<p dir="ltr">Introduces a new framework and state-of-the-art algorithm in closed-loop prediction for motion planning under differential constraints. More specifically, this work introduces the idea of sampling on specific "sampling regions" rather than the entire workspace to speed-up the motion planning process by orders of magnitude.</p>

In laser materials processing, the direct measurement and characterization of material and process depth is traditionally a diffcult task. This is particularly difficult when such information needs to be obtained in real-time for feedback and dynamic analysis applications. This thesis outlines a novel method and apparatus for real-time depth measurement during laser processes such as welding, drilling, cutting and ablation called inline coherent imaging (ICI). The approach borrows the coherent imaging ideas from the primarily medical field of optical coherence tomography and adapts them to the new application. Without requirements for flawless image quality and limitations on sample exposure the design is free to emphasize speed in acquisition and processing. Furthermore, the imaging optics are specialized for compatibility with off-the-shelf beam delivery systems. Several generations of the imaging technique and relevant design equations are described and shown and realized. Also described is the design and construction of two laser processing stations used for testing ICI in macro- and micro-processing applications. A variety of applications for ICI in the understanding of percussion drilling and welding of metals and other industrial materials are discussed. The imaging technique is further extended to provide manual and fully automatic closed-loop control of drilling and ablation processes in industrial materials. Finally, some important applications of ICI in the processing of bone in both open and closed-loop configurations are demonstrated. / Thesis (Ph.D, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2012-11-20 15:31:21.708

In laser materials processing, the direct measurement and characterization of material and process depth is traditionally a diffcult task. This is particularly difficult when such information needs to be obtained in real-time for feedback and dynamic analysis applications. This thesis outlines a novel method and apparatus for real-time depth measurement during laser processes such as welding, drilling, cutting and ablation called inline coherent imaging (ICI). The approach borrows the coherent imaging ideas from the primarily medical field of optical coherence tomography and adapts them to the new application. Without requirements for flawless image quality and limitations on sample exposure the design is free to emphasize speed in acquisition and processing. Furthermore, the imaging optics are specialized for compatibility with off-the-shelf beam delivery systems. Several generations of the imaging technique and relevant design equations are described and shown and realized. Also described is the design and construction of two laser processing stations used for testing ICI in macro- and micro-processing applications. A variety of applications for ICI in the understanding of percussion drilling and welding of metals and other industrial materials are discussed. The imaging technique is further extended to provide manual and fully automatic closed-loop control of drilling and ablation processes in industrial materials. Finally, some important applications of ICI in the processing of bone in both open and closed-loop configurations are demonstrated. / Thesis (Ph.D, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2012-11-04 15:34:14.379

Other than mobile hydraulics and high voltage switchgears, Bucher Hydraulics is also involved in the less-known area of hydraulic lifts. In fact, Bucher Hydraulics did invent the electronically controlled lift valve in the 1970s. Since then, Bucher Hydraulics developed a wide line of products for hydraulic elevators, such as valves and power units. In 2012, this valve family included various sizes, pressure ranges, systems with constant motor speeds, inverter-driven motors, energy-efficient solutions with hydraulic counterweight, as well as customized solutions. As the common principle, all these solutions apply an electronic closed-loop control that uses a volumetric flow sensor and a proportional actuator. Since 2012, Bucher Hydraulics is substituting this valve family with a new generation, the iValve. Every iValve uses several self-teaching algorithms to adapt to its environment. Their on-board and cabinet electronics control solenoid currents and measure flow, pressure, and temperature. These features enable the iValve to self-monitor, to adapt to operating parameters, and to analyze and log information about itself and the attached system. This report on a highly specialized product is meant to provide inspiring insights.

This project aims to build up a soft robotic gripper that mimics human hands and design a closedloop control system. A soft gripper model is established with Finite Element Method (FEM) to describe the relation between air pressure input and gripper deformation. The best soft gripper dimensions are selected according to the FEM model and the gripper is then fabricated with Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printing method. Closed-loop angle control before the soft gripper touches the object is used to ensure a precise grasp. A camera sensor is used for the acquisition of the bending angle and a pressure regulator is applied to supply the air pressure. A closed-loop experiment platform is built based on a proportional-integral (PI) controller to realize the precise deformation control of the soft gripper. Finally, the grasp of some soft or brittle objects using the soft gripper is performed as a demonstration. / Projektet syftar till att bygga upp en mjuk robotgripare som efterliknar mänskliga händer och utformar ett slutet styrsystem. Mjuk griparmodell är upprättad med Finite element Method (FEM) för att beskriva förhållandet mellan lufttrycksingång och gripar deformation. De bästa mjuka gripdimensionerna väljs enligt FEM-modellen och griparen tillverkas sedan med Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D-tryckningsmetod. Vinkelstyrning med sluten slinga innan den mjuka griparen berör objektet används för att säkerställa ett exakt grepp. En kamerasensor används för att erhålla böjningsvinkeln och en tryckregulator appliceras för att tillföra lufttrycket. En experimentplattform med sluten slinga är byggd baserad på en proportionellintegrerad (PI) styrenhet för att realisera den exakta deformationskontrollen för den mjuka griparen. Slutligen utförs grepp om vissa mjuka eller spröda föremål som använder den mjuka griparen som en demonstration.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a powerful emerging technology for fabrication of components with complex geometries using a variety of materials. However, despite promising potential, due to the complexity of the process dynamics, how to ensure product quality and consistency of AM parts efficiently during the process still remains challenging. Therefore, the objective of this dissertation is to develop effective methodologies for online automatic quality monitoring and improvement, i.e., to build a basis for smart additive manufacturing. The fast-growing sensor technology can easily generate a massive amount of real-time process data, which provides excellent opportunities to address the barriers of online quality assurance in AM through data-driven perspectives. Although this direction is very promising, the online sensing data typically have high dimensionality and complex inherent structure, which causes the tasks of real-time data-driven analytics and decision-making to be very challenging. To address these challenges, multiple data-driven approaches have been developed in this dissertation to achieve effective feature extraction, process modeling, and closed-loop quality control. These methods are successfully validated by a typical AM process, namely, fused filament fabrication (FFF). Specifically, four new methodologies are proposed and developed as listed below, (1) To capture the variation of hidden patterns in sensor signals, a feature extraction approach based on spectral graph theory is developed for defect detection in online quality monitoring of AM. The most informative feature is extracted and integrated with a statistical control chart, which can effectively detect the anomalies caused by cyber-physical attack. (2) To understand the underlying structure of high dimensional sensor data, an effective dimension reduction method based on an integrated manifold learning approach termed multi-kernel metric learning embedded isometric feature mapping (MKML-ISOMAP) is proposed for online process monitoring and defect diagnosis of AM. Based on the proposed method, process defects can be accurately identified by supervised classification algorithms. (3) To quantify the layer-wise quality correlation in AM by taking into consideration of reheating effects, a novel bilateral time series modeling approach termed extended autoregressive (EAR) model is proposed, which successfully correlates the quality characteristics of the current layer with not only past but also future layers. The resulting model is able to online predict the defects in a layer-wise manner. (4) To achieve online defect mitigation for AM process, a closed-loop quality control system is implemented using an image analysis-based proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller, which can mitigate the defects by adaptively adjusting machine parameters during the printing process in a timely manner. By fully utilizing the online sensor data with innovative data analytics and closed-loop control approaches, the above-proposed methodologies are expected to have excellent performance in online quality assurance for AM. In addition, these methodologies are inherently integrated into a generic framework. Thus, they can be easily transformed for applications in other advanced manufacturing processes. / Doctor of Philosophy / Additive manufacturing (AM) technology is rapidly changing the industry; and online sensor-based data analytics is one of the most effective enabling techniques to further improve AM product quality. The objective of this dissertation is to develop methodologies for online quality assurance of AM processes using sensor technology, advanced data analytics, and closed-loop control. It aims to build a basis for the implementation of smart additive manufacturing. The proposed new methodologies in this dissertation are focused to address the quality issues in AM through effective feature extraction, advanced statistical modeling, and closed-loop control. To validate their effectiveness and efficiency, a widely used AM process, namely, fused filament fabrication (FFF), is selected as the experimental platform for testing and validation. The results demonstrate that the proposed methods are very promising to detect and mitigate quality defects during AM operations. Consequently, with the research outcome in this dissertation, our capability of online defect detection, diagnosis, and mitigation for the AM process is significantly improved. However, the future applications of the accomplished work in this dissertation are not just limited to AM. The developed generic methodological framework can be further extended to many other types of advanced manufacturing processes.

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O adequado deslocamento autônomo de robôs móveis entre fileiras de cultura agrícola implica a apropriada configuração estrutural do veículo, bem como considerar a detecção das filas de plantas ou árvores, e também o desenvolvimento de um sistema de controle de locomoção. Esta tese apresenta o desenvolvimento de um sistema de controle em malha fechada baseado na técnica de otimização H&#8734;, que é aplicado no deslocamento entre fileiras de plantio de um robô móvel agrícola em escala reduzida. Mais especificamente, o foco deste trabalho é o seguimento de caminhos na cultura através da aplicação de técnicas de controle robusto. Duas questões foram fundamentais na elaboração da tese: 1) \"Quais são os métodos e procedimentos necessários para implementar a navegação autônoma de um protótipo de robô móvel entre fileiras de cultura agrícola?\" e, 2) \"É possível aplicar os conceitos relativos a sistemas de controle em malha fechada para solucionar o problema da navegação autônoma do robôs móveis entre fileiras de cultura agrícola?\". Primeiramente é apresentada uma revisão bibliográfica sobre robôs móveis agrícolas que tem locomoção baseada em rodas. Posteriormente, os conceitos relacionados com o projeto de controle baseado na técnica de otimização H&#8734; são fundamentados. Em seguida, são descritos os detalhes relacionados com a construção da plataforma robótica proposta, o projeto do controlador de caminho, as respectivas simulações e as especificações para a realização de testes em ambiente agrícola. Finalmente os resultados alcançados são apresentados. Conclui-se que o sistema de controle proposto se mostrou efetivo na realização da navegação autônoma do robô entre as fileiras da cultura previamente configuradas para a avaliação do seu desempenho. / Appropriate autonomous navigation of mobile robots between crop rows implies, besides appropriate structural configuration, considering detection of plants or trees in rows, as well as the development of a locomotion control system. Consequently, this thesis presents the development of a closed loop control system based on H&#8734; optimization technique, which is applied to control the navigation of a low scale car-like mobile robot between crop rows; more specifically, main focus of this work is tracking paths in the culture, by the application of robust control techniques. Two questions were fundamental in the development of the thesis: 1) which are the methods and procedures to implement the autonomous navigation of a mobile robot prototype between crop rows? And 2) is it possible to apply the concepts of closed-loop control systems to solve the problem of autonomous navigation of mobile robots between crop rows? Firstly, we provide a literature review on agricultural mobile robots whose mobility depends on wheels. Secondly, control systems design fundamentals based on the H&#8734; optimization technique are addressed. Thirdly, details related to the construction of the proposed robotic platform and also the design of the proposed path controller (including its simulation and specifications for testing within an agricultural environment) are described. Finally, results of our findings are presented. It is concluded that our control system showed to be effective in the realization of autonomous navigation between crop rows in agricultural environment, which was properly configured in order to evaluate the performance of our robot.

Nas últimas décadas, a indústria automobilística mundial vem investindo no desenvolvimento tecnológico dos motores, com o objetivo de alcançar melhor eficiência energética e atender às legislações que limitam a quantidade de resíduos tóxicos nos gases de exaustão e menor consumo de combustível. Isso resultou na implantação dos sistemas de gerenciamento eletrônico do motor, que possibilitam funcionalidades para se controlar diversas variáveis do motor, aumentando consideravelmente o rendimento do motor. Este trabalho tem como objetivos explorar a dinâmica de um motor de combustão interna ciclo Otto, os sinais elétricos associados, e os componentes de seu gerenciamento eletrônico. A partir dessas informações, o trabalho apresenta o processo de analise dos sinais elétricos e as estratégias de controle utilizadas em um sistema de gerenciamento real. Assim, são desenvolvidos o hardware e o firmware de uma unidade microcontroladora para gerenciamento eletrônico do motor. O hardware foi elaborado com uma concepção centralizada, ou seja, foi usado apenas um microcontrolador de 32-bit para gerenciar todas as funções. O firmware de controle foi desenvolvido de forma modular baseado em modelos de malha fechada. O modelo matemático do motor foi identificado utilizando técnicas de controle em um veículo real, e a avalidação do modelo foi obtida através de testes em um dinamômetro inercial. / In the last few decades, the world automotive industry has invested in the technological development of the engines, aiming to get better energetic efficiency and comply with legislations that limit the amount of toxic exhaustion gases. This resulted in electronic management systems for engines, which allowed flexibility to control several engine-related variables, considerably increasing the engine efficiency. This work aims to explore the Otto cycle combustion engine dynamics, its electronic signals, and the elements of its electronic management. Based on that information, this work presents the analysis process of the electronic signals, and the control strategies used in a real management system. Then, the hardware and firmware of a microcontroller unity are developed for the electronic management of the engine. The hardware was elaborated with a centralized concept, i.e., only one 32-bit microcontroller was used to control all functions. The control firmware was developed in a modular scheme, based on the closed loop models. The engine mathematical model was identified using control techniques in a real engine. The results were obtained by tests in an inertial dynamometer.