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This paper investigates a state estimation set-membership approach for fault detection of a benchmark wind turbine. The main challenges in the benchmark are high noise on the wind speed measurement and the nonlinearities in the aerodynamic torque such that the overall model of the turbine is nonlinear. We use an effective wind speed estimator to estimate the effective wind speed and then using interval analysis and monotonicity of the aerodynamic torque with respect to the effective wind speed, we can apply the method to the nonlinear system. The fault detection algorithm checks the consistency of the measurement with a closed set that is computed based on the past measurements and a model of the system. If the measurement is not consistent with this set, a fault is detected. The result demonstrates effectiveness of the method for fault detection of the benchmark wind turbine. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Fatigue loads are important for the overall cost of energy from a wind turbine. Loading on the tower is one of the more important loads, as the tower is an expensive component. Consequently, it is important to detect tower loads, which are larger than necessary. This paper deals with both fore-aft and sideways tower oscillations. Methods for estimation of the amplitude and detection of the cause for vibrations are developed. Good results are demonstrated for real data from modern multi mega watt turbines. It is shown that large oscillations can be detected and that the method can discriminate between wind turbulence and unbalanced rotor. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Robots for elderly have drawn a great deal of attention as it is a controversial topic being pushed forward by the fact that there will be a dramatic increase of elderly in most western countries. Within the field of HRI, much research has been conducted on robots interacting with elderly and also a number of commercial products have been introduced to the market. Since 2006, a number of projects have been launched in Denmark in order to evaluate robot technology in practice in elder care. This paper gives an brief overview of a selected number of projects and outlines the characteristics and results. Finally it is discussed how HRI can benefit from these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The video shows how an autonomous mobile robot dressed as Santa Claus is interacting with people in a shopping mall. The underlying hypothesis is that it is possible to create interesting new living spaces and induce value in terms of experiences, information or economics, by putting socially interactive mobile agents into public urban transit area. To investigate the hypothesis, an experiment was carried out using a robot capable of navigating autonomously based on the input of an onboard laser scanner. The robot would detect and follow random people, who afterwards were asked to fill out a questionnaire for quantitative analysis of the experiment. The presented video is the corresponding video documentation of the experiment used in the evaluation. The results showed that people were generally positive towards having mobile robots in this type of environment where shopping is combined with transit. However, it also showed harder than expected to start interaction with commuters due to their determination and speed towards their goal. Further it was demonstrated that it was possible to track and follow people, who were not beforehand informed on the experiment. The evaluation indicated, that the distance to initiate interaction was shorter than initially expected, but complies with the distance for normal human to human interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]