Sensor Scheduling for Target Tracking in Networks of Active Sensors

Wireless sensor network (WSN) of active sensors suffers from serious inter-sensor interference (ISI) and imposes new design and implementation challenges. In this paper, based on the ultrasonic sensor network, two time-division based distributed sensor scheduling schemes are proposed to deal with ISI by scheduling sensors periodically and adaptively respectively. Extended Kalman filter (EKF) is used as the tracking algorithm in distributed manner. Simulation results show that the adaptive sensor scheduling scheme can achieve superior tracking accuracy with faster tracking convergence speed.

Fuzzy robust path tracking strategy of an active pelagic trawl system with coordinated ship and winch regulation

A fuzzy robust path tracking strategy of an active pelagic trawl system with ship and winch regulation is proposed.First,nonlinear mathematic model of the pelagic trawl system was derived using Lagrange equation and further simplified as a low order model for the convenience of controller design.Then,an active path tracking strategy of pelagic trawl system was investigated to improve the catching efficiency of the target fish near the sea bottom.By means of the active tracking control,the pelagic trawl net can be positioned dynamically to follow a specified trajectory via the coordinated winch and ship regulation.In addition,considering the system nonlinearities,modeling uncertainties and the unknown exogenous disturbance of the trawl system model,a nonlinear robust H2 /H∞ controller based on Takagi-Sugeno(T-S) fuzzy model was presented,and the simulation comparison with linear robust H2 /H∞ controller and PID method was conducted for the validation of the nonlinear fuzzy robust controller.The nonlinear simulation results show that the average tracking error is 0.4 m for the fuzzy robust H2 /H∞ control and 125.8 m for the vertical and horizontal displacement,respectively,which is much smaller than linear H2 /H∞ controller and the PID controller.The investigation results illustrate that the fuzzy robust controller is effective for the active path tracking control of the pelagic trawl system.

Motion Geometric Active Contours: Tracking Nonrigid Objects in Clutter Background

MGAC (Motion Geometric Active Contours), a new variational framework of geometric active contours to track multiple nonrigid moving objects in the clutter background in image sequences is presented. This framework, incorporating with the motion edge information, consists of motion detection and tracking stages. At the motion detection stage, the motion edge map provides an approximate edge map of the moving objects. Then, a tracking stage, merely using the static edge information, is considered to improve the motion detection result. Force field regularization method is used to extend the capture range of the edge attraction force field in both stages. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed framework is valid for tracking multiple nonrigid objects in the clutter background.

Trajectory tracking control based on linear active disturbance rejection controller for 6-DOF robot manipulator

The trajectory tracking control for a 6-DOF robot manipulator with multiple inputs and outputs,non-linearity and strong coupling is studied.Firstly,a dynamical model for the 6-DOF robot manipulator is designed.From the view point of practical engineering,considering the model uncertainties and external disturbances,the robot manipulator is divided into 6 independent joint subsystems,and a linear active disturbance rejection controller(LADRC)is developed to track trajectory for each subsystem respectively.LADRC has few parameters that are easy to be adjusted in engineering.Linear expansion state observer(LESO)as the uncertainty observer is able to estimate the general uncertainties effectively.Eventually,the validity and robustness of the proposed method adopted in 6-DOF robot manipulator are demonstrated via numerical simulations and 6-DOF robot manipulator experiments,which is of practical value in engineering application.

Application of linear active disturbance rejection control for photoelectric tracking system

Dynamic characteristics and tracking precision are studied in the photoelectric tracking system and a linear active disturbance rejection control( LADRC) scheme is proposed for position loop. A current and speed controller is designed by a transfer function model,which is obtained by adaptive differential evolution. Model error,friction and nonlinear factor existing in position loop are treated as ‘disturbance',which is estimated and compensated by generalized proportional integral( GPI)observer. Comparative results are provided to demonstrate the remarkable performance of the proposed method. It turns out that the proposed scheme is successful and has superior features,such as quick dynamic response,low overshoot and high tracking precision. Furthermore,with the proposed method,friction is suppressed effectively.

Fuzzy Logic Control for Semi-Active Suspension System of Tracked Vehicle

The model of half a tracked vehicle semi-active suspension is established. The fuzzy logic controller of the semi-active suspension system is constructed. The acceleration of driver's seat and its time derivative are used as the inputs of the fuzzy logic controller, and the fuzzy logic controller output determines the semi-active suspension controllable damping force. The fuzzy logic controller is to minimize the mean square root of acceleration of the driver's seat. The control forces of controllable dampers behind the first road wheel are obtained by time delay, and the delay times are determined by the vehicle speed and axles distances. The simulation results show that this control method can decrease the acceleration of driver's seat and the suspension travel of the first road wheel, the ride quality is improved obviously.

Reliability of Passive Physical Activity Assessment for Inpatients Using Marker⁃Free Motion Tracking System

Evidence⁃based practices of public health will benefit from quantification of passive physical activity assessment.This study aims to investigate the reliability of marker⁃free system(MFS)such as Microsoft Kinect in measuring upper extremity motion from different angles.Ten healthy participants performed elbow and shoulder extension/flexion along frontal and median anatomical planes for ten pace⁃controlled repetitions,during which the spatiotemporal positions of upper extremity joints were concurrently recorded by two sensors from 0°and 45°viewing angles.Reliability between the two sensors were evaluated using Pearson correlation coefficient,intra⁃class correlation coefficients,and 95%limits of agreement and coefficient of variation.Worse reliability was observed when possibility of occlusion was higher.However,better reliability was found when longer observation interval(10 s)was used as elementary measuring unit than shorter observation interval(2 s).The overall angular reliability of activity as displacement or changes in angle was not satisfactory.The results are expected to inform the industry for the extension of MFS to clinic applications.

Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography for the assessment of atrial function

Echocardiography is the most common diagnostic method for assessing atrial function but the technique has some limitations. Traditionally, assessment of left atrial function has been performed by measuring volumes with 2D echocardiography. Additionally, it can be assessed with transmitral Doppler and pulmonary vein Doppler. Recently, an alternative method has been incorporated, namely, measurement of myocardial deformation with color tissue Doppler-derived strain. However, this method has several limitations, such as suboptimal reproducibility, angle-dependence, signal artifacts and the fact that it only measures regional strain and does not obtain information about the curved portion of the atrial roof. To overcome these limitations in the quantification of atrial function, the use of speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) strain has been proposed. This technique is not derived from Doppler but rather from 2D echocardiography; it is angle-independent and allows one to measure global as well as regional atrial strain. In this editorial, we describe the physical and pathophysiological concepts of STE and underline the clinical usefulness of this new technique.

Multi-constrained model predictive control for autonomous ground vehicle trajectory tracking

A multi-constrained model predictive control （ MPC ） algorithm for trajectory tracking of an autonomous ground vehicle is proposed and tested in this paper. First, to simplify the computa- tion, an active steering linear error model is applied in the MPC controller. Then, a control incre- ment constraint and a relaxing factor are taken into account in the objective function to ensure the smoothness of the trajectory, using a softening constraints technique. In addition, the controller can obtain optimal control sequences which satisfy both the actual kinematic constraints and the actuator constraints. The circular trajectory tracking performance of the proposed method is compared with that of another MPC controller. To verify the trajectory tracking capabilities of the designed control- ler at different desired speed, the simulation experiments are carried out at the speed of 3m/s, 5m/ s and 10m/s. The results demonstrate the MPC controller has a good speed adaptability.

Time-varying fault-tolerant formation tracking based cooperative control and guidance for multiple cruise missile systems under actuator failures and directed topologies

This paper studies time-varying fault-tolerant formation tracking problems for the multiple cruise missile system under directed topologies subjected to actuator failures. Firstly, the timevarying fault-tolerant formation tracking process for the multiple cruise missile system is divided into the guidance loop and the control loop. Then protocols are constructed to accomplish distributed fault-tolerant formation tracking in the guidance loop with the adaptive updating mechanism, in the condition where neither the knowledge about actuator malfunctions nor any global information of the communication topology remains available. Moreover, sufficient conditions to accomplish formation tracking are presented, and it is shown that the multiple cruise missile system can carry on the predefined time-varying fault-tolerant control (FTC) formation tracking through the active disturbances rejection controller (ADRC) and the proportion integration (PI) controller by the way of the fault-tolerant protocol utilizing the designed strategies, in the event of actuator failures. At last, numerical analysis and simulation are designed to verify the theoretical results.

Vehicle Active Steering Control Research Based on Two-DOF Robust Internal Model Control

Because of vehicle＇s external disturbances and model uncertainties,robust control algorithms have obtained popularity in vehicle stability control.The robust control usually gives up performance in order to guarantee the robustness of the control algorithm,therefore an improved robust internal model control（IMC） algorithm blending model tracking and internal model control is put forward for active steering system in order to reach high performance of yaw rate tracking with certain robustness.The proposed algorithm inherits the good model tracking ability of the IMC control and guarantees robustness to model uncertainties.In order to separate the design process of model tracking from the robustness design process,the improved 2 degree of freedom（DOF） robust internal model controller structure is given from the standard Youla parameterization.Simulations of double lane change maneuver and those of crosswind disturbances are conducted for evaluating the robust control algorithm,on the basis of a nonlinear vehicle simulation model with a magic tyre model.Results show that the established 2-DOF robust IMC method has better model tracking ability and a guaranteed level of robustness and robust performance,which can enhance the vehicle stability and handling,regardless of variations of the vehicle model parameters and the external crosswind interferences.Contradiction between performance and robustness of active steering control algorithm is solved and higher control performance with certain robustness to model uncertainties is obtained.

A PV powered shunt active power filter for power quality improvement

This paper deals with power quality improvement using a three-phase active power filter(APF) connected to a PV power system. A direct power control(DPC) approach is proposed to eliminate harmonic current caused by any nonlinear loads and at the same time guarantees the delivery of a part of the load request from the same PV source. A boost converter is used for maximum power point(MPP) tracking purposes under various climate conditions through a fuzzy logic technique. The suggested study is tested under a MATLAB/Simulink environment. The obtained results depict the efficacy of the proposed procedures to meet the IEEE 519-1992 standard recommendation on harmonic levels.

Tracking facial features with occlusions

Facial expression recognition consists of determining what kind of emotional content is presented in a human face. The problem presents a complex area for exploration, since it encompasses face acquisition, facial feature tracking, facial ex- pression classification. Facial feature tracking is of the most interest. Active Appearance Model (AAM) enables accurate tracking of facial features in real-time, but lacks occlusions and self-occlusions. In this paper we propose a solution to improve the accuracy of fitting technique. The idea is to include occluded images into AAM training data. We demonstrate the results by running ex- periments using gradient descent algorithm for fitting the AAM. Our experiments show that using fitting algorithm with occluded training data improves the fitting quality of the algorithm.

Put Others Before Itself:A Multi-Leader One-Follower Anti-Jamming Stackelberg Game Against Tracking Jammer

This paper mainly investigates the coordinated anti-jamming channel access problems in multiuser scenarios where there exists a tracking jammer who senses the spectrum and traces the channel with maximal receiving power.To cope with the challenges brought by the tracking jammer,a multi-leader onefollower anti-jamming Stackelberg(MOAS)game is formulated,which is able to model the complex interactions between users and the tracking jammer.In the proposed game,users act as leaders,chose their channel access strategies and transmit firstly.The tracking jammer acts as the follower,whose objective is to find the optimal jamming strategy at each time slot.Besides,the existence of Stackelberg equilibriums(SEs)is proved,which means users reach Nash Equilibriums(NEs)for each jamming strategy while the jammer finds its best response jamming strategy for the current network access case.An active attraction based anti-jamming channel access(3ACA)algorithm is designed to reach SEs,where jammed users keep their channel access strategies unchanged to create access chances for other users.To enhance the fairness of the system,users will adjust their strategies and relearn after certain time slots to provide access chances for those users who sacrifice themselves to attract the tracking jammer.

Active Disturbance Rejection Control for a Multiple-Flexible-Link Manipulator

The control problem of multiple-flexible-link manipulators( MFLMs) is studied in this paper.The dynamic model of MFLM is derived and separated into two-time scale by utilizing the singular perturbation technique. The active disturbance rejection control( ADRC) is adopted to the slow subsystem to track a desired trajectory. The proposed ADRC structure preshapes the desired trajectory by utilizing the tracking differentiator,estimates the disturbance and internal states with an extended state observer,and guarantees a robust performance by combining a feedback controller with a feedforward term. Two types of feedback controllers are designed,proportional derivative( PD) controller and nonlinear PD( NPD) controller. For the fast subsystem,a fast stabilizing control is designed according to the standard linear quadratic regulator approach. Simulations are performed to evaluate the proposed control scheme.Results show that,compared with the traditional PD controller,the ADRC structure based control scheme has smaller overshot and shorter settling time,suppresses vibration quickly,and is robust to the maneuver speed. In general,the control scheme utilizing ADRC structure and NPD feedback controller shows better performance.

Research on improved active disturbance rejection control of continuous rotary motor electro-hydraulic servo system

In order to meet the precision requirements and tracking performance of the continuous rotary motor electro-hydraulic servo system under unknown strong non-linear and uncertain strong disturbance factors,such as dynamic uncertainty and parameter perturbation,an improved active disturbance rejection control(ADRC)strategy was proposed.The state space model of the fifth order closed-loop system was established based on the principle of valve-controlled hydraulic motor.Then the three parts of ADRC were improved by parameter perturbation and external disturbance;the fast tracking differentiator was introduced into linear and non-linear combinations;the nonlinear state error feedback was proposed using synovial control;the extended state observer was determined by nonlinear compensation.In addition,the grey wolf algorithm was used to set the parameters of the three parts.The simulation and experimental results show that the improved ADRC can realize the system frequency 12 Hz when the tracking accuracy and response speed meet the requirements of double ten indexes,which lay foundation for the motor application.

Nonlinear observer-based optimal control of an active transfemoral prosthesis

This paper designs a joint controller/observer framework using a state dependent Riccati equation(SDRE)approach for an active transfemoral prosthesis system.An integral state control technique is utilized to design a tracking controller for a robot/prosthesis system.This framework promises a systematic flexible design using which multiple design specifications such as robustness,state estimation,and control optimality are achieved without the need for model linearization.Performance of the proposed approach is demonstrated through simulation studies,which show improvements versus a robust adaptive impedance controller and an extended Kalman filter-based state estimation method.Numerical results confirm the benefits of our method over the above-mentioned approaches with regard to control optimality and state estimation.

Path tracking for vehicle parallel parking based on ADRC controller

A novel path tracking controller for parallel parking based on active disturbance rejection control （ADRC） was presented in this paper. A second order ADRC controller was used to solve the path tracking robustness, which can estimate and compensate model uncertainty caused by steering kinematics and disturbances caused by parking speed and steering system delay. Collision-free path planning technology was adopted to generate the reference path. The simulation results validate that the performance of the proposed path tracking controller is better than the conventional PID controller. The actual vehicle tests show that the proposed path tracking controller is effective and robust to model uncertainty and disturbances.

基于状态向量增强ByteTrack的新生羔羊活动量自动计算方法

为评价母羊繁殖性能并及时发现分娩栏中的弱活力羔羊,该研究提出一种基于状态向量增强ByteTrack的新生羔羊活动量自动计算方法。针对传统ByteTrack算法在跟踪目标被遮挡时易发生身份切换的问题,引入置信度信息增强的状态向量,提高跟踪算法区分遮挡与被遮挡羔羊的能力。针对跟踪目标丢失导致轨迹预测不准确的问题,构建目标丢失期间的虚拟轨迹并重更新轨迹状态向量,以纠正轨迹误差。在获取各羔羊活动轨迹后,计算各羔羊帧间移动距离统计羔羊活动量。在江苏海门山羊研发中心采集的新生羔羊活动视频数据集上,测试状态向量增强的ByteTrack多目标跟踪算法性能。测试结果表明,研究提出的多目标跟踪方法在高阶跟踪精度、多目标跟踪精度、多目标跟踪准确度、IDF1得分上分别达到80.8%、86.1%、84.5%和92.2%,相较于现有算法的最高精度,分别提高2.7、0.2、2.3和3.9个百分点。该研究所提方法能够实现同窝多只新生羔羊的稳定跟踪,为新生羔羊活动量的自动计算、母羊繁殖性能的自动评估提供技术支撑。

Fission Track Method to Date Fault Activity—As Exemplified by the Three Gorges Dam Area of the Yangtze River Valley, China

The Xiannushan and Jiuwanxi are the two major fracture belts adjacent to the Three Gorges Dam Site. Apatites are selected from fracture clay and fracture\|cliff rock in the fracture belts and examined with the fission track dating method. Our study shows that the Xiannushan and Jiuwanxi fracture belts were tectonically active at 0.60±0.04Ma and 0.29±0.04Ma ago, respectively. Their ages are close to those obtained by the U\|series method.