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In this paper, the constrained control of systems evolving on matrix Lie groups with uncertainties is considered. The proposed methodology is composed of a nominal Model Predictive Control (MPC), and a feedback controller. The previous work on the control of systems on manifolds is applied to design the nominal MPC, which generates the nominal trajectory. In the nominal MPC, the state and input constraints on the Lie group are transformed into the constraints on the Euclidean space. While to deal with uncertainties, the feedback control used to track the nominal trajectory is designed directly on the Lie group. The tracking error in the feedback control is proved to be bounded in invariant sets, which are further used to revise the constraints in nominal MPC. We prove that the input‐to‐state stability of the entire system under the proposed control methodology with respect to the disturbances can be achieved. The proposed methodology is applied to the constrained attitude control of rigid bodies with uncertainties. In the application example, the detailed mathematical proof and the comparative numerical simulation are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a protocol for nondestructive parity meter (NPM) of two cat‐state qubits is proposed. The physical model contains two cavities and an auxiliary qubit. For each cavity, the quantum information is encoded on the odd and even cat state, forming a cat‐state qubit. By adjusting the strength of the driving field on the auxiliary qubit, an effective Hamiltonian for cavity‐selective transition is derived. Moreover, reverse engineering based on the effective Hamiltonian is applied to find the evolution path, and the systematic‐error‐sensitivity nullification method is used to select proper parameters of the evolution path. In this way, robust control fields are designed to combat the influence of the systematic errors. Furthermore, the effects of random noise and decoherence on the fidelity of the protocol are considered. Numerical simulations show that the protocol is insensitive to the experimental imperfection, including systematic errors, random noise and decoherence. Therefore, the protocol is expected to expand the vision of realizing NPM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the complexity nonlinearities generated by discontinuous control and event‐triggered scheme, fixed‐time formation in event‐based framework is a more challenging issue compared with the continuous‐time control. This paper focuses on fixed‐time leaderless formation problem for multi‐agent systems with undirected topology. We propose a distributed robust event‐triggered control strategy for the fixed‐time formation where predictor‐based state transformation is employed to deal with input delay and sliding mode technology is implemented to solve bounded disturbances. We also obtain that the upper bound of the formation settling time is only determined by delay time, control design parameters, network connectivity, and independent of the initial conditions. In addition, the lower bound for the interexecution time is calculated to ensure that there is no Zeno behavior occurs. Finally, some numerical simulations are presented to show the effectiveness of the strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, distributed tracking control is studied for multiple Euler–Lagrange systems in the presence of external disturbances and input saturation. Specifically, full‐state constraints, input saturation, communication delays, and unmeasured velocities are all considered simultaneously. First, a novel event‐triggered scheme is developed to save the communication source and reduce computational load. Second, the anti‐saturation compensation algorithm is exploited to compensate for system saturation. Third, an adaptive law is designed to offset external disturbances. Moreover, a high‐gain observer is employed to estimate unmeasured velocities. Theorem analysis shows the stability of the closed‐loop system, and numerical simulations are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a novel robust finite‐time tracking control scheme is proposed for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems subject to the model uncertainty, external disturbance, and input saturation. A barrier function based disturbance observer (BFDO) with finite‐time convergence performance is developed to estimate the non‐smooth nonlinear compound disturbance, which includes the uncertainty, disturbance of system and input saturation. In addition, an adaptive continuous nonsingular terminal sliding mode controller, based on the barrier function and the estimate of the BFDO is developed. The Lyapunov stability and finite‐time convergence of the proposed control scheme are proved. The effectiveness and performance advantage of the proposed control scheme is demonstrated by numerical simulations and comparison with existing works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the event‐triggered control problem for nonlinear systems that are merely integral input‐to‐state stable (iISS) with respect to measurement errors and external inputs. By using the iISS Lyapunov function, which comes from a necessary and sufficient condition on iISS, an integral‐based event‐triggering mechanism is introduced to compensate the effects of measurement errors. Under some assumptions on the gains of the iISS Lyapunov function, both the closed‐loop iISS and Zeno‐freeness are proved when the external inputs are measurable. In the presence of unknown disturbances, a novel switching event‐triggering mechanism is designed based on the relationship between the transmitted state and some threshold constant. Subsequently, the corresponding lower bound of inter‐event times is given explicitly to ensure Zeno‐freeness. It is shown that the proposed switching mechanism can be applicable to the nonlinear systems where some existing event‐triggering mechanisms are invalid in avoiding Zeno behavior. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the efficiency and feasibility of the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we propose a networked control architecture to ensure the plant's safety in the presence of cyber‐attacks on the communication channels. In particular, we consider systems subject to both state and input constraints that must be preserved for safety reasons despite any admissible attack scenario. To this end, first, two different detectors are proposed to detect attacks on the setpoint signal as well as on the control inputs and sensor measurements. Then, an emergency controller (EC), local to the plant, is designed to replace the networked controller whenever an attack is detected. Finally, the concept of robust N‐step attack‐safe region is introduced to ensure that the EC is activated, regardless of the detector performance, at least one‐step before the safety constraints are violated. It is formally proved that the plant trajectory is uniformly ultimately bounded in an admissible region regardless of the attacker's actions and duration. Finally, by considering a continuous‐stirred tank reactor system, numerical simulations are presented to show the proposed solution's capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The H∞ filtering problem for interconnected systems is addressed in this paper. In order to facilitate the stability analysis of interconnected systems under the conditions of failed interconnections, a strategy related to switched systems is introduced. Assume that the interconnections among these subsystems disconnect based on the mode‐dependent average dwell time (MDADT), a switching signal is implemented to denote the failed interconnections cases. In the aid of the MDADT method, a filter is designed such that the fault detection (FD) system is asymptotically stable and satisfies the weighted H∞ performance. Finally, a numerical simulation is provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed filter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This article investigates the nonsingular prescribed‐time stabilization problem for p‐normal form systems. Two significant progresses are made for the first time as follows: First, a novel concept named coordinate mapping of time domain, is proposed to transform the nonsingular prescribed‐time convergence problem into the ordinary finite‐time convergence problem of transformed time‐varying system. Second, a set of new parameters are introduced to extend the existing adding a power integrator technique, such that the power restriction is removed. Based on above design procedure, a periodic controller is constructed to stabilize the state of the p‐normal form system into a small neighborhood of the equilibrium in prescribed time. Theoretical result is supported by numerical simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper addresses the finite‐time and the prescribed finite‐time event‐triggered consensus tracking problems for second‐order multi‐agent systems (MASs) with uncertain disturbances. The prescribed finite‐time event‐triggered consensus of the second‐order disturbed MASs was obtained for the first time and the controller is nonsingular. Furthermore, a new self‐triggered control scheme is presented for the finite‐time consensus tracking, and the continuous communication can be avoided in the triggering condition monitoring. Hence, the finite‐time consensus tracking can be achieved with intermittent communication. Moreover, Zeno behavior is excluded for each follower. The efficiency of the proposed algorithms is verified by numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper proposes a robust active fault‐tolerant control (AFTC) approach for medium‐scale unmanned autonomous helicopter (UAH) with rotor flapping dynamics in the presence of unknown external disturbances and actuator faults. The robust items are adopted to improve the disturbance rejection capability of the UAH system. The adaptive fault observers are developed to estimate the fault parameters and the fault detection (FD) algorithms are presented to detect the actuator faults in different loops. In order to obtain satisfactory trajectory tracking performance, a backstepping‐based robust AFTC scheme is designed for the simplified 6‐degree‐of‐freedom (DOF) UAH nonlinear dynamics model and the global stability of the closed‐loop system is proved by using the Lyapunov method. Several groups of numerical simulation results are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the developed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: For the high precise tracking control purpose of a cable‐driven manipulator under lumped uncertainties, a novel adaptive fractional‐order nonsingular terminal sliding mode control scheme based on time delay estimation (TDE) is proposed and investigated in this paper. The proposed control scheme mainly has three elements, ie, a TDE element applied to properly compensate the lumped unknown dynamics of the system resulting in a fascinating model‐free feature; a fractional‐order nonsingular terminal sliding mode (FONTSM) surface element used to ensure high precision in the steady phase; and a combined reaching law with adaptive technique adopted to obtain fast convergence and high precision and chatter reduction under complex lumped disturbance. Stability of the closed‐loop control system is analyzed with the Lyapunov stability theory. Comparative simulations and experiments were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed control scheme using 2‐DOF (degree of freedom) of a cable‐driven manipulator named Polaris‐I. Corresponding results show that our proposed method can ensure faster convergence, higher precision, and better robustness against complex lumped disturbance than the existing TDE‐based FONTSM and continuous FONTSM control schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The purpose of this paper is to present an extension of the generalised supertwisting algorithm (STA) to the multivariable framework. We begin by introducing an algorithm that may be deemed as a linear, quasicontinuous, or discontinuous multivariable system, depending on the functions that define them. For the class represented by such an algorithm we prove the robust, Lyapunov stability of the origin and characterise the perturbations that preserve its stability. In particular, when its vector field is discontinuous or quasicontinuous our algorithm is endowed with finite‐time stability. Due to its resemblance to the scalar case, we denote such finite‐time stable systems as generalised multivariable STA. Furthermore, the class of finite‐time stable systems comprise the currently available versions of STAs. To finalise, by means of simulation examples, we show that our proposed finite‐time stable algorithms are well suited for signals online differentiation and highlight their dynamical traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Novel robust finite‐time stabilizing algorithms are developed side by side for the state and output feedback designs. Being initially developed for a nonlinear cascade second‐order system, these algorithms are straightforwardly extendible to electromechanical systems of relative degree two. The proposed synthesis is based on the disturbance compensation, relying on the dirty differentiation and sliding mode approach, and it is applicable to a wider class of disturbances than that addressed in the literature. Simulation results illustrate the efficiency of the resulting synthesis procedure and support analytical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Here, a protocol for robust preparation of an atomic concatenated Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (C‐GHZ) state via shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA) is proposed. The devices for implementing the protocol consist of atoms, cavities, and the optical fibers, which are feasible with current technology. The atoms are trapped in the separated cavities allowing individual control over each atom with classical fields. STA helps to design Rabi frequencies of classical fields so that the atoms can be driven from the initial states to the target states. The numerical simulations show that the protocol holds robustness against atomic spontaneous emissions and photonic leakages. Thus, the protocol may be realized by experiments in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A coupling frame (CF)-based high-frequency radio-frequency identification (HF RFID) card is composed of a metallic CF with a slot and a module (contains a small coil and an integrated circuit). This provides higher coupling and better performance in comparison to the standalone module. Such design eliminates the need for a mechanical connection between the module and card body (metal frame) which leads to reduced manufacturing costs. Further, it enhances the card's robustness against mechanical stress. The authors explain the operation of such a design from first principles and highlight the effect of the slot on the performance. In addition, a circuit model for the card is derived. Furthermore, they propose an enhancement to the card design which improves the card's performance with two variations either in terms of better transferred voltage (up to three times higher) or more bandwidth (up to double). The enhancement is shown by HFSS simulations, circuit simulations and corresponding measurements including the HF RFID integrated circuit. Finally, a double CF-based design is proposed and analysed which simultaneously achieves increased bandwidth and higher transferred voltage. The results are compared to those of conventional HF RFID cards with galvanic coupling to the integrated circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comprehensive design of uniform robust exact disturbance observer (UREDO) and fixed-time controller for reusable launch vehicles is investigated. A UREDO which can estimate the disturbance after a fixed-time independent of the initial error is presented. Based on the disturbance estimation, a non-singular terminal sliding mode controller is designed to ensure that the guidance command can be tracked within a fixed-time in the presence of model uncertainties and external disturbances. A proof of the fixed-time convergence of the closed-loop system under the control scheme is derived with complete stability analysis using the Lyapunov technique. The features of the proposed control scheme contain that the disturbance estimation, as well as the attitude tracking, can be achieved within a fixed-time, which is independent of initial conditions and the derivative information of states is not essential, which is valuable in engineering application. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the fixed-time convergence performance of the proposed control scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this paper, the problem of formation control is considered for a class of unknown nonaffine nonlinear multiagent systems under a repeatable operation environment. To achieve the formation objective, the unknown nonlinear agent's dynamic is first transformed into a compact form dynamic linearization model along the iteration axis. Then, a distributed model‐free adaptive iterative learning control scheme is designed to ensure that all agents can keep their desired deviations from the reference trajectory over the whole time interval. The main results are given for the multiagent systems with fixed communication topologies and the extension to the switching topologies case is also discussed. The feature of this design is that formation control can be solved only depending on the input/output data of each agent. An example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper describes a new robust model predictive control (MPC) scheme to control the discrete‐time linear parameter‐varying input‐output models subject to input and output constraints. Closed‐loop asymptotic stability is guaranteed by including a quadratic terminal cost and an ellipsoidal terminal set, which are solved offline, for the underlying online MPC optimization problem. The main attractive feature of the proposed scheme in comparison with previously published results is that all offline computations are now based on the convex optimization problem, which significantly reduces conservatism and computational complexity. Moreover, the proposed scheme can handle a wider class of linear parameter‐varying input‐output models than those considered by previous schemes without increasing the complexity. For an illustration, the predictive control of a continuously stirred tank reactor is provided with the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this article, the problems of modeling and controlling are investigated for a suspension cable system of a helicopter with input saturation, system parameter uncertainties, and external disturbances by using the boundary control method. In accordance with the Hamilton's principle, the model of the suspension cable system of a helicopter is established by using a set of partial differential and ordinary differential equations. Considering nonsymmetric saturation constraint, the auxiliary systems are designed to handle with the effect of input saturation. Considering Lyapunov's direct method and the designed auxiliary systems, two robust adaptive boundary controllers are provided by the actuators at the helicopter and the box. Under the proposed controllers, the error between the bottom payload and the target location and the vibration range are uniformly ultimately bounded. Moreover, they will converge to a small neighborhood of zero by selecting the suitable parameters. Meanwhile, to guarantee the validity of the proposed adaptive boundary control laws, some sufficient conditions are raised. Simulation results are provided to verify that the effectiveness of the designed controllers in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Phase‐field methods for brittle fracture employ a variational framework and have proven to predict complex fracture patterns in two and three dimensional examples. This contribution focuses on a phase‐field approach for a coupled field model of brittle pneumatic fracture. Two different challenges are tackled in this contribution: First, we have to deal with pressure‐driven processes within the proposed phase‐field ansatz, second, we have to consider the numerical effort of the simulations. Our phase‐field formulation is based on elasticity and a suitable operator split to take only the tensile parts into account. Furthermore, a prescribed pressure is coupled with the phase‐field parameter to consider crack propagation induced by pneumatic pressure. To keep the numerical effort as small as possible we apply a specifically developed multigrid method for three‐dimensional problems. The accuracy and the robustness of the solution method will be demonstrated with a series of numerical examples. (© 2017 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fault diagnosis and compensation problem for two-dimensional discrete time systems with time-varying state delays is studied in this paper. The concerned two-dimensional systems are described by the Fornasisi-Marchesini second model and are subject to unknown disturbances. First, a fault detection and diagnosis module is designed to obtain the information on sensor faults; a new fault detection and diagnosis integrated design, using the observer based on descriptor system approach, is proposed to detect and estimate the sensor faults. The integrated design can maximize the fault detection rate for a given false alarm rate. Sufficient conditions for the existence of the integrated fault detection and diagnosis design are derived in the context of norm evaluation and provided in terms of matrix inequalities. Second, a fault-tolerant control module is proposed upon an existing output feedback controller. When the sensor fault occurs, the faulty measurement can be identified and corrected by the proposed fault detection and diagnosis module. In this case, the feedback controller can guarantee the performance of the closed-loop system even when encountering sensor faults. Finally, the proposed method is applied to a thermal process to illustrate its effectiveness. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we apply the active disturbance rejection control approach to output-feedback stabilization for uncertain lower triangular nonlinear systems with stochastic inverse dynamics and stochastic disturbance. We first design an extended state observer (ESO) to estimate both unmeasured states and stochastic total disturbance that includes unknown system dynamics, unknown stochastic inverse dynamics, external stochastic disturbance, and uncertainty caused by the deviation of control parameter from its nominal value. The stochastic total disturbance is then compensated in the feedback loop. The constant gain and the time-varying gain are used in ESO design separately. The mean square practical stability for the closed-loop system with constant gain ESO and the mean square asymptotic stability with time-varying gain ESO are developed, respectively. Some numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed output-feedback control scheme. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the design of a robust sliding mode-based extremum-seeking controller aimed at the online optimization of a class of uncertain reaction systems. The design methodology is based on an input-output linearizing method with variable-structure feedback, such that the closed-loop system converges to a neighborhood of the optimal set point with sliding mode motion. In contrast with previous extremum-seeking control algorithms, the control scheme includes a dynamic modelling-error estimator to compensate for unknown terms related with model uncertainties and unmeasured disturbances. The proposed online optimization scheme does not make use of a dither signal or a gradient-based optimization algorithm. Practical stabilizability for the closed-loop system around to the unknown optimal set point is analyzed. Numerical experiments for two nonlinear processes illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed robust control scheme. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the robust finite time tracking of desired trajectories for a wide group of robotic manipulators in spite of unknown disturbances, uncertainties, and saturations of actuators while only manipulator's positions are available and its velocities are not measurable physically. A new form of chattering-free second order fast nonsingular terminal sliding mode control scheme is introduced to design input torques for fulfilling the determined tracking objective in the adjustable total finite settling time. The proposed control algorithm is incorporated with two nonlinear observers to estimate disturbances and velocities of joints within finite settling times. The global finite time stability of the closed-loop manipulator is analytically proved. Finally, a numerical simulation is carried out to verify the effectiveness of the designed input torques. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A generalized homogeneous exact set-point tracking control methodology for a class of disturbed higher-order nonlinear systems is investigated in this paper. By virtue of utilizing the disturbance estimation and active elimination approach, a homogeneous domination feedback technique is then integrated such that a generalized composite active anti-disturbance control framework is proposed with a delicate handling procedure of the non-vanishing nonlinearities. The proposed methodology has several new features. First, a genuine nonlinear composite controller employing the system nonlinearities will bring an improvement of the control performances. Second, the flexility of the design methodology renders its suitability for random output tracking with mismatched disturbances in every channel. Moreover, the control function is constructed in a neat nested form and hence easier to be implemented. Numerical simulation results affirm the output tracking control performances. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a systematic method to address the reduction of online computational complexity and infeasibility problem of explicit model predictive control for constrained systems under external disturbance. In feasible state space, in order to avoid the expensive database searching procedure, support vector machine-based approximation is proposed to yield a novel unified explicit optimal control law rather than a piecewise affine one developed by explicit model predictive control. In infeasible state space, through constructing finite maximum control invariant sets around fictitious equilibrium points, a reachable controller is devised to steer the infeasible state asymptotically to the feasible state space without violating the hard constraint. Consequently, global robustness is guaranteed by introducing a minimum robust positively invariant set by means of the tube-based technique, despite the coexistence of external disturbance and training error. Finally, the performance of the presently proposed control law is evaluated through three groups of numerical examples. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new event-switched control method is presented for controlling discrete-time linear systems subject to bounded disturbances. The main advantage of the proposed method is that the nominal performance of the controlled system with periodic control updates is kept in a framework that do not require to periodically update the control law. The feedback control loop can be opened as long a state-dependent event condition is satisfied. This condition is obtained using set theory approaches. In particular, the concept of robustly positively invariant sets is used to calculate the nominal performance and the event condition. The simulation presented in this paper confirms the efficiency of the present approach. A reduction of the numerical complexity of the approach is also proposed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A robust consensus controller is proposed for heterogeneous higher-order nonlinear multi-agent systems, when the agent dynamics are involved with mismatched uncertainties. A distributed consensus protocol based on a time-varying nonhomogeneous finite-time disturbance observer and sliding mode control is designed to realize the network consensus of higher-order multi-agent systems. The time-varying finite-time disturbance observer overcomes the problem of peaking value near the initial time caused by the constant gain one and is designed to estimate the uncertainties and to mitigate the effect of mismatched uncertainties during the sliding mode. To eliminate the chattering phenomenon and ensure finite-time convergence to the sliding surface, the control law is designed by using the super twisting algorithm. Finally numerical simulations are given to illustrate the validity of the proposed method. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, robust containment problem is investigated for a class of multi-leader multi-agent linear systems in the presence of time-varying uncertainties. To achieve containment, a new kind of adaptive containment protocols are proposed for the multi-agent systems. Specifically, the designed protocols consist of a continuous linear term and a discontinuous term. The linear term of the designed protocol is employed to achieve containment while the discontinuous term is utilized to eliminate the effect of uncertain dynamics on the achievement of containment. By using tools from non-smooth analysis and algebraic graph theory, some efficient criteria for achieving robust containment in the closed-loop multi-agent systems are obtained and analyzed. One favorable property of the designed protocol is that containment in the closed-loop multi-agent systems can be achieved in a fully distributed fashion over any given connected and detail-balanced communication graph without using any global information about the communication graph. The effectiveness of the analytical results is finally verified by performing numerical simulations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel output feedback dynamic excitation control scheme is proposed for efficient load angle trajectory tracking tasks for synchronous generators. In this way, effective tracking of reference trajectories for the state variables and electric power is also guaranteed. The introduced control design approach is robust against parametric uncertainty, unmodelled dynamics, and variable mechanical power input commonly present in practical electric power systems. The control scheme only requires measurements of the load angle variable, and state and disturbance estimation is properly avoided. Computer simulation results are included to show the controller robustness and the satisfactory reference trajectory tracking specified for the machine operation for both continuous and switched control voltage signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variable structure model-reference adaptive control (VS-MRAC) of impedances and admittances (driving-point (DP) functions) is proposed. Only voltage and current measurements are required to implement the controllers. The inclusion of a prefilter in the reference model allows the synthesis of quite general DP functions, even with nonminimum phase zeros and unstable poles. It is shown that the stability of the closed-loop system depends only on the source DP function and the chosen reference model. The VS-MRAC guarantees global exponential stability properties, robustness to parameter uncertainties, disturbances, and unmodelled dynamics. Simulation results illustrate the performance and robustness of the VS-MRAC. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An outline of the improvements to the pseudospectral electronic structure program Jaguar is presented, showing efficient and robust performance of hybrid-DFT calculations for large systems with thousands of basis functions, focusing on materials applications. The improvements include re-engineered parallelization, the design of a fragment-based initial guess generation method, and the validation of small eigenvalue cutoff values. An OpenMP/MPI hybrid parallelization has been implemented for the pseudospectral algorithm, which extends Jaguar's scalability to up to 256 cores in tests of TiO2 clusters with 1295-4961 basis functions. In the largest test case, the code delivers 84.4× speedup for 128 cores in total calculation time. In addition, a fragment-based initial guess method has been constructed for large systems containing many transition metals, where the conventional (atomic) approach often fails. Overall, Jaguar is now capable of efficiently and robustly performing hybrid-DFT geometrical optimizations for large systems with more than 600 atoms in reasonable runtimes. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the robust consensus tracking problem for a class of high-order multi-agent systems with unmodelled dynamics and unknown disturbances. A continuous robust state feedback control algorithm is proposed to enable the agents to achieve robust consensus tracking of a desired trajectory. By utilizing Lyapunov analysis methods and an invariance-like theorem, sufficient conditions for semi-global asymptotic consensus tracking are established. A robust output feedback control algorithm is designed to obtain a uniformly ultimately bounded consensus tracking result. Numerical simulations are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the control of chaotic systems in the presence of unknown parameters, model uncertainties, and external disturbance. We first discuss the control of a class of chaotic systems and then investigate the control of general chaotic systems. Based on the adaptive control scheme, some novel criteria are proposed via a backstepping-like procedure. As an example, the control of the Zhang hyperchaotic system is investigated via a single input. Some numerical simulations are given to demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated guidance and control of an elastic flight vehicle based on constrained robust model predictive control is proposed. The design is based on a partial state feedback control law that minimizes a cost function within the framework of linear matrix inequalities. It is shown that the solution of the defined optimization problem stabilizes the nonlinear plant. Nonlinear kinematics and dynamics are taken into account, and internal stability of the closed-loop nonlinear system is guaranteed. The performance and effectiveness of the proposed integrated guidance and control against non-maneuvering and weaving targets are evaluated using computer simulations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the distributed robust finite-time attitude containment control for multiple rigid bodies with uncertainties including parametric uncertainties, external disturbances, and actuator failures. Two novel types of distributed control laws are designed corresponding to two different cases, respectively, and both of them can drive the orientations of the followers into the convex hull formed by the orientations of leaders in a finite time. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed design. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To function well in an unpredictable environment using unreliable components, a system must have a high degree of robustness. Robustness is fundamental to biological systems and is an objective in the design of engineered systems such as airplane engines and buildings. Cognitive systems, like biological and engineered systems, exist within variable environments. This raises the question, how do cognitive systems achieve similarly high degrees of robustness? The aim of this study was to identify a set of mechanisms that enhance robustness in cognitive systems. We identify three mechanisms that enhance robustness in biological and engineered systems: system control, redundancy, and adaptability. After surveying the psychological literature for evidence of these mechanisms, we provide simulations illustrating how each contributes to robust cognition in a different psychological domain: psychomotor vigilance, semantic memory, and strategy selection. These simulations highlight features of a mathematical approach for quantifying robustness, and they provide concrete examples of mechanisms for robust cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A compact dual-frequency rectenna has been developed. The receiving antenna is based on a planar inverted F antenna for dual frequency operation. A voltage doubler is proposed to improve the output voltage and the robustness of the rectenna. The simulation and measurement results validate the performance of the rectenna. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:319-322, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disturbance-observer-based control (DOBC) is a well-known robust control scheme and recently its non-linear version has been developed. Observing that two components (so-called Q-filters) in the conventional DOBC structure have the same transfer function, the authors propose a reduced-order DOBC for uncertain non-linear systems. It is shown that the proposed controller also guarantees the same robust transient response as those developed before. Numerical simulations using a magnetic levitation system are included to illustrate the detailed design procedure and validate the performance of the proposed controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hand detection and gesture recognition are two of the most studied topics in human-computer interaction (HCI). The increasing availability of sensors able to provide real-time depth measurements, such as time-of-flight cameras or the more recent Kinect, has helped researchers to find more and more efficient solutions for these issues. With the main aim to implement effective gesture-based interaction systems, this study presents an approach to hand detection and tracking that exploits two different video streams: the depth one and the colour one. Both hand and gesture recognition are based only on geometrical and colour constraints, and no learning phase is needed. The use of a Kalman filter to track hands guarantees system robustness also in presence of many persons in the scene. The entire procedure is designed to maintain a low computational cost and is optimised to efficiently execute HCI tasks. As use cases two common applications are described: a virtual keyboard and a three-dimensional object manipulation virtual environment. These applications have been tested with a representative sample of non-trained users to assess the usability and flexibility of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A robust estimation method, Balanced Least Absolute Value Estimator (BLAVE), is introduced and compared with the traditional RANdom SAmple Consensus (RANSAC) method. The comparison is performed empirically by applying both estimators on the camera motion parameters estimation problem. A linearised model for this estimation problem is derived. The tests were performed on a simulated scene with added random noise and gross errors as well as on actual images taken by a mobile mapping system. The greatest advantage of BLAVE is that it processes all observations at once as well as its median-like property: the estimated parameters are not influenced by the size of the outliers. It can tolerate up to 50% outliers in data and still produce accurate results. The greatest disadvantage of RANSAC is that the results are not repeatable because of the random sampling of data. Moreover, the results are less accurate, because RANSAC generally does not produce a 'best-fit' parameter estimation. The number of trials, which must be tested by RANSAC to find a reasonable solution, depends on the portion of outliers in data. The computational time for BLAVE does not depend on the portion of outliers in the observations, but it grows with the number of observations, same as RANSAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: With the increasing clinical use of shift-variant CT protocols involving tube current modulation (TCM), variable pitch or pitch modulation (PM), and variable aperture a(t), the interpretation of the scanner-reported CTDIvol is called into question. This was addressed for TCM in their previous paper published by Dixon and Boone [Med. Phys. 40, 111920 (14pp.) (2013)] and is extended to P M and concurrent TCM/PM as well as variable aperture in this work. Methods: Rigorous convolution equations are derived to describe the accumulated dose distributions for TCM, PM, and concurrent TCM/PM. A comparison with scanner-reported CTDIvol formulae clearly identifies the source of their differences with the traditional CTDIvol. Dose distribution simulations using the convolution are provided for a variety of TCM and PM scenarios including a helical shuttle used for perfusion studies (as well as constant mA)--all having the same scanner-reported CTDIvol. These new convolution simulations for TCM are validated by comparison with their previous discrete summations. Results: These equations show that PM is equivalent to TCM if the pitch variation p(z) is proportional to 1/i(z), where i(z) is the local tube current. The simulations show that the local dose at z depends only weakly on the local tube current i(z) or local pitch p(z) due to scatter from all other locations along z, and that the "local CTDIvol(z)" or "CTDIvol per slice" do not represent a local dose but rather only a relative i(z) or p(z). The CTDI-paradigm does not apply to shift-variant techniques and the scanner-reported CTDIvol for the same lacks physical significance and relevance. Conclusions: While the traditional CTDIvol at constant tube current and pitch conveys useful information (the peak dose at the center of the scan length), CTDIvol for shift-variant techniques ( TCM or PM) conveys no useful information about the associated dose distribution it purportedly represents. On the other hand, the total energy absorbed E ("integral dose") as well as its surrogate DLP remain robust (invariant) with respect to shift-variance, depending only on the total mAs = (i)t0 accumulated during the total beam-on time t0 and aperture a, where (i) is the average current. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss robust M-estimation of INARCH models for count time series. These models assume the observation at each point in time to follow a Poisson distribution conditionally on the past, with the conditional mean being a linear function of previous observations. This simple linear structure allows us to transfer M-estimators for autoregressive models to this situation, with some simplifications being possible because the conditional variance given the past equals the conditional mean. We investigate the performance of the resulting generalized M-estimators using simulations. The usefulness of the proposed methods is illustrated by real data examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY This paper deals with the output stabilization of time-delay systems with sector-bounded nonlinearity and disturbance. In this paper, we will consider the problem of absolute stability for a time-delay systems class, which can be represented as a feedback connection of a linear dynamical system with unknown parameters and an uncertain nonlinearity satisfying a sector constraint. Control algorithm providing exponential stability of equilibrium position without disturbance and L ∞ -stability for disturbed systems is proposed for a class of output. Obtained results are validated with the aid of computer simulation of the two-stage chemical reactor control. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Processes and variables measured in ecology are almost always spatially autocorrelated, potentially leading to the choice of overly complex models when performing variable selection. One way to solve this problem is to account for residual spatial autocorrelation ( RSA) for each subset of variables considered and then use a classical model selection criterion such as the Akaike information criterion ( AIC). However, this method can be laborious and it raises other concerns such as which spatial model to use or how to compare different spatial models. To improve the accuracy of variable selection in ecology, this study evaluates an alternative method based on a spatial cross-validation procedure. Such a procedure is usually used for model evaluation but can also provide interesting outcomes for variable selection in the presence of spatial autocorrelation. Innovation We propose to use a special case of spatial cross-validation, spatial leave-one-out ( SLOO), giving a criterion equivalent to the AIC in the absence of spatial autocorrelation. SLOO only computes non-spatial models and uses a threshold distance (equal to the range of RSA) to keep each point left out spatially independent from the others. We first provide some simulations to evaluate how SLOO performs compared with AIC. We then assess the robustness of SLOO on a large-scale dataset. R software codes are provided for generalized linear models. Main conclusions The AIC was relevant for variable selection in the presence of RSA if the independent variables considered were not spatially autocorrelated. It otherwise failed because highly spatially autocorrelated variables were more often selected than others. Conversely, SLOO had similar performances whether the variables were themselves spatially autocorrelated or not. It was particularly useful when the range of RSA was small, which is a common property of spatial tools. SLOO appears to be a promising solution for selecting relevant variables from most ecological spatial datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Missing values are a practical issue in the analysis of longitudinal data. Multiple imputation (MI) is a well-known likelihood-based method that has optimal properties in terms of efficiency and consistency if the imputation model is correctly specified. Doubly robust (DR) weighing-based methods protect against misspecification bias if one of the models, but not necessarily both, for the data or the mechanism leading to missing data is correct. We propose a new imputation method that captures the simplicity of MI and protection from the DR method. This method integrates MI and DR to protect against misspecification of the imputation model under a missing at random assumption. Our method avoids analytical complications of missing data particularly in multivariate settings, and is easy to implement in standard statistical packages. Moreover, the proposed method works very well with an intermittent pattern of missingness when other DR methods can not be used. Simulation experiments show that the proposed approach achieves improved performance when one of the models is correct. The method is applied to data from the fireworks disaster study, a randomized clinical trial comparing therapies in disaster-exposed children. We conclude that the new method increases the robustness of imputations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY This paper proposes a robust controller for sinusoidal pulse width modulation (PWM) inverters, which can track a sinusoidal reference with zero steady-state error. A closed-loop system for single-phase full-bridge inverters is constructed on the basis of the internal model principle. The appropriate control gains of the constructed closed-loop system are determined using a state-feedback controller design method via linear matrix inequalities. The proposed controller can adapt to the uncertain variations in the load conditions. It is also shown that the pole-placement constraints and control performance indexes based on the H2 and H∞ norms as well as a standard quadric performance index in optimal control can be applied to the proposed robust controller. Digital computer simulation is implemented to confirm the validity of the proposed robust controller with the internal model principle. A prototype experimental model is constructed and tested. Experimental results demonstrate that an excellent and practical robust controller for sinusoidal PWM inverters is realized under uncertain and fluctuating load conditions, including the nonlinear loads such as diode rectifiers. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 187(2): 44-52, 2014; Published online in Wiley Online Library (). DOI 10.1002/eej.22542 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper deals with the problem of the stabilization and control of linear time invariant high order systems with two unstable real poles plus time delay. A simple observer-based controller is designed in order to achieve a stable behavior of the closed-loop system. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of the proposed control structure are stated. Hence, only four proportional gains and the model of the plant are enough to obtain a stable response of the delayed system. Moreover, a robustness analysis is presented in order to compute the maximal uncertainty bound accepted for the delay term. In addition, a two degree of freedom proportional-integral control action is implemented in order to track step references and to reject step disturbances. The achieved performance of the proposed control strategy is illustrated by mean of numerical simulations. © 2013 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY The paper proposes a cooperative group location (CGL) scheme to solve the ill-conditioned location problem in mobile communication networks, which means that the mobile terminal (MT) has no sufficient signal resources from the networks to uniquely localize itself. On the basis of rigid graph theory, the unique solvability of the CGL scheme is completely proved in the theory in this paper. In CGL, it is assumed that the different MTs can directly communicate with each other in a peer-to-peer manner and form a terminal group (TG), which is propelled by some distinct characteristics of next-generation wireless networks such as ubiquitous inter-net and inter-communicating, device-to-device connectivity, and so on. When each MT in a TG has no sufficient signal resources, the CGL scheme makes it possible to accurately locate all the MTs in the TG. Two CGL-based location algorithms-improved Taylor-series iteration location algorithm and search and positioning algorithm, are presented in this paper. The numerical simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithms have higher positioning accuracy over traditional geometric location methods in ill conditions. The CGL scheme can effectively enhance the robustness and precision of localization and provide a novel idea to the positioning of MTs in next-generation mobile communication networks. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]