that profile was improved and rolling energy consumption was reduced compared with the actual rolling schedule.Meanwhile,robustness of solutions was ensured.

Venus round trip using solar sail

Trajectory optimization and simulation is performed for Venus round trip (VeRT) mission using solar sail propulsion. Solar gravity is included but atmospheric drag and shadowing effects are neglected in the planet-centered escape and capture stages. The spacecraft starts from the Geostationary orbit (GEt) at a predetermined time to prepare a good initial condition for the Earth-Venus transfer, although the launch window is not an issue for spacecraft with solar sails. The Earth-Venus phase and the return trip are divided into three segments. Two methods are adopted to maintain the mission trajectory for the VeRT mis- sion and then compared through a numerical simulation. According to the first approach, Planet-centered and heliocentric ma- neuvers are modeled using a set of blended analytical control laws instead of the optimal control techniques. The second pro- cedure is the Direct Attitude Angle Optimization in which the attitude angles of the solar sail are adopted as the optimization variables during the heliocentric transfer. Although neither of the two methods guarantees a globally optimal trajectory, they are more efficient and will produce a near-optimal solution if employed properly. The second method has produced a better result for the minimum-time transfer of the VeRT mission demonstrating the effectiveness of the methods in the preliminary design of the complex optimal interplanetary orbit transfers.