<p>    Drift tubes (DT) are prominent tools used in Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) to separate ions in the gas phase due to their difference in mobility. While prominently used for small ions (< 10nm), their use for larger particles (up to 100nm) is limited and can only be attempted at atmospheric pressure due to diffusion. A system that specializes in high sensitivity larger particles (up to 1000nm) is the Differential Mobility Analyzer (DMA), but lacks in resolution (< 10 for particles 30-1000nm). The idea behind this work is to be able to design a new IMS system based on similar<br> principles to the DT but that allows high resolution and sensitivity for a large range of sizes if possible. The primary idea revolves around the principle of non-constant linear fields to try and control the width of the ion packet as it travels through the system. The first attempt was an Inverted Drift Tube (IDT) which lacked sufficient<br> sensitivity. This was followed by the development of the Varying Field Drift Tube (VFDT) which was the first of such systems to perform better than a regular DT, but only marginally. Finally, the last version of the system included a secondary pulse and labeled High Voltage Pulse - Varying Field Drift Tube (HVP-VFDT), which solved<br> some of the issues of the VFDT and was able to achieve resolving powers of 250, 3-5 times higher than regular DT.</p> <p><br>    In the IDT system, a gas flow is used to drive the packet of ions through the drift region while a linearly increasing electric field which is in the opposite direction of the flow is used to slow down the ions and separate them. In this regime it is the largest ions that arrive at the detector first, hence the name Inverted Drift Tube.This technique would allow larger ions and particles to be detected. At the same time, the linear field can be shown to have diffusion constriction (auto-correction) properties, where the broad distributions may be narrowed in the axial direction. However, the gas flow is difficult to control well and the parabolic velocity profile of the gas flow in the tube is a unfavorable factor for the system. </p> <p><br></p> <p>    To avoid the issue of the parabolic velocity but still take into account the VFDT takes the advantage of the diffusion auto-correction, the gas flow is suppressed and a linearly decreasing field is used to drive the ions. By solving the Nernst-Planck equation, we show that the VFDT has a spatial resolving power that is much higher than that of the regular DT. A DT was built and tested using a mixture of tetraalkylammonium salts. The transformation from the raw variable arrival time distribution to collision cross section or mobility diameter is derived and the linear relationship<br> makes it simple for calibration and transformation. A resolving power of over 90 is achieved experimentally although higher resolving powers were expected theory. <br>  <br>  It turns out that the difference between theory and experiments had to do with the fact that in the VFDT, the spatial and time resolving powers are different.This<br> is due to the low drift velocity at the end of the drift tube. To increase this velocity, a high voltage pulse is applied at a certain time depending on the ion/s of interest with a new system, HVP-VFDT. The system was tested numerically and experimentally where several parameters where tested resulting in a higher resolving powers when compared with DT and VFDT systems.The simulation results showed that the transmission efficiency and resolving power can be controlled by raising or lowering the field. Overall, the experimental setup tested reached resolving powers of 250 with moderate gate pulses. The HVP-VFDT system also shows that the distribution may be narrowed over the initial one, something impossible with a real drift tube and<br> opens a myriad of possibilities, including resolving powers of several thousands under low pressure and RF fields. <br>    <br>  The next step will be to couple the system to a Mass Spectrometer which is expected to be completed in the near future. To understand how a DT works with   RF fields and low pressure, a collaboration was done with David Clemmer’s lab and his 4 meter drift tube that can achieve resolutions of 150 in Helium at 4torr. Here, we tested a set of polymers and compared the results to those acquired in Nitrogen with a DMA. The shape and structure of the polymers in the gas phase was studied showing<br> self-similar assemblies that corresponds to a globule with an appendix sticking out. <br>  <br>    </p>

This compilation thesis presents an overarching framework on the utilization of nonlinear model predictive control(NMPC) for various applications in the context of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) path planning and collision avoidance. Fast and novel optimization algorithms allow for NMPC formulations with high runtime requirement, as those posed by controlling UAVs, to also have sufficiently large prediction horizons as to in an efficient manner integrate collision avoidance in the form of set-exclusion constraints that constrain the available position-space of the robot. This allows for an elegant merging of set-point reference tracking with the collision avoidance problem, all integrated in the control layer of the UAV. The works included in this thesis presents the UAV modeling, cost functions, constraint definitions, as well as the utilized optimization framework. Additional contributions include the use case on multi-agent systems, how to classify and predict trajectories of moving (dynamic) obstacles, as well as obstacle prioritization when an aerial agent is in the precense of more obstacles, or other aerial agents, than can reasonably be defined in the NMPC formulation. For the cases of dynamic obstacles and for multi-agent distributed collision avoidance this thesis offers extensive experimental validation of the overall NMPC framework. These works push the limits of the State-of-the-Art regarding real-time real-life implementations of NMPC-based collision avoidance. The works also include a novel RRT-based exploration framework that combines path planning with exploration behavior. Here, a multi-path RRT * planner plans paths to multiple pseudo-random goals based on a sensor model and evaluates them based on the potential information gain, distance travelled, and the optimimal actuation along the paths.The actuation is solved for as as the solutions to a NMPC problem, implying that the nonlinear actuator-based and dynamically constrained UAV model is considered as part of the combined exploration plus path planning problem. To the authors best knowledge, this is the first time the optimal actuation has been considered in such a planning problem. For all of these applications, the utilized optimization framework is the Optimization Engine: a code-generation framework that generates a custom Rust-based solver from a specified model, cost function, and constraints. The Optimization Engine solves general nonlinear and nonconvex optimization problems, and in this thesis we offer extensive experimental validation of the utilized Proximal-Averaged Newton-type method for Optimal Control (PANOC) algorithm as well as both the integrated Penalty Method and Augmented Lagrangian Method for handling the nonlinear nonconvex constraints that result from collision avoidance problems.

No description available.

Wide bandgap (WBG) devices and power electronic converters (PEC) that enable the dynamic control of energy and high-power density designs inevitably contain defects including sharp edges, triple points, and cavities, which result in local electric field enhancements. The intensified local electric stresses cause either immediate dielectric breakdown or partial discharge (PD) that erodes electrical insulators and accelerates device aging. With the goal of addressing these dielectric challenges emerging in power-dense applications, this dissertation focuses on 1) modeling the dielectric characteristics of supercritical fluids (SCFs), which is a new dielectric medium with high dielectric strength and high cooling capability; and 2) establishing the optimal fabrication conditions of electrets, which is a new dielectric solution that neutralizes locally enhanced electric fields. In this dissertation, the dielectric breakdown characteristics of SCFs are modeled as a function of pressure based on the electron scattering cross section data of clusters that vary in size as a function of temperature and pressure around the critical point. The modeled breakdown electric field is compared with the experimental breakdown measurements of supercritical fluids, which show close agreement. In addition, electrets are fabricated based on the triode-corona charging method and their PD mitigation performance is evaluated through a series of PD experiments. Electrets are fabricated under various charging conditions, including charging voltage, duration, polarity, and temperature with the goal of identifying the optimal condition that leads to effective PD mitigation. The PD mitigation performance of electrets fabricated based on these charging conditions is further assessed by investigating the impact of various power electronics voltage characteristics, including dv/dt, polarity, switching frequency, and duty cycle. Electret based electric field neutralization approach is further utilized in increasing the critical flashover voltage associated with the surface flashover voltage. Moreover, due to the high mechanical strength of epoxy composites at cryogenic temperatures, in this dissertation, epoxy-based electrets are fabricated as a solution to PD in high temperature superconducting cables. The experimental demonstrations conducted with electret in this dissertation is dedicated for the establishing the electret based electric field neutralization approach as a dielectric solution for the dielectric challenges in power electronics driven systems.

Autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs) is a growing field within research. AGVs are used in areas like reconnaissance,surveillance, transportation and self-driving cars. The goal of this project is to drive a system of five AGVs modelled as differential drive vehicles along an arbitrary path through a field of obstacles while holding a formation. The goal is achieved by dividing the project into three subprojects. The first subproject is trajectory tracking of one AGV. This is achieved by using the differentialdrivemodel and driving the tracking error of the system to zero.The second subproject is formation control, where a displacement-based, double integrator model is used to get five AGVs to hold a formation of an equilateral triangle while following a path.The third subproject is collision avoidance between AGVs and static obstacles placed along the predetermined path. Collision avoidance is achieved by adding a repulsive potential field around the AGVs and obstacles. All three subprojects are then combined to achieve the goal of the project. Finally, simulations are done in Matlab which confirms that the proposed models are correct. / Autonoma vägfordon är ett växande område inom forskning. Autonoma vägfordon används inom områden som spaning, övervakning, transportering och självkörande bilar.Målet med det här projektet är att köra ett system med fem autonoma vägfordon modellerade som differentialdrivna fordon längsmed en slumpmässig väg genom ett fält med hinder samtidigt som de håller en formation. Målet uppnås genom att dela upp projektet i tre delprojekt. Det första delprojektet är banspårning med ett autonomt vägfordon. Det görs genom att använda den differentialdrivna modellen och driva systemets spårningsfel till noll. Det andra delprojektet är formationshållning där en förskjutningsbaserad dubbelintegratormodell används för att få fem fordon att följa en väg samtidigt som de håller formen av en liksidig triangel. Det tredje delprojektet handlar om att undvika kollision mellan fordonen och statiska hinder som placerats på vägen. Kollisionsundvikning uppnås genom att lägga på ett repellerande potentialfält runt alla agenter och hinder. Alla tre delprojekt kombineras sedan för att lösa projektmålet. Slutligen görs simuleringar i Matlab vilket bekräftar att de framtagna modellerna är korrekta. / Kandidatexjobb i elektroteknik 2022, KTH, Stockholm

Since bicycles travel at high speeds and are frequently involved in traffic accidents, reducing bicycle fatalities and injuries is one of the most important issues in traffic safety. In car-to-cyclist collisions, the perpendicular configuration occupies the largest proportion of these collisions. Driver responses in lateral intrusions of cyclists at intersections have been examined [1,2], focusing on the drivers' braking reaction time and the time-to-collisions (TTC). Cyclist behavior can also have a significant intluence on car-to-cyclist collision occurrence. Cyclist bebavior has been investigated in naturalistic conditions and using in-depth accident data. In addition, the videos of drive recorders provide useful information on the cyclist behaviors [3]. This study investigated cyclist behavior with the drive recorder of cars in near-miss incidents and collisions. [From: Introduction]

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur sjöbefälsstudenter tillämpar sjövägsreglerna vid risk för kollision under nedsatt sikt samt belysa vad besluten grundats på. Studien är kvalitativ och genomfördes med hjälp av ett förberedande frågeformulär, fallstudie och en avslutande gruppdiskussion. Studien utfördes genom en rekonstruktion av kollisionen mellan fartygen Tricolor och Kariba där fartyget Clary varit en bidragen orsak. För att bredda perspektivet i studien framförde respondenterna vid två separata simuleringar fartyget Kariba, som fick större delen av skulden samt Clary, som genom oaktsamhet bidragit till kollisionen. Resultatet visar att ungefär hälften av respondenterna tillämpar regelverket felaktigt och med ett för litet passageavstånd. Studien visar också att respondenterna använder sig av information från flera olika navigationstekniska hjälpmedel vid beslut. / The purpose of this study is to investigate how sea captain students apply COLREGs when there is a risk of collision and illustrate what the decisions are based on. The study is qualitative and was conducted using a preparatory questionnaire, case study and a concluding group discussion. The study was carried out through a reconstruction based on the collision between the vessels Tricolor and Kariba where the ship Clary was a contributing factor. In order to widen the perspective of the study the respondents navigated in two separate simulations the vessels Kariba, who received most of the blame and Clary who contributed to the collision through negligence. The result shows that about half of the respondents apply COLREGs incorrectly and with a small passage distance. The study also indicates that the respondents use information from different navigation technical aids to make a decision.

Campaign GPS measurements during 2001-2003 in the transition between subduction and collision of the Banda arc reveal how strain is partitioned away from the trench and distributed to other parts of the arc-trench system. Genrich, et. al. (1996) conducted a GPS campaign (1992-1994) throughout the Eastern Sunda and Banda arcs that demonstrated partial accretion of the arc to the Australian plate. We reoccupied many of the sites from this earlier study and 7 additional stations, 3 of which are new benchmarks. Our study shortened many baselines and extended the observation epoch to ten years for many key stations. The resulting GPS velocity field for the active Banda arc-continent collision reveals: 1) several mostly rigid crustal blocks exist in the transition from subduction to collision, 2) relative to an Asian reference frame, most of these blocks move in the same direction as the Australian lower plate, but at different rates, 3) block boundaries may exist between the islands of Lombok and Komodo, Flores and Sumba, Savu and West Timor, and between Timor and Darwin, 4) the Timor Trough may account for at least 20 mm/yr of motion between Timor and Darwin, 5) a major transverse fault off the coast of West Timor separates the Savu/Flores/Sumba block from the Timor/Wetar Block and may account for variations in movement in Rote, 6) the Flores thrust moves the eastern Sunda arc north relative to Asia by decreasing amounts to the west, 7) the back-arc Wetar Thrust system takes up the majority of plate convergence between Australia and Asia, and 8) fault boundaries are not found between many blocks, such as various islands of the Sunda arc and forearc with different amounts of motion.

Analysis of foraminifera for synorogenic pelagic units of Rote and Savu Islands, Indonesia, reveals high rates of surface uplift in the past 1.5 Ma of the incipient Banda arc-continent collision. Paleodepth estimates are derived from benthonic forams and ages from planktonic forams. But estimates are complicated, however, by abundant reworking; yet several distinctive species have been found. Synorogenic deposits in western Rote yield forams of biozone Neogene (N) 18 and depths from 5000-5700 meters at the base of the section, and 3600 meters at the top of the section. Eastern Rote yields forams of N 19/20 - N 22 and depths from 5400-5700 meters. Central Rote yields N 21 and depths from 5000-5700 meters. Because all of the sections are presently about the same elevation (~200 m), long-term surface uplift rates are slightly higher (1.84-3.29 m/yr) in eastern and central Rote than those in western Rote. Forams from Savu yield ages of N19/20 - N 22. Across Savu depth estimates range from 3200-5700 meters, which yields a range of uplift rates from 1.86 mm/yr in SE Savu to 3.25 mm/yr in Central Savu. These results indicate the Banda arc-continent collision caused uplift of Rote and Savu at rates of 1-2 mm/yr over the past 3 Ma.

Collision detection between deforming models is a difficult problem for collision detection systems to handle. This problem is even more difficult when deformations are unconstrained, objects are in close proximity to one another, and when the entity count is high. We propose a method to perform collision detection between multiple deforming objects with unconstrained deformations that will give good results in close proximities. Currently no systems exist that achieve good performance on both unconstrained triangle level deformations and deformations that preserve edge connectivity. We propose a new system built as a combination of Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) based culling and Axis Aligned Bounding Box (AABB) based culling. Techniques for performing hierarchy-less GPU-based culling are given. We then discuss how and when to switch between GPU-based culling and AABB based techniques.