This thesis involves modeling, controller design, and test case simulations for an underwater vehicle. Firstly, a complete dynamic model of the vehicle is developed with six degrees of freedom. The model includes the nonlinearities associated with the hydrodynamic forces and moments. The thrusters of the vehicle are also modeled. Then, using appropriate linearizations of the model, position and rate controllers are designed for the forward, downward, and turning motions of the vehicle. Finally, the designed controllers are tested for various maneuvers by means of simulations using the nonlinear dynamic model of the vehicle. The simulation results show that the designed controllers are quite satisfactory for the intended maneuvers.

In this thesis, a method to the solution of autonomous navigation problem of a robot working in an outdoor application is sought. The robot will operate in unknown terrain where there is no a priori map present, and the robot must localize itself while simultaneously mapping the environment. This is known as Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) problem in the literature. The SLAM problem is attempted to be solved by using the correlation between range data acquired at different poses of the robot. A robot operating outdoors will traverse unstructured terrain, therefore for localization, pitch, yaw and roll angles must also be taken into account along with the (x,y,z) coordinates of the robot. The Iterative Closest Points (ICP) algorithm is used to find this transformation between different poses of the robot and find its location. In order to collect the range data, a system composing of a laser range finder and an angular positioning system is used. During localization and mapping, odometry data is fused with range data.

The purpose of the thesis is to achieve a hybrid force and motion control method of parallel manipulators working in a constrained environment, in the presence of joint flexibility that occurs at the actuated joints. A flexible joint is modeled and the equations of motion of the parallel manipulator are derived by using the Lagrange formulation. The structural damping of the active joints, viscous friction at the passive joints and the rotor damping are also considered in the model. It is shown that in a flexible joint manipulator, the acceleration level inverse dynamic equations are singular because the control torques do not have instantaneous effect on the manipulator end-effector contact forces and accelerations due to the flexibility. Implicit numerical integration methods are utilized for solving the singular equations. As a case study, a two legged constrained planar parallel manipulator with three degrees of freedom is simulated to illustrate the performance of the method.

In this thesis a mechatronics education desk is developed. The system developed is a low cost, versatile mechatronics education and teaching environment that aims to facilitate hands-on education of undergradutate level mechatronics students. The desk is formed of three main modules that address the needs of mechatronics education: The WorkDesk, Mechatronic Building Blocks and Experimental Setups. These parts are well designed and presented to form a complete and coordinated solution for mechatronics education. The WorkDesk is a platform devoted to the mechatronics engineering trainee, which provides mechanical, electrical and software prototyping that enables studying, testing and parts integration for mechatronic projects. The components building up the WorkDesk are selected or developed to facilitate mechatronics design and prototyping. Mechatronic building blocks necessary for mechatronics teaching are identified and selected to be a part of the system. In order to support these modules, low cost custom building blocks are also developed. These include, an autonomous mobile robot kit and a versatile interface board called ready2go. Demonstrative experiments with custom developed building blocks are also presented. Two experimental setups are developed and presented in the scope of the thesis. The setups, Intelligent Money Selector and Heater/Cooler, address and demonstrate many aspects of mechatronic systems as well as aid introducing systems approach in mechatronics education. As a consequence, a mechatronics education desk is developed and presented with many hands-on educational case studies. The system developed forms an extensible and flexible software and hardware architecture and platform that enables integration of additional mechatronics education modules.

Ankara Wind Tunnel (AWT) operated by T&Uuml / BiTAK-SAGE is the only big sized wind tunnel in Turkey. The AWT was constructed in late 1940&rsquo / s but was not operated until 1993 when the tunnel was turned over T&Uuml / BiTAK-SAGE. Since 1993, a series of modernization work has been undergoing in order to match the demands of the 21st century. In wind tunnels, models are positioned by special mechanisms that are instrumented to get the test data specific to the test performed. Models are assembled from their rear sides on these mechanisms called model support systems in order not to influence the flow around them. In this thesis, a conceptual design of a 6 degrees-of-freedom model support system for AWT is accomplished. A detailed system model is developed for the controller design. A force controller to perform store separation tests in real time is designed, tuned, and validated with computer simulations.

Le présent travail se donne pour tache de montrer comment la pensée de Martin Heidegger en tant que prospection sur ce qui est le plus digne d’être pensé, sur l’être en tant qu’être, fournit et laisse ouvert un nouveau chemin qui conduit vers Dieu d’une manière plus originaire. Pour arriver à accomplir notre propos, nous sectionnons la présentation de nos arguments en douze chapitres. Nous présentons, dans les premiers chapitres, la manière de traiter la question de Dieu dans la phénoménologie husserlienne et dans la pensée métaphysique traditionnelle ainsi que la critique que Heidegger adresse à chacune d’elles, soit-il de manière directe ou indirecte, et sa proposition d’aller vers une nouvelle pensée plus originaire. Ensuite, la nécessité de disposer d’un nouvel accès au langage pour parler de Dieu nous véhicule à ce que Heidegger estime avoir découvert : un nouvelle accès au sacré à travers de la pensée lucide de la poésie. Postérieurement, nous analysons le lien qui s’établit à l’intérieur du Quadriparti, comme nouvelle manière de concevoir le monde, entre le ciel, la terre, les divins et les mortels afin de comprendre cette possibilité qu’ont les mortels de recevoir les signes de Dieu. Dans les derniers chapitres, enfin, nous examinons comment le langage poétique et la nouvelle conception du monde, dérivé du Quadriparti, ont fourni à Heidegger les éléments nécessaires pour avancer au-delà de l’être et pour s’ouvrir à une nouvelle topologie qui se déplie, de manière événementielle, comme avancement du dévoilement de la vérité de l’être en tant qu’être et, par conséquent, de la vérité de Dieu. / The main task of the present work is to show how Martin Heidegger's thought, as an exploration of what is most worthy to be thought, about being as being, provides and leaves opened a new path that leads to God in a more original way. To accomplish our purposes, we have divided our main argument in twelve chapters. We present, in the early chapters, how to handle the question of God in Husserl's phenomenology and in traditional metaphysics as well as the critique that Heidegger sends to each of them, in a directly or indirectly way, and his proposal of moving towards a new and more original thought. After that, the need to dispose of a new access to language to talk about God leads us to what Heidegger believes to have discovered : a new access to the sacred through the lucid thought of poetry. Subsequently, we analyze the link established within the Fourfold, as a new way of conceiving the world, between heaven, earth, divines and mortals in order to understand the possibility of mortals to receive signs of God. Finally, in the last chapters, we examine how the poetic language and the new conception of the world, derived from the Fourfold, have provided to Heidegger the necessary elements to move beyond being and to open himself to a new topology that unfolds, eventually, as advancement of the unveiling of the truth of being as being and, therefore, of the truth of God.

No description available.

Despite the ongoing political debate regarding the legality of medical marijuana, clinical investigations of the therapeutic use of cannabinoids are now more prevalent than at any time in history. Cannabinoids have been shown to have analgesic, anti-spasmodic, anticonvulsant, anti-tremor, anti-psychotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-emetic and appetite-stimulant properties. There are mainly two well-known cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2, located in the central (CB1) and peripheral (CB2) nervous systems as well as the immune system. More recently, endocannabinoids (ligands) and their receptors have also been found in the skeleton which appear as the main body system and physiologically regulated by CB2. This study aimed to examine the effect of both CB1 and CB2 receptor stimulation on wound closure response of MG-63 osteoblast bone cell monolayers using different treatments with cannabinoid such as Winn55,212-2, URB602 and HU308. Also, cell adhesion, cell proliferation and cell length was investigated. The study also aimed to examine the effect of HU308 treatments in combination with TGF-β3 (transforming growth factor beta -3) on wound healing, cell adhesion and extracellular matrix up regulation (collagen type I, fibronectin and protien S-100A6) as well as other biological factors such as secretion of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2) and nitric oxide (NO). Finally, this study investigated HU308/TGF-β3 combination treatment on the regulation of extracellular matrix (collagen type I, fibronectin and protien S-100A6) in a 3D multilayer system of MG-63 osteoblast bone cells. Wound healing assays of MG-63 monolayers revealed accelerated wound repair as well as increased cell proliferation mainly regulated through CB2 receptors, and that treatments with HU308 and HU308/TGF-β3 achieved minimum closure timings compared with control groups (P<0.05). Our finding suggested that proliferation rate with 500nM HU308 was significantly higher than control and TGF-β3/HU308 combination groups (P<0.05). Interestingly, percentage of wound remained open after 15 hours for combination groups was 17.6%±1.32 whereas treatment with 500nM HU308 had 20%±2.25 indicating that the combination groups took the lead throughout wound healing. It was also observed that bridge formation in all treatment groups was taking place between 15 to 20 hour periods whereas within control treatments bridge formation started to take place after 25 hours. Cell surface attachment was examined via the trypsinization assay in which the time taken to trypsinize cells from the surface provided a means of assessing the strength of attachment. The results indicated that higher concentrations of HU308 (2μM), induced significant force of cell attachment compared with control and concentrations of 500nM and 1μM (P<0.05). However, groups treated with TGF-β3 and combination HU308/TGF-β3 indicated reduced cell surface attachment compared with control groups, indicating enhanced cell migration. Immunofluorescence staining as well as Elisa based semi-quantification technique indicated that both collagen type I and fibronectin were unregulated using higher concentrations of HU308 with decreased cell proliferation compared to lower concentrations. Nevertheless, protein S-100A6 was up-regulated in treatments with HU308, TGF-β3 and their combination HU308/TGF-β3 (P<0.05), indicating the positive role of these treatments in promoting cell differentiation. MMP-2 levels in the current study were also shown to be concentration-dependent, i.e. higher concentrations of HU308 significantly reduced MMP-2 secretion leading to decreased cell migration, while HU308/TGF-β3 combination treatment increased MMP-2 levels, indicating an increase in cell migration. The current study also examined levels of nitric oxide synthesis in relation to different treatments with HU308, TGF-β3 and HU308/TGF-β3 combination. It was found that nitric oxide up-regulation influences rate of MG-63 osteoblast wound healing in a concentration dependent manner. Lastly, UpCell culture dishes proved to have efficacy in obtaining a multilayer model of MG-63 osteoblast system in-vitro through changes in cell morphology. It was also found that treatments with HU308, TGF-β3 and HU308/TGF-β3 combination influenced collagen type I, fibronecton and protein S-100A6 secretion. These findings supported the earlier Elisa based semi-quantification results obtained for monolayer cultures.

No description available.

Die Arbeit ist der regelungstheoretischen Betrachtung von mechanischen Systemen mit mehr Freiheitsgraden als Stellgrößen gewidmet. Dabei werden Aspekte aus den Teilgebieten Modellbildung, Systemanalyse, Steuerungsentwurf und Reglerentwurf behandelt. Den Ausgangspunkt bilden die aus dem Lagrange-Formalismus resultierenden Bewegungsgleichungen, für welche neben verschiedene partiell linearisierten Zustandsdarstellungen auch eine spezielle Byrnes-Isidori-Normalform eingeführt wird. Im Unterschied zu einer früher vorgeschlagenen ähnliche Normalform existiert diese "Lagrange-Byrnes-Isidori-Normalform" immer. Weiterhin wird die bedeutende Eigenschaft der differentiellen Flachheit im Zusammenhang mit mechanischen Systemen untersucht. Die bestehende Lücke zwischen den bekannten notwendigen und hinreichenden Flachheitsbedingungen bildet die Motivation zur Anpassung der Regelflächenbedingung auf mechanische Systeme in Lagrange-Byrnes-Isidori-Normalform. Parallel dazu wird die Flachheitsanalyse auf Basis des sogenannten Variationssystems betrachtet. Dabei handelt es sich um ein System von 1-Formen, die durch Anwendung der äußeren Ableitung auf die impliziten Systemgleichungen entstehen. Äquivalent dazu können auch die in einer rechteckigen Polynommatrix bezüglich des Zeitableitungsoperators zusammengefassten Koeffizienten der Basisformen untersucht werden. Die Flachheit eines Systems ist nun gerade äquivalent zur Existenz einer unimodularen Vervollständigung dieser Matrix, welche zudem noch eine bestimmte Integrabilitätsbedingung erfüllen muss. Durch Anwendung des Satzes von Frobenius können aus diesen in der bisherigen Formulierung nur schwer überprüfbaren Bedingungen deutlich einfachere hergeleitet werden. Für den Eingrößenfall ergibt sich dadurch eine erheblich Verringerung des Rechenaufwandes im Vergleich zum Referenzansatz. Im Mehrgrößenfall ist die Situation komplizierter: Durch das Fallenlassen der Unimodularitätsforderung und die Ausnutzung der speziellen Struktur mechanischer Systeme erhält man eine neue notwendige Bedingung für Flachheit, welche sich in endlich vielen Schritten auswerten lässt. Allerdings konnte mit dieser die vermutete Nichtflachheit für die untersuchten mechanischen Beispielsysteme nicht nachgewiesen werden. Einen weiteren Untersuchungsgegenstand bildet das Konzept der Konfigurationsflachheit. Für diese Eigenschaft ist gefordert, dass ein flacher Ausgang existieren muss, der nur von den Konfigurationskoordinaten abhängt. Basierend auf theoretischen Überlungen und dem Fehlen von Gegenbeispielen wird die Hypothese aufgestellt, dass für konservative mechanische Systeme Flachheit und Konfigurationsflachheit äquivalent sind. Für lineare mechanische Systeme kann diese Hypothese mit Hilfe der Kronecker-Normalform von Matrizenscharen verifiziert werden. Bezüglich des Entwurfs von Solltrajektorien werden neben der Darstellung bekannter Verfahren für lineare und für flache Systeme zwei weitere Ansätze genauer diskutiert. Der erste basiert auf der numerischen Lösung des aus dem Steuerungsentwurf resultierenden Randwertproblems. Dazu wird ein angepasstes Kollokationsverfahren konstruiert, welches die Elimination von Systemgrößen durch die explizite Berücksichtigung von Integratorketten ermöglicht, die bei partiell linearisierten Systemen stets auftreten. Unter bestimmten Bedingungen bewirkt dies eine erhebliche Reduktion der Rechenzeit. Der zweite Ansatz betrachtet die Überführung zwischen zwei Ruhelagen und beruht auf der Zeitumkehrsymmetrie, die alle konservativen mechanischen Systeme aufweisen. Er besteht aus mehreren Schritten: Zunächst wird für beide Ruhelagen eine Rückführung mit möglichst großem Attraktivitätsgebiet entworfen. Danach wird das System simulativ ausgehend von der Zielruhelage in der Startruhelage stabilisiert. Die so erhaltene Eingangstrajektorie kann dann bezüglich der Zeit invertiert werden, um das System aus der Startruhelage in die Nähe der Zielruhelage zu überführen, wo schließlich der entsprechende Regler aktiviert wird. In praktischen Realisierungen von unteraktuierten Regelungssystemen treten auf Grund von Effekten wie trockener Reibung und Getriebespiel oft Dauerschwingungen mit schwer vorhersagbaren und beeinflussbaren Parametern auf. Als Alternative zur klassischen Stabilisierung einer (theoretischen) Ruhelage wird deshalb eine Rückführung hergeleitet, welche für ein gegebenes lineares System einen stabilen Grenzzyklus mit vorgebbarer Frequenz und Amplitude asymptotisch stabilisiert.