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Dynamic positioning is an important control feature for an underwater remotely operated vehicle. This paper presents a nonlinear dynamic positioning controller suited for application to vehicles with model uncertainties, operating in environments with unpredictable disturbances, such as an aquaculture net cage. The proposed controller combines the backstepping approach with an adaptation term to ensure robustness. Using Lyapunov theory and Matrosov’s theorem the origin of the closed-loop system is proven to be: (i) globally asymptotically stable when assuming persistency of excitation, and (ii) stable and bounded, with the true position converging to the desired position if there is no persistency of excitation. This paper also presents results from simulations where the proposed controller is contextualized and compared to similar controllers, showing promising results. Finally, as the main result of the manuscript that demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed control law, an extensive field trial campaign is conducted at a full-scale aquaculture site using an industrial ROV where the proposed controller is successfully tested under realistic operational conditions.

Investigating the interactions among various drugs is an indispensable issue in the field of computational biology. Scientific literature represents a rich source for the retrieval of knowledge about the interactions between drugs. Predicting drug–drug interaction (DDI) types will help biologists to evade hazardous drug interactions and support them in discovering potential alternatives that increase therapeutic efficacy and reduce toxicity. In this paper, we propose a general-purpose method called ADDI (standing for Alternative Drug–Drug Interaction) that applies deep learning on PubMed abstracts to predict interaction types among drugs. As an application, ADDI recommends alternatives for drug–drug interactions (DDIs) which have Negative Health Effects Types (NHETs). ADDI clearly outperforms state-of-the-art methods, on average by 13%, with respect to accuracy by using only the textual content of the online PubMed papers. Additionally, manual evaluation of ADDI indicates high precision in recommending alternatives for DDIs with NHETs.

This paper describes a real-time feature-based stereo SLAM system that is robust and accurate in a wide variety of conditions – indoors, outdoors, with dynamic objects, changing light conditions, fast robot motions and large-scale loops. Our system follows a parallel-tracking-and-mapping strategy: a tracking thread estimates the camera pose at frame rate; and a mapping thread updates a keyframe-based map at a lower frequency. The stereo constraints of our system allow a robust initialization – avoiding the well-known bootstrapping problem in monocular systems–and the recovery of the real scale. Both aspects are essential for its practical use in real robotic systems that interact with the physical world. In this paper we provide the implementation details, an exhaustive evaluation of the system in public datasets and a comparison of most state-of-the-art feature detectors and descriptors on the presented system. For the benefit of the community, its code for ROS (Robot Operating System) has been released. Fil: Pire, Taihú Aguará Nahuel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Computación; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Fischer, Thomas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Computación; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Castro, Gastón Ignacio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Computación; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: de Cristóforis, Pablo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Computación; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Civera Sancho, Javier. Universidad de Zaragoza; España Fil: Jacobo Berlles, Julio César Alberto. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Computación; Argentina

In recent years, domain randomization over dynamics parameters has gained a lot of traction as a method for sim-to-real transfer of reinforcement learning policies in robotic manipulation; however, finding optimal randomization distributions can be difficult. In this paper, we introduce DROPO, a novel method for estimating domain randomization distributions for safe sim-to-real transfer. Unlike prior work, DROPO only requires a limited, precollected offline dataset of trajectories, and explicitly models parameter uncertainty to match real data using a likelihood-based approach. We demonstrate that DROPO is capable of recovering dynamic parameter distributions in simulation and finding a distribution capable of compensating for an unmodeled phenomenon. We also evaluate the method in two zero-shot sim-to-real transfer scenarios, showing successful domain transfer and improved performance over prior methods., Comment: 16 pages, 21 figures

In marine operations, the performance of model-based automatic control design and decision support systems highly relies on the accuracy of the representative mathematical models. Model fidelity can be crucial for safe voyages and offshore operations. This paper proposes a data-driven parametric model identification of a ship with 6 degrees of freedom (6DOF) exposed to waves using sparse regression according to the vessel motion measurements. The features of the complex ship dynamics are extracted and expressed as a linear combination of several functions. Thruster inputs and environmental loads are considered. The hydrodynamic coefficients and wave-induced loads are simultaneously estimated. Unlike earlier studies using a limited number of unknown functions, a library of abundant candidate functions is applied to fully consider the coupling effects among all DOFs. The benefit of the proposed method is that it does not require the exact construction of the library functions. Based on the estimated model, short-term motion prediction is achievable. The algorithm is verified through experiments. The method can be extended to other types of floating structures.

Model-based reconstruction employing the time separation technique (TST) was found to improve dynamic perfusion imaging of the liver using C-arm cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). To apply TST using prior knowledge extracted from CT perfusion data, the liver should be accurately segmented from the CT scans. Reconstructions of primary and model-based CBCT data need to be segmented for proper visualisation and interpretation of perfusion maps. This research proposes Turbolift learning, which trains a modified version of the multi-scale Attention UNet on different liver segmentation tasks serially, following the order of the trainings CT, CBCT, CBCT TST - making the previous trainings act as pre-training stages for the subsequent ones - addressing the problem of limited number of datasets for training. For the final task of liver segmentation from CBCT TST, the proposed method achieved an overall Dice scores of 0.874$\pm$0.031 and 0.905$\pm$0.007 in 6-fold and 4-fold cross-validation experiments, respectively - securing statistically significant improvements over the model, which was trained only for that task. Experiments revealed that Turbolift not only improves the overall performance of the model but also makes it robust against artefacts originating from the embolisation materials and truncation artefacts. Additionally, in-depth analyses confirmed the order of the segmentation tasks. This paper shows the potential of segmenting the liver from CT, CBCT, and CBCT TST, learning from the available limited training data, which can possibly be used in the future for the visualisation and evaluation of the perfusion maps for the treatment evaluation of liver diseases.

In this paper a new parallel algorithm for nonlinear transient dynamic analysis of large structures has been presented. An unconditionally stable Newmark-beta method (constant average acceleration technique) has been employed for time integration. The proposed parallel algorithm has been devised within the broad framework of domain decomposition techniques. However, unlike most of the existing parallel algorithms (devised for structural dynamic applications) which are basically derived using nonoverlapped domains, the proposed algorithm uses overlapped domains. The parallel overlapped domain decomposition algorithm proposed in this paper has been formulated by splitting the mass, damping and stiffness matrices arises out of finite element discretisation of a given structure. A predictor-corrector scheme has been formulated for iteratively improving the solution in each step. A computer program based on the proposed algorithm has been developed and implemented with message passing interface as software development environment. PARAM-10000 MIMD parallel computer has been used to evaluate the performances. Numerical experiments have been conducted to validate as well as to evaluate the performance of the proposed parallel algorithm. Comparisons have been made with the conventional nonoverlapped domain decomposition algorithms. Numerical studies indicate that the proposed algorithm is superior in performance to the conventional domain decomposition algorithms. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In this paper we propose two methods for instance transfer based on conformal prediction. As a distinctive character, both of the methods are model independent and combine feature selection and source-instance selection to avoid negative transfer. The methods have been tested experimentally for different types of classification model on several benchmark data sets. The experimental results demonstrate that the new methods are capable of outperforming significantly standard instance transfer methods. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrocardiographic imaging is an imaging modality that has been introduced recently to help in visualizing the electrical activity of the heart and consequently guide the ablation therapy for ventricular arrhythmias. One of the main challenges of this modality is that the electrocardiographic signals recorded at the torso surface are contaminated with noise from different sources. Low amplitude leads are more affected by noise due to their low peak-to-peak amplitude. In this paper, we have studied 6 datasets from two torso tank experiments (Bordeaux and Utah experiments) to investigate the impact of removing or interpolating these low amplitude leads on the inverse reconstruction of cardiac electrical activity. Body surface potential maps used were calculated by using the full set of recorded leads, removing 1, 6, 11, 16, or 21 low amplitude leads, or interpolating 1, 6, 11, 16, or 21 low amplitude leads using one of the three interpolation methods - Laplacian interpolation, hybrid interpolation, or the inverse-forward interpolation. The epicardial potential maps and activation time maps were computed from these body surface potential maps and compared with those recorded directly from the heart surface in the torso tank experiments. There was no significant change in the potential maps and activation time maps after the removal of up to 11 low amplitude leads. Laplacian interpolation and hybrid interpolation improved the inverse reconstruction in some datasets and worsened it in the rest. The inverse forward interpolation of low amplitude leads improved it in two out of 6 datasets and at least remained the same in the other datasets. It was noticed that after doing the inverse-forward interpolation, the selected lambda value was closer to the optimum lambda value that gives the inverse solution best correlated with the recorded one.

Nighttime symptoms are important indicators of impairment for many diseases and particularly for respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The use of wearable sensors to assess sleep in COPD has mainly been limited to the monitoring of limb motions or the duration and continuity of sleep. In this paper we present an approach to concisely describe sleep patterns in subjects with and without COPD. The methodology converts multimodal sleep data into a text representation and uses topic modeling to identify patterns across the dataset composed of more than 6000 assessed nights. This approach enables the discovery of higher level features resembling unique sleep characteristics that are then used to discriminate between healthy subjects and those with COPD and to evaluate patients' disease severity and dyspnea level. Compared to standard features, the discovered latent structures in nighttime data seem to capture important aspects of subjects sleeping behavior related to the effects of COPD and dyspnea.

Large industrial sites commonly contain multiple production and utility systems. In practice, integrated optimization is often not possible because the necessary complete information cannot be exchanged between the systems. Often, industrial sites optimize the operation of production and utility systems sequentially without any feedback, which leads to suboptimal operation. In this paper, we propose a method to coordinate between production and utility systems in a multileader multi-follower Stackelberg game. The proposed method does not require complete information exchange. The only information exchanged in one feedback loop is the energy demand and demanddependent energy cost. In two case studies, the method reduces the total production cost by 7.6% and 3.4% compared to the common sequential optimization. These cost savings correspond to 84% and 88% of the potential cost savings by an integrated optimization. In summary, the proposed method reduces cost significantly, while only incomplete information is exchanged between production and utility systems., Computers & Chemical Engineering, 150, ISSN:0098-1354, ISSN:1873-4375

This paper introduces a novel hybrid deep neural kernel framework. The proposed deep learning model makes a combination of a neural networks based architecture and a kernel based model. In particular, here an explicit feature map, based on random Fourier features, is used to make the transition between the two architectures more straightforward as well as making the model scalable to large datasets by solving the optimization problem in the primal. Furthermore, the introduced framework is considered as the first building block for the development of even deeper models and more advanced architectures. Experimental results show an improvement over shallow models and the standard non-hybrid neural networks architecture on several medium to large scale real-life datasets. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

This paper presents a timely analysis of participation in the 8th European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (EU FP) Horizon 2020. Our dataset comprises the entire population of research organizations in Norway, enabling us to distinguish between non-applicants, non-successful applicants, and successful participants. We find it important to distinguish two stages of the participation process: the self-selection stage in which organizations decide whether they wish to apply for EU funding, and the second stage in which the European Commission selects the best applications for funding. Our econometric results indicate that the propensity to apply is enhanced by prior participation in EU FPs and the existence of complementary national funding schemes; further, that the probability of succeeding is strengthened by prior participation as well as the scientific reputation of the applicant organization. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-2145-5

In the area of pattern recognition, clustering algorithms are a family of unsupervised classifiers designed with the aim to discover unrevealed structures in the data. While this is a never ending research topic, many methods have been developed with good theoretical and practical properties. One of such methods is based on self organizing maps (SOM), which have been successfully used for data clustering, using a two levels clustering approach. Newer on the field, clustering systems based on fuzzy logic improve the performance of traditional approaches. In this paper we combine both approaches. Most of the previous works on fuzzy clustering are based on fuzzy inference systems, but we propose the design of a new clustering system in which we use predicate fuzzy logic to perform the clustering task, being automatically designed based on data. Given a datum, degrees of truth of fuzzy predicates associated with each cluster are computed using continuous membership functions defined over data features. The predicate with the maximum degree of truth determines the cluster to be assigned. Knowledge is discovered from data, obtained using the SOM generalization aptitude and taking advantage of the well-known SOM abilities to discover natural data grouping when compared with direct clustering. In addition, the proposed approach adds linguistic interpretability when membership functions are analyzed by a field expert. We also present how this approach can be used to deal with partitioned data. Results show that clustering accuracy obtained is high and it outperforms other methods in the majority of datasets tested. Fil: Meschino, Gustavo Javier. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica. Laboratorio de Bioingeniería; Argentina Fil: Comas, Diego Sebastián. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Ballarin, Virginia Laura. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina Fil: Scandurra, Adriana Gabriela. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina Fil: Passoni, Lucía Isabel. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina

We present an improved, biologically inspired and multiscale keypoint operator. Models of single- and double-stopped hypercomplex cells in area V1 of the mammalian visual cortex are used to detect stable points of high complexity at multiple scales. Keypoints represent line and edge crossings, junctions and terminations at fine scales, and blobs at coarse scales. They are detected by applying first and second derivatives to responses of complex cells in combination with two inhibition schemes to suppress responses along lines and edges. A number of optimisations make our new algorithm much faster than previous biologically inspired models, achieving real-time performance on modern GPUs and competitive speeds on CPUs. In this paper we show that the keypoints exhibit state-of-the-art repeatability in standardised benchmarks, often yielding best-in-class performance. This makes them interesting both in biological models and as a useful detector in practice. We also show that keypoints can be used as a data selection step, significantly reducing the complexity in state-of-the-art object categorisation. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In this paper we present results on prediction of elongation at break (target property) for a group of 77 amorphous polymers of high molecular weight. Novel descriptors are proposed in order to better represent structural features related to the target property. These proposed descriptors along with the classic ones, were calculated for the set of polymers. The final descriptors of the predictive model were obtained by using a combination of variable selection method and domain knowledge. The model consisted of three descriptors: Cross-head Speed (CHS), Number Average Molecular Weight/Main Chain Surface Area ratio (Mn/SAMC), and Normalized Main Chain Mass (nMMC). By means of a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural network a good prediction model (R2 = 0.88 and MAE = 1.89) was achieved, which was internally and externally validated. The model shows the advantages of using well-known parameters in the field of polymers and of capturing the structural characteristics of the main and side chains. Thus, more intelligent tools are developed for the design of new materials with a specific application profile. Fil: Palomba, Damián. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Laboratorio de Investigación y Desarrollo en Computación Científica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; Argentina Fil: Vazquez, Gustavo Esteban. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Laboratorio de Investigación y Desarrollo en Computación Científica; Argentina. Universidad católica del Uruguay. Facultad de Ingeniería y Tecnologías; Uruguay Fil: Diaz, Monica Fatima. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Laboratorio de Investigación y Desarrollo en Computación Científica; Argentina

Context Agile software development approaches are currently becoming the industry standard for Web Application development. On the other hand, Model-Driven Web Engineering (MDWE) methodologies are known to improve productivity when building this kind of applications. However, current MDWE methodologies tend to ignore important aspects of Web Applications development supported by agile processes, such as constant customer feedback or early design of user interfaces. Objective In this paper we analyze the difficulties of supporting agile features in MDWE methodologies. Then, we propose an approach that eases the incorporation of well-known agile practices to MDWE. Method We propose using User Interface prototypes (usually known as mockups) as a way to start the modeling process in the context of a mixed agile-MDWE process. To assist this process, we defined a lightweight metamodel that allows modeling features over mockups, interacting with end-users and generating MDWE models. Then, we conducted a statistical evaluation of both approaches (traditional vs. mockup-based modeling). Results First we comment on how agile features can be added to MDWE processes using mockups. Then, we show by means of a quantitative study that the proposed approach is faster, less error-prone and still as complete as traditional MDWE processes. Conclusion The use of mockups to guide the MDWE process helps in the reduction of the development cycle as well as in the incorporation of agile practices in the model-driven workflow. Complete MDWE models can be built and generated by using lightweight modeling over User Interface mockups, and this process suggests being more efficient, in terms of errors and effort, than traditional modeling in MDWE. Fil: Rivero, José Matías. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Informática. Laboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzada; Argentina Fil: Grigera, Julian. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Informática. Laboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzada; Argentina Fil: Rossi, Gustavo Héctor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Informática. Laboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzada; Argentina Fil: Robles Luna, Esteban. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Informática. Laboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzada; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina Fil: Montero, Francisco. LoUISE Research Group. Madrid; España Fil: Gaedke, Martin. Chemnitz University of Technology; Alemania

This paper extends a previous triangular prism solid element adequate to model shells under large strains to become a solid-shell element, i.e., that discretizations may include just one element across the thickness. A total Lagrangian formulation is used based on a modified right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor (C). Three are the introduced modifications: (a) an assumed mixed strain approach for transverse shear strains, (b) an assumed strain approach for the in-plane components using a four-element patch that includes the adjacent elements, and (c) an enhanced assumed strain approach for the through the thickness normal strain (with just one additional degree of freedom). One integration point is used in the triangle plane and as many as necessary across the thickness. The intention is to use this element for the simulation of shells avoiding transverse shear locking, improving the membrane behavior of the in-plane triangle, alleviate the Poisson effect locking and to handle quasi-incompressible materials or materials with isochoric plastic flow. Several examples are presented that show the transverse shear and Poisson effect locking free behavior, how the improvement in the membrane approach alleviates the volumetric locking and the very good performance of the introduced element for the analysis of shell structures for both geometric and material non-linear behavior. Fil: Flores, Fernando Gabriel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Estructuras; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina

We present a compliant mechanism kit as a parallel to the kits available for rigid-body mechanisms. The kit consists of flexible beams and connectors that can be easily hand-assembled using snap fits. The mechanisms assembled using the kit accurately capture the aspects of the topology, shape, and size of joint-free compliant mechanisms. Thus, the kit enables designers to conceive and design new, practicable, single-piece compliant mechanisms that do not require assembly. The concept of the kit also resolves a discrepancy in the finite element (FE) modeling of beam-based compliant mechanisms. The discrepancy arises when two or more beams are joined at one point and thus leading to increased stiffness. After resolving this discrepancy, this work extends the topology optimization to automatically generate designs that can be assembled with the kit for quick and easy validation instead of time-consuming prototyping. Thus, the kit and the accompanying analysis and optimal synthesis procedures comprise a self-contained educational as well as a research and practice toolset for compliant mechanisms. The paper also illustrates how human creativity finds new ways of using the kit beyond the original intended use and how it enables even a novice to design compliant mechanisms. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Motivated by the need to statically balance the inherent elastic forces in linkages, this paper presents three techniques to statically balance a four-bar linkage loaded by a zero-free-length spring attached between its coupler point and an anchor point on the ground. The number of auxiliary links and balancing springs required for the three techniques is less than or equal to that of the only technique currently in the literature. One of the three techniques does not require auxiliary links. In these techniques, the set of values for the spring constants and the ground-anchor point of the balancing springs can vary over a one-parameter family. Thrice as many balancing choices are available when the cognates are considered. The ensuing numerous options enable a user to choose the most practical solution. To facilitate the evaluation of the balancing choices for all the cognates, Roberts-Chebyshev cognate theorem is extended to statically balanced four-bar linkages. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper studies the correlations between peer review and citation indicators when evaluating research quality in library and information science (LIS). Forty-two LIS experts provided judgments on a 5-point scale of the quality of research published by 101 scholars; the median rankings resulting from these judgments were then correlated with h-, g- and H-index values computed using three different sources of citation data: Web of Science (WoS), Scopus and Google Scholar (GS). The two variants of the basic h-index correlated more strongly with peer judgment than did the h-index itself; citation data from Scopus was more strongly correlated with the expert judgments than was data from GS, which in turn was more strongly correlated than data from WoS; correlations from a carefully cleaned version of GS data were little different from those obtained using swiftly gathered GS data; the indices from the citation databases resulted in broadly similar rankings of the LIS academics; GS disadvantaged researchers in bibliometrics compared to the other two citation database while WoS disadvantaged researchers in the more technical aspects of information retrieval; and experts from the UK and other European countries rated UK academics with higher scores than did experts from the USA. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper presents a constraint Jacobian matrix based approach to obtain the stiffness matrix of widely used deployable pantograph masts with scissor-like elements (SLE). The stiffness matrix is obtained in symbolic form and the results obtained agree with those obtained with the force and displacement methods available in literature. Additional advantages of this approach are that the mobility of a mast can be evaluated, redundant links and joints in the mast can be identified and practical masts with revolute joints can be analysed. Simulations for a hexagonal mast and an assembly with four hexagonal masts is presented as illustrations.

This paper presents a novel algebraic formulation of the central problem of screw theory, namely the determination of the principal screws of a given system. Using the algebra of dual numbers, it shows that the principal screws can be determined via the solution of a generalised eigenproblem of two real, symmetric matrices. This approach allows the study of the principal screws of the general two-, three-systems associated with a manipulator of arbitrary geometry in terms of closed-form expressions of its architecture and configuration parameters. We also present novel methods for the determination of the principal screws for four-, five-systems which do not require the explicit computation of the reciprocal systems. Principal screws of the systems of different orders are identified from one uniform criterion, namely that the pitches of the principal screws are the extreme values of the pitch. The classical results of screw theory, namely the equations for the cylindroid and the pitch-hyperboloid associated with the two- and three-systems, respectively have been derived within the proposed framework. Algebraic conditions have been derived for some of the special screw systems. The formulation is also illustrated with several examples including two spatial manipulators of serial and parallel architecture, respectively. � 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper deals with some robustness aspects of a model based controller used for trajectory tracking in multi-link flexible manipulators. It is known in literature that the finite element formulation over-estimates the natural frequencies of the original system. We show that over-estimation of natural frequencies may lead to unstable closed-loop response for flexible manipulators using a model based inversion control algorithm. A robust controller design based on the second method of Lyapunov using simple quantitative bounds on the model uncertainties is illustrated for use during the trajectory tracking phase in multi-link manipulator control. In order to actively suppress the link vibrations excited during the trajectory tracking phase, a second controller based on end-point sensing and the rigid Jacobian of the manipulator is used. The performance of the two-stage controller is illustrated with the help of numerical simulations of a flexible elbow manipulator.

This paper deals with the tuning of observer-based estimators. Initially, these algorithms were designed for estimating on-line kinetic parameters, like specific growth rates, in bioprocesses, and have proved to be very successful in practical applications. Here a systematic tuning approach that allows a decoupled estimation of each parameter and the assignment of the estimator dynamics independently of the process dynamics is proposed. The presented approach is illustrated on an animal cell culture example in numerical simulation and with real-life data. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper presents analytical sensitivity computation using hybrid finite elements. Expressions have been derived for analytical response sensitivities using two-dimensional hybrid elements developed on the basis of the modified Hu–Washizu variational principle. Computational algorithms have been formulated for sensitivity computation and the same have been implemented using a partial symbolic computational scheme, verification being done with standard bench-mark examples. Illustrations of the response sensitivity computation with respect to sizing variables have been presented. The improvement in the accuracy of sensitivity values using hybrid elements as compared with conventional displacement based elements is examined.

Based on continuum damage mechanics (CDM), the paper presents a non-linear finite element formulation for a Timoshenko beam. A layered approach has been adopted to simulate the progressive growth of damage and plasticity from extreme fibers towards the neutral axis. An isotropic continuum damage 1-D model has been derived for damage evolution for material like Al 2024-T3. Coupling damage with J(2) based plasticity, a coupled constitutive relation has been developed within the framework of the internal variable theory of thermodynamics. Incremental finite element analysis has been done on beams to predict the failure load based on the CDM criterion and the same has been verified based on the Sih's strain energy density criterion

In contrast to kinematic redundancy (widely studied in literature) in serial manipulators, the natural choice should be force (static) redundancy in parallel manipulators. In this paper, the force redundancy has been studied as the series-parallel dual concept of kinematic redundancy and its implications in kinematics and dynamics of parallel manipulators are described. In particular, its effective utilization in reduction and elimination of static singularities of parallel manipulators is demonstrated. Numerical studies are also presented for two parallel manipulators to demonstrate the singularity reduction by a single degree of redundancy.

This paper addresses the problem of singularity-free path planning for the six-degree-of-freedom parallel manipulator known as the Stewart platform manipulator. Unlike serial manipulators, the Stewart platform possesses singular configurations within the workspace where the manipulator is uncontrollable. An algorithm has been developed to construct continuous paths within the workspace of the manipulator by avoiding singularities and ill-conditioning. Given two end-poses of the manipulator, the algorithm finds out safe (well-conditioned) via points and plans a continuous path from the initial pose to the final one. When the two end-poses belong to different branches and no singularity-free path is possible, the algorithm indicates the impossibility of a valid path. A numerical example has also been presented as illustration of the path planning strategy.

Solution of generalized eigenproblem, K phi = lambda M phi, by the classical inverse iteration method exhibits slow convergence for some eigenproblems. In this paper, a modified inverse iteration algorithm is presented for improving the convergence rate. At every iteration, an optimal linear combination of the latest and the preceding iteration vectors is used as the input vector for the next iteration. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated for three typical eigenproblems, i.e. eigenproblems with distinct, close and repeated eigenvalues. The algorithm yields 29, 96 and 23% savings in computational time, respectively, for these problems. The algorithm is simple and easy to implement, and this renders the algorithm even more attractive.

The understanding of thermoelastic behaviour of joints is significant in order to ensure the integrity of large and complex structures exposed to a thermal environment, particularly in fields such as aerospace and nuclear engineering. Thermomechanical generalization of partial contact behaviour of a pin joint under combined in-plane mechanical loading and on-axis unidirectional heat flow has already been established by the authors for the analytically simpler domains of large plates. This paper successfully extends the on-going investigation to a single pin in a finite rectangular isotropic plate as a two-dimensional abstraction from a practical situation of a multipin fastener joint. The finite element method is used to analyse the joint problem under on-axis thermomechanical loading and unified load-contact relationships are established for a class of loading conditions.

Standard-cell design methodology is an important technique in semicustom-VLSI design. It lends itself to the easy automation of the crucial layout part, and many algorithms have been proposed in recent literature for the efficient placement of standard cells. While many studies have identified the Kerninghan-Lin bipartitioning method as being superior to most others, it must be admitted that the behaviour of the method is erratic, and that it is strongly dependent on the initial partition. This paper proposes a novel algorithm for overcoming some of the deficiencies of the Kernighan-Lin method. The approach is based on an analogy of the placement problem with neural networks, and, by the use of some of the organizing principles of these nets, an attempt is made to improve the behavior of the bipartitioning scheme. The results have been encouraging, and the approach seems to be promising for other NP-complete problems in circuit layout.

The main purpose of forging design is to ensure cavity filling with minimum material wastage, minimum die load and minimum deformation energy. Given the desired shape of the component and the material to be forged, this goal is achieved by optimising the initial volume of the billet, the geometrical parameters of the die and the process parameters. It is general industrial practise to fix the initial billet volume and the die parameters using empirical relationships derived from practical experience. In this paper a basis for optimising some of the parameters for simple closed-die forging is proposed. Slip-line field solutions are used to predict the flow, the load and the energy in a simple two-dimensional closed-die forging operation. The influence of the design parameters; flash-land width, excess initial workpiece area and forged cross-sectional size; on complete cavity filling and efficient cavity filling are investigated. Using the latter as necessary requirements for forging, the levels of permissable design parameters are determined, the variation of these levels with the size of the cross-section then being examined.

Instability of laminated curved composite beams made of repeated sublaminate construction is studied using finite element method. In repeated sublaminate construction, a full laminate is obtained by repeating a basic sublaminate which has a smaller number of plies. This paper deals with the determination of optimum lay-up for buckling by ranking of such composite curved beams (which may be solid or sandwich). For this purpose, use is made of a two-noded, 16 degress of freedom curved composite beam finite element. The displacements u, v, w of the element reference axis are expressed in terms of one-dimensional first-order Hermite interpolation polynomials, and line member assumptions are invoked in formulation of the elastic stiffness matrix and geometric stiffness matrix. The nonlinear expressions for the strains, occurring in beams subjected to axial, flexural and torsional loads, are incorporated in a general instability analysis. The computer program developed has been used, after extensive checking for correctness, to obtain optimum orientation scheme of the plies in the sublaminate so as to achieve maximum buckling load for typical curved solid/sandwich composite beams.

In an effort to develop a fully computerized approach for structural synthesis of kinematic chains the steps involved in the method of structural synthesis based on transformation of binary chains [38] have been recast in a format suitable for implementation on a digital computer. The methodology thus evolved has been combined with the algebraic procedures for structural analysis [44] to develop a unified computer program for structural synthesis and analysis of simple jointed kinematic chains with a degree of freedom 0. Applications of this program are presented in the succeeding parts of the paper.

The advent of large and fast digital computers and development of numerical techniques suited to these have made it possible to review the analysis of important fundamental and practical problems and phenomena of engineering which have remained intractable for a long time. The understanding of the load transfer between pin and plate is one such. Inspite of continuous attack on these problems for over half a century, classical solutions have remained limited in their approach and value to the understanding of the phenomena and the generation of design data. On the other hand, the finite element methods that have grown simultaneously with the recent development of computers have been helpful in analysing specific problems and answering specific questions, but are yet to be harnessed to assist in obtaining with economy a clearer understanding of the phenomena of partial separation and contact, friction and slip, and fretting and fatigue in pin joints. Against this background, it is useful to explore the application of the classical simple differential equation methods with the aid of computer power to open up this very important area. In this paper we describe some of the recent and current work at the Indian Institute of Science in this last direction.

This paper describes an algorithm to compute the union, intersection and difference of two polygons using a scan-grid approach. Basically, in this method, the screen is divided into cells and the algorithm is applied to each cell in turn. The output from all the cells is integrated to yield a representation of the output polygon. In most cells, no computation is required and thus the algorithm is a fast one. The algorithm has been implemented for polygons but can be extended to polyhedra as well. The algorithm is shown to take O(N) time in the average case where N is the total number of edges of the two input polygons.

The physical design of a VLSI circuit involves circuit partitioning as a subtask. Typically, it is necessary to partition a large electrical circuit into several smaller circuits such that the total cross-wiring is minimized. This problem is a variant of the more general graph partitioning problem, and it is known that there does not exist a polynomial time algorithm to obtain an optimal partition. The heuristic procedure proposed by Kernighan and Lin1,2 requires O(n2 log2n) time to obtain a near-optimal two-way partition of a circuit with n modules. In the VLSI context, due to the large problem size involved, this computational requirement is unacceptably high. This paper is concerned with the hardware acceleration of the Kernighan-Lin procedure on an SIMD architecture. The proposed parallel partitioning algorithm requires O(n) processors, and has a time complexity of O(n log2n). In the proposed scheme, the reduced array architecture is employed with due considerations towards cost effectiveness and VLSI realizability of the architecture.The authors are not aware of any earlier attempts to parallelize a circuit partitioning algorithm in general or the Kernighan-Lin algorithm in particular. The use of the reduced array architecture is novel and opens up the possibilities of using this computing structure for several other applications in electronic design automation.