Three-dimensional formation keeping of multi-UAV based on consensus

Consensus is an emerging technique using neighbor-to-neighbor interaction to generate steering commands for cooperative control of multiple vehicles. A three-dimensional formation keeping strategy for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles(multi-UAV) is proposed based on consensus, aiming at maintaining a specified geometric configuration. A formation control algorithm with guidance and corresponding flight controllers is given, managing position and attitude, respectively. In order to follow a three-dimensional predefined flight path, by introducing the tracking orders as reference states into the consensus, the formation control algorithm is designed, following the predefined flight path and maintaining geometric configuration simultaneously. The flight controllers are constructed by nonlinear dynamic inverse, including attitude design and velocity design. With the whole system composed of a nonlinear six-degree-of-freedom UAV model, the formation control algorithm and the flight controllers, the formation keeping strategy is closed loop and with full states. In simulation, three-dimensional formation flight demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

An Analytical Model of SiGe Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors on SOI Substrate for Large Current Situations

The large current effect of silicon germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors fabricated on thin silicon-on-insulator is included in the model.As the current is two-dimensional,the injection for large current is vertical plus horizontal and is quite different from that of the bulk device.Critical parameters modeling the large current,such as the collector injection width,the hole density and the corresponding potential in the injection region,are discussed,and the influence to the transit time is also analyzed.

Effects of Compression Garments on Lower Limb Muscle Activation via Electromyography Analysis during Running

Sports compression garments are common-selected sportswear to improve athletic performance and reduce sports injury. Since they consist of elastic textile that exerts compression and pressure onto the muscle,muscle activation is of interest to sports compression garment manufactures who seek to enhance sports performance through gradient compression garment design.However,there are few scientific investigations to explore this effect of muscle activation to evaluate the performance of sports compression garments during sport activity. In this paper, a systemic experimental protocol was presented to improve the quality of evaluation test under a standardized running test. Then muscle activation with and without wearing sport compression garments to highlight the changes caused by compression garment was investigated. The electromyography( EMG) signal was collected and processed by the proposed method to represent the muscle activation combined with gait analysis of running. As a result,the average muscle activation of gait cycle for the major muscles such as rectus femoris( RF) and gastrocnemius medialis( GM) revealed that they needed to exert more muscle force without wearing garment at certain periods for mid-stand and pre-swing phase within gait cycle. These lower muscle activation levels prolonged activity duration,reduced fatigue,and presented low risk for sport injury.Such an evaluation study therefore would scientifically prove the effect of compression garment and provide information on muscle activation and the ergonomic efficacy of gradient compression garment design.

Performance analysis of diffusion-based decode-and-forward relay with depleted molecule shift keying

The distance-decay effect of molecular signals makes communication range a major challenge for diffusion-based Molecular Communication(MC).To solve this problem,the intermediate nano-machine is deployed as a relay between the transmitter and its intended receiver nano-machines.In this work,we employ the Depleted Molecule Shift Keying(D-MoSK)to model a Decode-and-Forward(DF)relay communication scheme.The closed-form expression of Bit Error Rate(BER)for the concerned DF relay with D-MoSK is derived.Meanwhile,the maximum a posteriori probability,minimum error probability,and maximum likelihood schemes are formulated for data detection.The relationships between BER and other key parameters,including the number of released molecules,receiving radius,and relay position,are investigated in detail.Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can improve communication reliability significantly.Moreover,the performance gain can be maximized by optimizing the position of the relay and the receiving radius.

Computation of the exact time delay margin for vehicle platoon under generic communication topologies

Due to the limited bandwidth and transmission congestion of the vehicle platoon's communication,it is inevitable to induce time delay,which significantly degrades the control performance of the vehicle platoon,even resulting in instability.This paper focuses on analyzing the internal stability under generic communication topologies and presents a method of computing the exact time delay margin(ETDM).The proposed method can offer a necessary and sufficient internal stability condition with no conservatism.Firstly,to reduce the analytical complexity and computational burden elegantly,we decompose the closed-loop platoon dynamics into a set of individual subsystems via similarity transformation and matrix factorization.This decomposition approach is applicable for any general communication topology.Secondly,an explicit formula is deduced to compute the ETDM by surveying the characteristic roots'distribution of all these individual subsystems.It is further demonstrated that only the positive purely imaginary roots need to be considered to compute the ETDM.Finally,simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical claims.

Quadrature Kalman particle fitler

In order to resolve the state estimation problem of nonlinear/non-Gaussian systems, a new kind of quadrature Kalman particle filter （QKPF） is proposed. In this new algorithm, quadrature Kalman filter （QKF） is used for generating the impor- tance density function. It linearizes the nonlinear functions using statistical linear regression method through a set of Gaussian- Hermite quadrature points. It need not compute the Jacobian matrix and is easy to be implemented. Moreover, the importantce density function integrates the latest measurements into system state transition density, so the approximation to the system poste- rior density is improved. The theoretical analysis and experimen- tal results show that, compared with the unscented partcle filter （UPF）, the estimation accuracy of the new particle filter is improved almost by 18%, and its calculation cost is decreased a little. So, QKPF is an effective nonlinear filtering algorithm.

Recurrent neural network for vehicle dead-reckoning

For vehicle integrated navigation systems, real-time estimating states of the dead reckoning （DR） unit is much more difficult than that of the other measuring sensors under indefinite noises and nonlinear characteristics. Compared with the well known, extended Kalman filter （EKF）, a recurrent neural network is proposed for the solution, which not only improves the location precision and the adaptive ability of resisting disturbances, but also avoids calculating the analytic derivation and Jacobian matrices of the nonlinear system model. To test the performances of the recurrent neural network, these two methods are used to estimate the state of the vehicle＇s DR navigation system. Simulation results show that the recurrent neural network is superior to the EKF and is a more ideal filtering method for vehicle DR navigation.

RANSACs for 3D Rigid Registration:A Comparative Evaluation

Estimating an accurate six-degree-of-freedom(6-Do F)pose from correspondences with outliers remains a critical issue to 3D rigid registration.Random sample consensus(RANSAC)and its variants are popular solutions to this problem.Although there have been a number of RANSAC-fashion estimators,two issues remain unsolved.First,it is unclear which estimator is more appropriate to a particular application.Second,the impacts of different sampling strategies,hypothesis generation methods,hypothesis evaluation metrics,and stop criteria on the overall estimators remain ambiguous.This work fills these gaps by first considering six existing RANSAC-fashion methods and then proposing eight variants for a comprehensive evaluation.The objective is to thoroughly compare estimators in the RANSAC family,and evaluate the effects of each key stage on the eventual 6-Do F pose estimation performance.Experiments have been carried out on four standard datasets with different application scenarios,data modalities,and nuisances.They provide us with input correspondence sets with a variety of inlier ratios,spatial distributions,and scales.Based on the experimental results,we summarize remarkable outcomes and valuable findings,so as to give practical instructions to real-world applications,and highlight current bottlenecks and potential solutions in this research realm.

AlGaN/GaN Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor High Electron-Mobility Transistor Using a NbAlO/Al_(2)O_(3) Laminated Dielectric by Atomic Laver Deposition

We investigate the characteristics of AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs) with a NbAlO/Al_(2)O_(3) lamination dielectric deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) as the gate insulator.A large gate voltage swing (GVS) of 3.96 V and a high breakdown voltage of-150 V for the MIS-HEMT were obtained.We present the gate leakage current mechanisms and analyze the reason for the reduction of the leakage current.Compared with traditional HEMTs,the maximum drain current is improved to 960mA/mm,indicating that NbAlO layers could reduce the surface-related depletion of the channel layer and increase the sheet carrier concentration.In addition,the maximum oscillation frequency of 38.8 GHz shows that the NbAlO high-k dielectric can be considered as a potential gate oxide comparable with other dielectric insulators.

Straight-Going Priority in Hierarchical Control Framework for Right-Turning Vehicle Merging Based on Cooperative Game

With the development of connected and automated vehicles(CAVs),forming strategies could extend from the typically used first-come-first-served rules.It is necessary to consider passing priorities when crossing intersections to prevent conflicts.In this study,a hierarchical strategy based on a cooperative game was developed to improve safety and efficiency during right-turning merging.A right-turn merging conflict model was established to analyze the right-turning vehicle characteristics of the traffic flow.The proposed three-layered hierarchical strategy includes a decision-making layer,a task layer,and an operation layer.A decision-making-layer cooperative game strategy was used to determine the merging priority of straight-going traffic and right-turning flows.In addition,a task-layer cooperative game strategy was designed for the merging sequence.A modified consensus algorithm was utilized to optimize the speed of vehicles in the virtual platoon of the operation layer.Traffic simulations were performed on the PYTHON-SUMO integrated platform to verify the proposed strategy.The simulation results show that,compared with other methods,the proposed hierarchical strategy has the shortest travel time and loss time and performs better than other methods when the straight-going traffic flow increases during right-turning merging at the intersection.The proposed method shows superiority under a significant traffic flow with a threshold of 900 vehicle/(h·lane).This satisfactory application of right-turning merging might be extended to ramps,lane-changing,and other scenarios in the future.

Consensus-based three-dimensional multi-UAV formation control strategy with high precision

We propose a formation control strategy for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles （multi-UAV） based on second-order consensus, by introducing position and velocity coordination variables through neighbor-to-neighbor interaction to generate steering commands. A cooperative guidance algorithm and a cooperative control algorithm are proposed together to maintain a specified geometric configuration, managing the position and attitude respectively. With the whole system composed of the six-degree-of-freedom UAV model, tile cooperative guidance algorithm, and the cooperative control algorithm, the formation control strategy is a closed-loop one and with full states. The cooperative guidance law is a second-order consensus algorithm, providing the desired acceleration, pitch rate, and heading rate. Longitudinal and lateral motions are jointly considered, and the cooperative control law is designed by deducing state equations. Closed-loop stability of the formation is analyzed, and a necessary and sufficient condition is provided. Measurement errors in position data are suppressed by synchronization technology to improve the control precision. In the simulation, three-dimensional formation flight demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the formation control strategy.

Vehicle Ego-Localization Based on Streetscape Image Database Under Blind Area of Global Positioning System

Vehicle positioning is critical for inter-vehicle communication, navigation, vehicle monitoring and tracking. They are regarded as the core technology ensuring safety in everyday-driving. This paper proposes an enhanced vehicle ego-localization method based on streetscape image database. It is most useful in the global positioning system(GPS) blind area. Firstly, a database is built by collecting streetscape images, extracting dominant color feature and detecting speeded up robust feature(SURF) points. Secondly, an image that the vehicle shoots at one point is analyzed to find a matching image in the database by dynamic programming(DP)matching. According to the image similarity, several images with higher probabilities are selected to realize coarse positioning. Finally, different weights are set to the coordinates of the shooting location with the maximum similarity and its 8 neighborhoods according to the number of matching points, and then interpolating calculation is applied to complete accurate positioning. Experimental results show that the accuracy of this study is less than 1.5 m and its running time is about 3.6 s. These are basically in line with the practical need. The described system has an advantage of low cost, high reliability and strong resistance to signal interference, so it has a better practical value as compared with visual odometry(VO) and radio frequency identification(RFID) based approach for vehicle positioning in the case of GPS not working.

A Novel Multi-Points Laser Monitoring of Building Settlement and Its Risk Evaluation

Aiming at the defects of routine settlement measurement methods, such as complicated procedures, time-consuming and labor-intensive, high cost and low measurement accuracy, based on the analysis of existing engineering measurement technical requirements and specifications, a multi-point high precision and high efficiency based on laser reference is proposed. The automatic building settlement real-time monitoring system program gives the principle and system model of single-point settlement observation. The model of multi-point scanning settlement monitoring system and the model of multi-point network settlement monitoring system are designed, and their advantages and disadvantages are analyzed. We focus on the networked multi-point settlement monitoring system for network cumulative error analysis, and propose related evaluation and correction methods. The hardware schematic and software block diagram of the laser reference measurement and measurement system of the single point settlement acquisition system are given. Finally, the risk of subsidence state is quantitatively evaluated based on multi-point settlement monitoring data. The measurement error of this method is less than 300 μm, which can realize the monitoring and evaluation of the overall settlement.

Design and implementation of a 3-A source and sink linear regulator for bus terminators

According to the requirements of the bus terminal regulator,a linear regulator with 3-A source-sink current ability is presented.The use of the NMOS pass transistor and load current feedback technique enhances the system current ability and response speed.The method of adaptive zero compensation realizes loop stability over the whole load range for either source or sink loop.Furthermore,the transconductance matching technique reduces the shoot-through current through the output stage to less than 3μA.The regulator has been fabricated with a 0.6-μm 30 V BCD process successfully,and the area size is about 1 mm;.With a 20μF output capacitor, the maximum transient output-voltage variation is within 3.5%of the output voltage with load step changes of±2 A/lμs.At the load range of±3 A,the variation of output voltage is less than±15 mV.

A method of 3D reconstruction based on panoramic cameras

In this paper,a method of 3D reconstruction from two images acquired by two panoramic cameras is presented.Firstly,the features of the reconstruction object detected in each image are matched through the DP matching method.Secondly,optical correction is carried out on two cameras,and the internal parameters of panoramic cameras can be calculated.Finally,according to the calibration method,the geometric relationship between corresponding points in space and in two panoramic images is deduced.The results indicate that the method of 3D reconstruction based on two panoramic cameras is simple,and the accuracy can reach 98.82%.

Neutron radiation effect on 4H-SiC MESFETs and SBDs

4H-SiC metal Schottky field effect transistors（MESFETs） and Schottky barrier diodes（SBDs） were irradiated at room temperature with 1 MeV neutrons.The highest neutron flux and gamma-ray total dose were 1×1015 n/cm2 and 3.3 Mrad（Si）,respectively.After a neutron flux of 1×1013 n/cm2,the current characteristics of the MES-FET had only slightly changed,and the Schottky contacts of the gate contacts and the Ni,Ti/4H-SiC SBDs showed no obvious degradation.To further increase the neutron flux,the drain current of the SiC MESFET decreased and the threshold voltage increased.φB of the Schottky gate contact decreased when the neutron flux was more than or equal to 2.5×1014 n/cm2.SiC Schottky interface damage and radiation defects in the bulk material are mainly mechanisms for performance degradation of the experiment devices,and a high doping concentration of the active region will improve the neutron radiation tolerance.

A 3 A sink/source current fast transient response low-dropout Gm driven linear regulator

A 3 A sink/source G_m-driven CMOS low-dropout regulator（LDO）,specially designed for low input voltage and low cost,is presented by utilizing the structure of a current mirror G_m（transconductance）driving technique,which provides high stability as well as a fast load transient response.The proposed LDO was fabricated by a 0.5μm standard CMOS process,and the die size is as small as 1.0 mm^2.The proposed LDO dissipates 220μA of quiescent current in no-load conditions and is able to deliver up to 3 A of load current.The measured results show that the output voltage can be resumed within 2μs with a less than 1mV overshoot and undershoot in the output current step from-1.8 to 1.8 A with a 0.1μs rising and falling time at three 10μF ceramic capacitors.