The main focus of the study is the implementation of techniques regarding flux estimation and rotor speed estimation by the use of sensorless closed-loop observers. Within this framework, the information about the mathematical representation of the induction motor, pulse width modulation technique and flux oriented vector control techniques together with speed adaptive flux estimation &ndash / a kind of sensorless closed loop estimation technique- and Kalman filters is given. With the comparison of sensorless closed-loop speed estimation techniques, it has been attempted to identify their superiority and inferiority to each other by the use of simulation models and real-time experiments. In the experiments, the performance of the techniques developed and used in the thesis has been examined under extensively changing speed and load conditions. The real-time experiments have been carried out by the use of TI TMS320F2812 digital signal processor, XILINX XCS2S150E Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), control card and the motor drive card Furthermore, Matlab &ldquo / Embedded Target for the TI C2000 DSP&rdquo / and &ldquo / Code Composer Studio&rdquo / software tools have been used. The simulations and experiments conducted in the study have illustrated that it is possible to increase the performance at low speeds at the expense of increased computational burden on the processor. However, in order to control the motor at zero speed, high frequency signal implementation should be used as well as a different electronic hardware.

This thesis presents a detailed SIMULINK model for a conventional capacitive &amp / #931 / -&amp / #916 / accelerometer system consisting of a MEMS accelerometer, closed-loop readout electronics, and signal processing units (e.g. decimation filters). By using this model, it is possible to estimate the performance of the full accelerometer system including individual noise components, operation range, open loop sensitivity, scale factor, etc. The developed model has been verified through test results using a capacitive MEMS accelerometer, full-custom designed readout electronics, and signal processing unit implemented on a FPGA. Conventional accelerometer system with force-feedback is used in this thesis. The sensor is a typical capacitive lateral accelerometer. The readout electronics form a 2nd order electromechanical &amp / #931 / -&amp / #916 / modulator together with the accelerometer, and provide a single-bit PDM output, which is decimated and filtered with a signal processing unit, software implemented on a FPGA. The whole system is modeled in MATLAB-SIMULINK since it has both mechanical and electrical parts. To verify the model, two accelerometer systems are implemented. Each accelerometer system is composed of a MEMS accelerometer, readout circuit, and decimation filters. These two different designs are implemented and simulation and test results are compared in terms of output noise, operational range, open loop sensitivity, and scale factor. The first design operates at 500 kHz sampling rate and has 0.48 V/g open-loop sensitivity, 58.7 &micro / g/&amp / #8730 / Hz resolution, &plusmn / 12g operation range, and 0.97*10-6 g/(output units) scale factor, where these numbers are in close agreement with the estimated results found with simulations. Similarly, the second design operates at 500 kHz sampling rate and has 0.45 V/g open-loop sensitivity, 373.3 &micro / g/&amp / #8730 / Hz resolution, &plusmn / 31g operation range, and 2.933*10-6 g/(output units) scale factor, where these numbers are also close to the estimated results found with simulations. Within this thesis study, an accelerometer sensing element design algorithm is also proposed which is based on the theoretical background obtained in accelerometer system SIMULINK model. This algorithm takes the requirements of the desired accelerometer as input and outputs the dimensions of the minimum noise accelerometer satisfying these requirements. The algorithm is extended to design three different accelerometer structures. An accelerometer sensing element is designed using the proposed design algorithm and tested in order to see performance matching of the algorithm. The designed accelerometer has &plusmn / 33.02g operational range and 155&micro / g/&amp / #8730 / Hz noise where these numbers matches with the values found by the algorithm

Copper vapour laser (CVL) pumped high repetition rate narrow bandwidth dye laser is an important source of tunable radiation. It finds numerous applications in spectroscopic investigations and selective material processing like atomic vapour laser isotope separation (AVLIS). Being wavelength selective in these applications stability of the output wavelength and bandwidth are extremely important. The stability of these parameters depend upon the refractive index fluctuation of the dye medium, due to pump beam induced temperature gradients, dye solution flow, and mechanical stability of optical components. Precise measurement of wavelength and bandwidth of a dye laser and control over parameters governing the variations are important for any stable dye laser system. In this thesis, details of investigations carried out on a Rhodamine 6G dye laser for obtaining stable wavelength and output power are presented. Parameters that affect the stability were identified, monitored and put on close loop control to achieve the desired stability. Pump beam i.e. CVL optical power, dye flow rate and dye solution temperature are mainly these parameters. CVL power is mainly a function of input electrical power and pressure of the buffer gas inside the tube. To monitor and regulate these parameters, different sensors and actuators were selected and interfaced with a master slave topology based data acquisition and control system. The DAQ and control system is designed around a micro controller card based on advanced CPU P80552 and has on chip 8 channel 10 bit multiplexed analog input, 16 TTL digital inputs and 16 digital outputs. It works as slave and PC as master. Following closed loops were designed and incorporated to maintain a stable output: a. Average output of CVL was maintained constant by regulating the electric input power through closed loop control. b. The buffer gas pressure was monitored with a semiconductor pressure sensor and was regulated using pulse width modulation. c. Temperature of the dye solution was monitored with PT100 and was controlled using proportional controller. d. Flow rate of dye solution was controlled using a variable frequency drive (VFD) for the dye circulation pump. e. The dye laser wavelength was monitored by using a high resolution spectrograph and pixel position of the peak from CCD image obtained from spectrograph is used for feedback correction using a pico motor. In the present work with application of the above-mentioned input power and pressure loops, a stable output of CVL, is achieved. Variations in power and pulse width of CVL are got limited to within 2%, from 10% when CVL system was working unregulated. This control system does the line regulations and corrects the input electrical power if variations in discharge current occur due to pressure variation. Every dye cell has limits on flow rate because of its geometry. With flow and temperature control dye cell was characterized to work with lower linewidth. VFD (variable frequency drive) is used for flow regulation. Finally active control on set wavelength was also achieved with resolution of 0.01nm accuracy. Measurement of wavelength was done with 0.3 m, 0.054 nm resolution spectrograph. Closed loop pico motor with 30 nm per step linear resolution was used for wavelength control. The thesis is organized in four chapters. First chapter presents a brief introduction to high repetition rate CVL pumped dye laser, operation of a CVL and parameters affecting the dye laser stability and their control schemes. Literature survey in this chapter is focused on different control mechanisms used with such lasers. Second chapter describes the laser system and interfacing of data acquisition system used for experimental setup. Closed loop controls for different parameters are described in this chapter. It also describes the software algorithms developed for this work. Third chapter presents experimental results and analysis with discussion on performance of the control loops. Finally the conclusion is given and few suggestions are made for further work.

本文採用數值模擬的方式，在價格具僵固性的無窮期動態Cournot模型中，探討水平式合併對廠商獲利能力及社會總福利的影響。可以發現不論市場價格調整速度的快慢，當廠商採取open-loop策略時，加入合併的廠商家數佔總產業比例必須達到某個水準，合併才會有利可圖。如果廠商使用feedback或closed-loop memoryless策略，則不論合併的廠商家數多寡，合併都能使廠商獲利。然而無論合併是否能為廠商帶來更多的利潤，只要市場上發生水平式合併，必然造成社會福利的損失。

<p>The spinal cord is an information highway continuously transmitting afferent and efferent signals to and from the brain. Although spinal cord stimulation has been used for the treatment of chronic pain for decades, its potential has not been fully explored. Spinal cord stimulation has never been used with the aim to transmit relevant information to the brain. Although, various locations along the sensory pathway have been explored for generating electrical stimulation induced sensory percepts, right from peripheral nerves, to thalamus to primary somatosensory cortex, the role of spinal cord has been largely neglected. In this dissertation, I have attempted to investigate if, electrical stimulation of dorsal columns of spinal cord called as Dorsal Column Stimulation (DCS) can be used as an effective technique to communicate therapeutic and somatosensory information to the brain. </p><p>To study the long term effects of DCS, I employed the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) rodent model of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Twice a week DCS for 30 minutes resulted in a dramatic recovery of weight and behavioral symptoms in rats treated with striatal infusions of 6-OHDA. The improvement in motor symptoms was accompanied by higher dopaminergic innervation in the striatum and increased cell count of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). These results suggest that DCS has a chronic therapeutic and neuroprotective effect, increasing its potential as a new clinical option for treating PD patients. Thus, I was able to demonstrate the long-term efficacy of DCS, as a technique for therapeutic intervention.</p><p>Subsequently, I investigated if DCS can be used as a technique to transmit artificial somatosensory information to the cortex and trained rats to discriminate multiple artificial tactile sensations. Rats were able to successfully differentiate 4 different tactile percepts generated by varying temporal patterns of DCS. As the rats learnt the task, significant changes in the encoding of this artificial information were observed in multiple brain areas. Finally, I created a Brainet that interconnected two rats: an encoder and a decoder, whereby, cortical signals from the encoder rat were processed by a neural decoder while it performed a tactile discrimination task and transmitted to the spinal cord of the decoder using DCS. My study demonstrated for the first time, a cortico-spinal communication between different organisms. </p><p>My obtained results suggest that DCS, a semi-invasive technique, can be used in the future to send prosthetic somatosensory information to the brain or to enable a healthy brain to directly modulate neural activity in the nervous system of a patient, facilitating plasticity mechanism needed for efficient recovery.</p> / Dissertation

In this research, a decision support model for coordinating sustainable product and supply chain design decisions is developed using a multi-stage hierarchical approach. The model evaluates alternate product designs and their corresponding supply chain configurations to identify the best product design and the corresponding supply chain configuration that maximizes the economic, environmental and societal benefits. The model considers a total life-cycle approach and incorporates closed-loop flow among multiple product lifecycles. In the first stage, a mixed integer linear programming model is developed to select for each product design an optimal supply chain configuration that maximizes the profit. In the subsequent stages, the economic, environmental and societal multiple life-cycle analysis models are developed which assess the economic, environment and the societal performance of each product design and its optimal supply chain configuration to identify the best product design with highest sustainability benefits. The decision support model is applied for an example problem to illustrate the procedure for identifying the best sustainable design. Later, the model is applied for a real-time refrigerator case to identify the best refrigerator design that maximizes economic, environmental and societal benefits. Further, sensitivity analysis is performed on the optimization model to study the closed-loop supply chain behavior under various situations. The results indicated that both product and supply chain design criteria significantly influence the performance of the supply chain. The results provided insights into closed-loop supply chain models and their behavior under various situations. Decision support models such as above can help a company identify the best designs that bring highest sustainability benefits, can provide a manager with holistic view and the impact of their design decisions on the supply chain performance and also provide areas for improvement.

Les évolutions scientifiques survenues ces deux dernières décennies en productique ont eu vocation à conférer plus d'automatisation aux équipements, à définir de nouvelles architectures de commande et pilotage des moyens de production permettant une plus grande flexibilité, reconfigurabilité et réactivité du système. Les initiatives de recherches internationales IMS (Intelligent Manufacturing Systems), HMS (Holonic Manufacturing Systems) ont notamment permis de proposer de nouveaux concepts et architectures s'appuyant sur la décentralisation et la distribution des fonctions dites " intelligentes " de conduite des moyens et ressources. Une nouvelle approche de conduite centrée sur le produit a également vu le jour via les travaux sur le concept d'" intelligent product ". Dans ce nouveau paradigme de " Système contrôlé par le Produit ", il s'agit de conférer au produit un rôle actif et participatif dans les décisions et les flux d'informations engendrés tout au long de son cycle de vie. Dans ce contexte, nos travaux ont permis d'expliciter la notion d'activité associée à un produit tout au long de son cycle de vie. A cet effet, nous avons mis en évidence l'apport de cette activité associée au produit en matière d'amélioration de performances tant pour le produit que pour les différents systèmes de soutien traversés. Selon une approche de type Closed-loop Product Life Management, l'enrichissement de la qualité des flux d'informations entre les différentes étapes du cycle de vie, a également été souligné. Afin de supporter ce concept d'activité, un modèle générique a été proposé. Le paradigme holonique nous a notamment permis de caractériser l'activité d'un produit " actif " constitué lui-même de sous-systèmes " actifs ". L'aspect interactionnel au sein d'un collectif de produits " actifs " a également été pris en compte au niveau du modèle. Nous avons également mis l'accent sur des implémentations réelles des concepts, que ce soit dans un contexte de fabrication flexible via la cellule de l'AIP de Valenciennes ou dans un contexte de maintenance prédictive via le projet industriel SURFER. Dans ce cadre, notre choix d'une implémentation " embarquée " de l'activité, nous démarque de la plupart des travaux réalisés au sein de la communauté française et constitue une réelle spécificité. Nos perspectives de Recherche s'articulent autour du concept d'auto-organisation qui s'avère fondamental pour le développement de systèmes intelligents. Elles visent de nombreux domaines applicatifs (systèmes de production, chaînes logistiques, systèmes de transport, systèmes hospitaliers, bâtiments intelligents...).

No description available.

Multielectrode arrays may have several advantages compared to the traditional single macroelectrode brain electrical stimulation technique including less tissue damage due to implantation and the ability to deliver several spatio-temporal patterns of stimulation. Prior work on cell cultures has shown that multielectrode arrays are capable of completely stopping seizure-like spontaneous bursting events through a distributed asynchronous multi-site approach. In my studies, I used a similar approach for controlling seizures in a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy. First, I developed a new method of electroplating in vivo microelectrode arrays for durably improving their impedance. I showed that microelectrode arrays electroplated through the new technique called sonicoplating, required the least amount of voltage in current controlled stimulation studies and also produced the least amplitude and duration of stimulation artifact compared to unplated, DC electroplated or pulse-plated microelectrodes. Second, using c-fos immunohistochemistry, I showed that 16-electrode sonicoplated microelectrode arrays can activate 5.9 times more neurons in the dorsal hippocampus compared to a single macroelectrodes while causing < 77% the tissue damage. Next, through open-loop multisite asynchronous microstimulation, I reduced seizure frequency by ~50% in the rodent model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Preliminary studies aimed at using the same stimulation protocol in closed-loop responsive and predictive seizure control did not stop seizures. Finally, through an internship at Medtronic Neuromodulation, I worked on developing and implementing a rapid algorithm prototyping research tool for closed-loop human deep brain stimulation applications.

This work focuses on speed estimation techniques for sensorless closed-loop speed control of an induction machine based on direct field-oriented control technique. Details of theories behind the algorithms are stated and their performances are verified by the help of simulations and experiments. The field-oriented control as the vector control technique is mainly implemented in two ways: indirect field oriented control and direct field oriented control. The field to be oriented may be rotor, stator, or airgap flux-linkage. In the indirect field-oriented control no flux estimation exists. The angular slip velocity estimation based on the measured or estimated rotor speed is required, to compute the synchronous speed of the motor. In the direct field oriented control the synchronous speed is computed with the aid of a flux estimator. Field Oriented Control is based on projections which transform a three phase time and speed dependent system into a two co-ordinate time invariant system. These projections lead to a structure similar to that of a DC machine control. The flux observer used has an adaptive structure which makes use of both the voltage model and the current model of the machine. The rotor speed is estimated via Kalman filter technique which has a recursive state estimation feature. The flux angle estimated by flux observer is processed taking the angular slip velocity into account for speed estimation. For closed-loop speed control of system, torque, flux and speed producing control loops are tuned by the help of PI regulators. The performance of the closed-loop speed control is investigated by simulations and experiments. TMS320F2812 DSP controller card and the Embedded Target for the TI C2000 DSP tool of Matlab are utilized for the real-time experiments.