Practical Prescribed Time Tracking Control With Bounded Time-Varying Gain Under Non-Vanishing Uncertainties

This paper investigates the prescribed-time control(PTC) problem for a class of strict-feedback systems subject to non-vanishing uncertainties. The coexistence of mismatched uncertainties and non-vanishing disturbances makes PTC synthesis nontrivial. In this work, a control method that does not involve infinite time-varying gain is proposed, leading to a practical and global prescribed time tracking control solution for the strict-feedback systems, in spite of both the mismatched and nonvanishing uncertainties. Different from methods based on control switching to avoid the issue of infinite control gain that involves control discontinuity at the switching point, in our method a softening unit is exclusively included to ensure the continuity of the control action. Furthermore, in contrast to most existing prescribed-time control works where the control scheme is only valid on a finite time interval, in this work, the proposed control scheme is valid on the entire time interval. In addition, the prior information on the upper or lower bound of gi is not in need,enlarging the applicability of the proposed method. Both the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm.

PD-like finite time controller with simple structure for satellite attitude control

A finite time controller with PD-like structure for satellite attitude control is proposed in this paper.The controller is constructed with simple structure based on standard PD controller.The fractional order term is designed hence system could both have strong robustness and finite time convergence rate,and the advantage of finite time control and PD control is combined in this paper.System convergence rate is discussed by Lyapunov method,and the constraint on control parameters is given by implementing the coupled term of angular velocity and attitude quaternion.Moreover,the accuracy at steady stage depending on control parameters is given hence system could converge to this field within finite time.System stability and performance is demonstrated by numerical simulation results.

Reinforcement⁃Learning⁃Based Appointed⁃Time Prescribed Performance Attitude Control for Rigid Spacecraft

This paper addresses a geometric control algorithm for the attitude tracking problem of the rigid spacecraft modeled on SO(3).Considering the topological and geometric properties of SO(3),we introduced a smooth positive attitude error function to convert the attitude tracking issue on SO(3)into the stabilization counterpart on its Lie algebra.The error transformation technique was further utilized to ensure the assigned transient and steady state performance of the attitude tracking error with the aid of a well⁃designed assigned⁃time performance function.Then,using the actor⁃critic(AC)neural architecture,an adaptive reinforcement learning approximator was constructed,in which the actor neural network(NN)was utilized to approximate the unknown nonlinearity online.A critic function was introduced to tune the next phase of the actor neural network operation for performance improvement via supervising the system performance.A rigorous stability analysis was presented to show that the assigned system performance can be achieved.Finally,the effectiveness and feasibility of the constructed control strategy was verified by the numerical simulation.

Optimal Formation Reconfiguration Control of Multiple UCAVs Using Improved Particle Swarm Optimization

Optimal formation reconfiguration control of multiple Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles （UCAVs） is a complicated global optimum problem. Particle Swarm Optimization （PSO） is a population based stochastic optimization technique inspired by social behaviour of bird flocking or fish schooling. PSO can achieve better results in a faster, cheaper way compared with other bio-inspired computational methods, and there are few parameters to adjust in PSO. In this paper, we propose an improved PSO model for solving the optimal formation reconfiguration control problem for multiple UCAVs. Firstly, the Control Parameterization and Time Diseretization （CPTD） method is designed in detail. Then, the mutation strategy and a special mutation-escape operator are adopted in the improved PSO model to make particles explore the search space more efficiently. The proposed strategy can produce a large speed value dynamically according to the variation of the speed, which makes the algorithm explore the local and global minima thoroughly at the same time. Series experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method in solving the optimal formation reconfiguration control problem for multiple UCAVs.

Impact angle control over composite guidance law based on feedback linearization and finite time control

The impact angle control over guidance(IACG) law against stationary targets is proposed by using feedback linearization control(FLC) and finite time control(FTC). First, this paper transforms the kinematics equation of guidance systems into the feedbackable linearization model, in which the guidance law is obtained without considering the impact angle via FLC. For the purpose of the line of sight(LOS) angle and its rate converging to the desired values, the second-order LOS angle is considered as a double-integral system. Then, this paper utilizes FTC to design a controller which can guarantee the states of the double-integral system converging to the desired values. Numerical simulation illustrates the performance of the IACG, in contrast to the existing guidance law.

Seam Tracking and Visual Control for Robotic Arc Welding Based on Structured Light Stereovision

A real-time arc welding robot visual control system based on a local network with a multi-level hierarchy is developed in this paper. It consists of an intelligence and human-machine interface level, a motion planning level, a motion control level and a servo control level. The last three levels form a local real-time open robot controller, which realizes motion planning and motion control of a robot. A camera calibration method based on the relative movement of the end-effector connected to a robot is proposed and a method for tracking weld seam based on the structured light stereovision is provided. Combining the parameters of the cameras and laser plane, three groups of position values in Cartesian space are obtained for each feature point in a stripe projected on the weld seam. The accurate three-dimensional position of the edge points in the weld seam can be calculated from the obtained parameters with an information fusion algorithm. By calculating the weld seam parameter from position and image data, the movement parameters of the robot used for tracking can be determined. A swing welding experiment of type V groove weld is successfully conducted, the results of which show that the system has high resolution seam tracking in real-time, and works stably and efficiently.

Time delay control of hydraulic manipulators with continuous nonsingular terminal sliding mode

For the position tracking control of hydraulic manipulators,a novel method of time delay control(TDC) with continuous nonsingular terminal sliding mode(CNTSM) was proposed in this work.Complex dynamics of the hydraulic manipulator is approximately canceled by time delay estimation(TDE),which means the proposed method is model-free and no prior knowledge of the dynamics is required.Moreover,the CNTSM term with a fast-TSM-type reaching law ensures fast convergence and high-precision tracking control performance under heavy lumped uncertainties.Despite its considerable robustness against lumped uncertainties,the proposed control scheme is continuous and chattering-free and no pressure sensors are required in practical applications.Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that faster and higher-precision position tracking performance is achieved compared with the traditional CNTSM-based TDC method using boundary layers.

Chaos detection and control in a typical power system

In this paper, a new chaotic system is introduced. The proposed system is a conventional power network that demonstrates a chaotic behavior under special operating conditions. Some features such as Lyapunov exponents and a strange attractor show the chaotic behavior of the system, which decreases the system performance. Two different controllers are proposed to control the chaotic system. The first one is a nonlinear conventional controller that is simple and easy to construct, but the second one is developed based on the finite time control theory and optimized for faster control. A MATLAB-based simulation verifies the results.

On String Stable Control of Platoon of Automated Vehicles with Predecessor-successor Information Framework

For the constant distance spacing policy,the existing researches of the string stability focus on the single-predecessor information framework（SPIF） and predecessor-successor information framework（PSIF）.The research results demonstrated that the string stability could not be guaranteed with the SPIF,and then the PSIF was proposed to resolve this string instability.But the issue,whether the string stability can be guaranteed when applying the PSIF,is still controversial.Meanwhile,most of the previous researches on the string stability were conducted without consideration of the parasitic time delays and lags.In this paper,the practical longitudinal vehicle dynamics model is built with consideration of the parasitic time delays and lags existing in the actuators,sensors or the communication systems.Secondly,the detailed theoretical analysis of string stability in frequency domain is conducted to demonstrate that the classical linear control laws can not ensure the string stability when applying both the symmetrical PSIF（SPSIF） and asymmetrical PSIF（APSIF）.Thirdly,a control law,which adds the position and velocity information of the leading vehicle,is proposed to guarantee string stability for small/medium platoon,and the other control law,which adds the acceleration information of the controlled vehicle,is proposed to guarantee string stability for large platoon as well as small/medium platoon.Finally,the comparative simulation is conducted to confirm the conducted analysis and the proposed control laws.The conducted research completes the means to analyze the string stability in frequency domain,provides the parameters＇ reference for the design and implementation of the practical automatic following controllers,and improves the reliability and stability of the platoon of automatic vehicles.

Adaptive Control of MIMO Mechanical Systems with Unknown Actuator Nonlinearities Based on the Nussbaum Gain Approach

This paper investigates MIMO mechanical systems with unknown actuator nonlinearities. A novel Nussbaum analysis tool for MIMO systems is established such that unknown time-varying control coefficients are tackled. In contrast to existing literatures on continuous-time systems, the newly-developed Nussbaum tool focuses on extending the traditional Nussbaum result from one dimensional case to the multiple one. Specifically,not only the multiple unknown input coefficients are extended to the time-varying, but also the limitation of the prior knowledge of coefficients' upper and lower bounds is removed. Furthermore,an adaptive robust controller associated with the proposed tool is presented. The asymptotic tracking of MIMO mechanical systems is guaranteed with the help of the Lyapunov Theorem. Finally,a simulation example is provided to examine the validity of the proposed scheme.

A Novel Computerized Water Level Control System of PWR Steam Generator of Nuclear Power Plant

This paper presents a novel method to solve old problem of water level control system of pressurized water reactor (PWR) steam generator (SG) of nuclear power plant (NPP) .The level control system of SG plays an important role which effects the reliablity,safty,cost of SG and its mathematical models have been solved.A model of the conventional controller is presented and the existing problems are discussed. A novel rule based realtime control technique is designed with a computerized water level control (CWLC) system for SG of PWR NPP.The performance of this is evaluated for full power reactor operating conditions by applying different transient conditions of SG′s data of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant (QNPP).

Adaptive sliding mode control of modular self-reconfigurable spacecraft with time-delay estimation

The reconstruction control of modular self-reconfigurable spacecraft (MSRS) is addressed using an adaptive sliding mode control (ASMC) scheme based on time-delay estimation (TDE) technology. In contrast to the ground, the base of the MSRS is floating when assembled in orbit, resulting in a strong dynamic coupling effect. A TED-based ASMC technique with exponential reaching law is designed to achieve high-precision coordinated control between the spacecraft base and the robotic arm. TDE technology is used by the controller to compensate for coupling terms and uncertainties, while ASMC can augment and improve TDE’s robustness. To suppress TDE errors and eliminate chattering, a new adaptive law is created to modify gain parameters online, ensuring quick dynamic response and high tracking accuracy. The Lyapunov approach shows that the tracking errors are uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB). Finally, the on-orbit assembly process of MSRS is simulated to validate the efficacy of the proposed control scheme. The simulation results show that the proposed control method can accurately complete the target module’s on-orbit assembly, with minimal perturbations to the spacecraft’s attitude. Meanwhile, it has a high level of robustness and can effectively eliminate chattering.

INDIRECT ACCELERATED ADAPTIVE FUZZY CONTROLLER

According to a type of normal nonlinear system, an indirect adaptive fuzzy （IAF） controller has been applied to those systems where no accurate mathematical models of the systems under control are available. To satisfy with system performance, an indirect accelerated adaptive fuzzy （IAAF） controller is proposed, and its general form is presented. The general form IAAF controller ensures necessary control criteria and system＇s global stability using Lyapunov Theorem. It has been proved that the close-loop system error converges to a small neighborhood of equilibrium point. The optimal IAAF controller is derived to guarantee the process＇s shortest settling time. Simulation results indicate the IAAF controller make the system more stable, accurate, and fast.

Origin and controlling factors of chlorite coatings—an example from the reservoir of T_3x Group of the Baojie area,Sichuan Basin,China

The study of the chlorite coatings always attracts scholars in China and other countries because the chlorite coatings play an important role in the preservation of residual primary pores in sandstone reservoirs.At present,the study of the origin and the controlling factors is relatively few.The occurrence,time of formation,genesis,controlling factors,and the mechanism of chlorite coatings inhibiting quartz overgrowths were studied in detail with thin section and SEM analysis.Samples were from the sandstone reservoirs of the T3x Group in the Baojie area,the transitional zone from the middle to the south of Sichuan Basin.The results indicate that the chlorite coatings on the walls of the pore spaces are oriented perpendicular to grain surfaces in the form of isopachous(even-thickness) grain-coating,while the chlorite coatings at the contacts between adjacent detrital grains are arranged with a preferred orientation tangential to the surface of detrital grains.The chlorite coatings were formed in the eogenetic stage.They were formed by recrystallization of Fe-rich clay films during the syndepositional period,and chlorite cements would be recrystallized after the coatings’ formation.The formation of chlorite coatings was mainly controlled by the depositional environment,provenance conditions,and diagenetic environment.The presence of chlorite coatings could result in the preservation of primary pores in deeply buried sandstone reservoirs by effectively inhibiting quartz overgrowths and the development of compaction and pressure solution.

Convergence and Superconvergence of Fully Discrete Finite Element for Time Fractional Optimal Control Problems

In this paper, we consider a fully discrete finite element approximation for time fractional optimal control problems. The state and adjoint state are approximated by triangular linear fi nite elements in space and L1 scheme in time. The control is obtained by the variational discretization technique. The main purpose of this work is to derive the convergence and superconvergence. A numerical example is presented to validate our theoretical results.

A hybrid proportional navigation based two-stage impact time control guidance law

To improve applicability and adaptability of the impact time control guidance(ITCG) in practical engineering, a twostage ITCG law with simple but effective structure is proposed based on the hybrid proportional navigation, namely, the pureproportional-navigation and the retro-proportional-navigation.For the case with the impact time error less than zero, the first stage of the guided trajectory is driven by the retro-proportionalnavigation and the second one is driven by the pure-proportionalnavigation. When the impact time error is greater than zero, both of the stages are generated by the pure-proportional-navigation but using different navigation gains. It is demonstrated by twoand three-dimensional numerical simulations that the proposed guidance law at least has comparable results to existing proportional-navigation-based ITCG laws and is shown to be advantageous in certain circumstances in that the proposed guidance law alleviates its dependence on the time-to-go estimation, consumes less control energy, and adapts itself to more boundary conditions and constraints. The results of this research are expected to be supplementary to the current research literature.

EQUIVALENCE OF THREE DIFFERENT KINDS OF OPTIMAL CONTROL PROBLEMS FOR STOKES EQUATIONS

This article presents an equivalence theorem for three different kinds of optimal control problems, which are optimal target control problems, optimal norm control problems, and optimal time control problems. Controlled systems in this study are internally controlled Stokes equations.

Real-time control of aerobic/anoxic digestion for waste activated sludge

Experiments were conducted to study the performance characters of aerobic/anoxic （A/ A） digestion of sludge at 30± 1 ℃, while the sludge retention time （SRT） was kept 16 d. The varia tions of oxidation reduction potential （Eh ） and pH were continuously monitored during the A/A di gestion and the conversions of ammonium and nitrate were investigated. Important features on both Eh and pH profiles were identified to develop process control strategy. Since the feature point on Eh profile where d2 Eh/dt^2 =0 is very stable during anoxic cycle, it can be used to determine the end of denitrification. The end of nitrification can be identified according to dpH/dt = 0. A real-time control strategy of A/A digestion of sludge was developed and tested with pH and Eh as control parameters. It is shown that the performance of the real-time control strategy is better than that of a fixed time control strategy. While the real time controlled A/A digestion system can achieve a similar volatile suspended solids （VSS） destruction efficiency of 35.2 % as a continuously aerated system, it im proves the supernatant quality in a shorter aeration time（7. 75 d for a 20 d period）.

Weak Serializable Concurrency Control in Distributed Real-Time Database Systems

Most of the proposed concurrency control protocols for real time database systems are based on serializability theorem. Owing to the unique characteristics of real time database applications and the importance of satisfying the timing constraints of transactions, serializability is too strong as a correctness criterion and not suitable for real time databases in most cases. On the other hand, relaxed serializability including epsilon serializability and similarity serializability can allow more real time transactions to satisfy their timing constraints, but database consistency may be sacrificed to some extent. We thus propose the use of weak serializability(WSR) that is more relaxed than conflicting serializability while database consistency is maintained. In this paper, we first formally define the new notion of correctness called weak serializability. After the necessary and sufficient conditions for weak serializability are shown, corresponding concurrency control protocol WDHP(weak serializable distributed high priority protocol) is outlined for distributed real time databases, where a new lock mode called mask lock mode is proposed for simplifying the condition of global consistency. Finally, through a series of simulation studies, it is shown that using the new concurrency control protocol the performance of distributed real time databases can be greatly improved.

Active suspension with optimal control based on a full vehicle model

The 7-DOF model of a full vehicle with an active suspension is developed in this paper.The model is written into the state equation style.Actuator forces are treated as inputs in the state equations.Based on the basic optimal control theory,the optimal gains for the control system are figured out.So an optimal controller is developed and implemented using Matlab/Simulink,where the Riccati equation with coupling terms is deduced using the Hamilton equation.The all state feedback is chosen for the controller.The gains for all vehicle variables are traded off so that majority of indexes were up to optimal.The active suspension with optimal control is simulated in frequency domain and time domain separately,and compared with a passive suspension.Throughout all the simulation results,the optimal controller developed in this paper works well in the majority of instances.In all,the comfort and ride performance of the vehicle are improved under the active suspension with optimal control.