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Proportional-Integrator-Derivative (PID) controller is used in a wide range of industrial and experimental processes. There are a couple of offline methods for tuning PID gains. However, due to the uncertainty of model parameters and external disturbances, real systems such as Quadrotors need more robust and reliable PID controllers. In this research, a self-tuning PID controller using a Reinforcement-Learning-based Neural Network for attitude and altitude control of a Quadrotor has been investigated. An Incremental PID, which contains static and dynamic gains, has been considered and only the variable gains have been tuned. To tune dynamic gains, a model-free actor-critic-based hybrid neural structure was used that was able to properly tune PID gains, and also has done the best as an identifier. In both tunning and identification tasks, a Neural Network with two hidden layers and sigmoid activation functions has been learned using Adaptive Momentum (ADAM) optimizer and Back-Propagation (BP) algorithm. This method is online, able to tackle disturbance, and fast in training. In addition to robustness to mass uncertainty and wind gust disturbance, results showed that the proposed method had a better performance when compared to a PID controller with constant gains., Comment: 7 pages, 18 figures, The 30th Annual International Conference of Iranian Society of Mechanical Engineers

The objective of this research is to develop an advanced controller for CNC machines equipped with Hexaglide parallel mechanisms. While traditional CNC machines employ mechanisms with perpendicular axes, accuracy may be compromised when processing high force loads. Parallel mechanisms, such as Hexaglide, have gained attention in the CNC industry due to their ability to maintain precision at high speeds and power. However, the absence of a sophisticated controller for converting G-Code to motion paths has been a significant drawback for CNC machines with parallel mechanisms. This research proposes a solution by introducing a controller that can translate G-Code generated by code software into appropriate motion commands for the Hexaglide mechanism., Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, The International Conference in New Research of Industry and Mechanical Engineering, https://en.civilica.com/doc/429987/

Human motion capture is frequently used to study rehabilitation and clinical problems, as well as to provide realistic animation for the entertainment industry. IMU-based systems, as well as Marker-based motion tracking systems, are the most popular methods to track movement due to their low cost of implementation and lightweight. This paper proposes a quaternion-based Extended Kalman filter approach to recover the human leg segments motions with a set of IMU sensors data fused with camera-marker system data. In this paper, an Extended Kalman Filter approach is developed to fuse the data of two IMUs and one RGB camera for human leg motion tracking. Based on the complementary properties of the inertial sensors and camera-marker system, in the introduced new measurement model, the orientation data of the upper leg and the lower leg is updated through three measurement equations. The positioning of the human body is made possible by the tracked position of the pelvis joint by the camera marker system. A mathematical model has been utilized to estimate joints' depth in 2D images. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is evaluated by an optical motion tracker system., Comment: This paper results from O. Taheri's MSc Thesis (2017) at the Sharif University of Technology

It is wellknown that helicopters descending fast may enter the so called VRS, a region in the velocity space where the blade's lift differs significantly from regular regions. This may lead to instability and therefore this region is avoided, typically by increasing the horizontal speed. This paper researches this phenomenon in the context of small scale quadcopters. The region corresponding to the VRS is identified by combining first principles modeling and wind tunnel experiments. Moreover, we propose that the so called WBS or autorotation region should also be avoided for quadcopters, which is not necessarily the case for helicopters. A model is proposed for the velocity constraints that the quadcopter must meet to avoid these regions. Then, the problem of designing optimal time descend trajectories that avoid the VRS and WBS regions is tackled. Finally, the optimal trajectories are implemented on a quadcopter. The flight tests show that by following the designed trajectories, the quadcopter is able to descend considerably faster than purely vertical trajectories that also avoid the VRS and WBS., Comment: 12 pages, 19 figures

In this paper the problem of boundary control of vibration in a clamped-free strain gradient Timoshenko micro-cantilever is studied. For getting systems closer to reality, the force or moment exertion conditions should be modeled. To this end, a piezoelectric layer is laminated on one side of the beam and the controlling actuation is applied through the piezoelectric voltage. The beam and piezoelectric layer are coupled and modeled at the same time and the dynamic equations and boundary conditions of the system are achieved using the Hamilton principle. To achieve the purpose of eliminating vibration of the system, the control law is obtained from a Lyapunov function using Lasalle invariant set theorem. The control law has a form of feedback from the spatial derivatives of boundary states of the beam. The finite element method using the strain gradient Timoshenko beam element has been used and then the simulation is performed to illustrate the impact of the proposed controller to the micro beam.

This study focuses on the exact observability of a non-classical Euler-Bernoulli micro-beam equation. This non-classical model was derived based on the strain gradient elasticity theory, which is intended to explain the phenomenon of size effect at the micron scale. Spectral properties of the corresponding state operator are studied; an asymptotic expression for eigenvalues is calculated, and eigenfunctions are analyzed in order to check the necessary conditions for the exact observability of the system. By examining the eigenfunctions, it is shown that among non-collocated boundary outputs, only measurement of the non-classical moment at the root of the beam yields an admissible observation operator and also defines an exactly observable system. An alternative proof based on the multiplier method, which is commonly employed in the literature on the observability and controllability of infinite dimensional dynamical systems, is presented to provide a comparison between the time and frequency domain approaches., Comment: Also available at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7820151/