In order for leading industrial companies to remain competitive, the process of product developement constantly needs to improve. In order to shorten development time -- that is the time from idea to product -- simulations of products in-house is becoming a popular method. This method saves money and time since expensive prototypes become unnecessary. Today the calibration of steering gears is done in test vehicles by experienced test drivers. This is a time consuming process that is very costly because of expensive test vehicles. This report investigates possibilities and difficulties with transfering the calibrations from field to rig. A steering rig has been integrated with a car simulation program. Comparisons between simulation in the loop (SIL) and hardware in the loop (HIL) have been made and differences between different configurations of steering gears have been evaluated. An automatic process including calibration of parameters, testing and analysis of the test results has been implemented. The work laid the foundation of calibration of steering parameters and showed correlation between calibration parameters and objective metrics.

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Many traffic incidents are due to the driver’s lack of attention, resulting in dangerous lane departures, either sliding off theroad or into the oppose lane. These kinds of incidents often have serious outcomes, which has led to much effort being concentrated on preventing or lessening the damages when the incident is already a fact, for example by installing safety belts and air bags. These measures may be considered to be acts of so-called passive safety. Active safety on the other hand, means that the safety systems intervene before the incidents have occurred. Lane Keeping Aid (LKA), which has been developed and implemented in this master thesis project, is a system designed to support the driver in the lateral axis in situations when unwanted lane departure is an evident risk. To be able to determine when the system should intervene and support the driver, information regarding how the driver handles the vehicle, along with the vehicle’s position and direction in the lane, is essential. The car’s position may be obtained by installing a camera in the vehicle. The information needed regarding other things, e.g. the car’s position in relation to the lane, is obtained by using a Kalmanfilter, which is based on a physically developed model, and which estimates the mentioned distances. Based on measurements and estimated values, it is possible for the LKA system to calculate an assistance torque, aimed at decreasing the lateral deviation from the centre of the lane. An electric power steering, instead of a conventional hydraulic steering servo is then used to produce the torque. The LKA system has been developed in a simulation environment using Simulink before being implemented, in order to monitor the function of the system before beginning actual testdrives. Furthermore, real measurement data given at driving with the test vehicle has been used to adjust and test the function. The results from the project’s first phase, in the simulation environment, show that the estimated values from the Kalmanfilter correlates well with real test data. Simulations with real measurement data show that the system functions as intended. Finally, it may also be mentioned, that the system has yet not been fully tested in a vehicle equipped with an electric power steering, which ought to be included in future development of the system.

This thesis is to study the evolution of the EU - Africa relations, and how they have been shaped in the 21st Century. Bearing a historical perspective of the relations, the cornerstone of the study will cover the period between 2000 and 2010. It is at the turn of the century that the EU-Africa relations gained momentum with the adoption of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement and the first EU- Africa Summit in Cairo, 2000 that laid the foundation of the Joint Africa EU Strategy. This strategy epitomizes the desire of the EU and Africa to forge a close bond of relations towards achieving their shared interests based on a &lsquo / partnership of equals&rsquo / . EU-Africa relations have been characterized on the basis of clientelism inherent from its colonial legacy in Africa. Thus the main question is whether the strategy adopted guarantees a relationship based on a &lsquo / partnership of equals&rsquo / or is it pure rhetoric? The thesis concludes that, Africa&rsquo / s importance on the international arena has been increasing in the last decade with a proportionate increase in competition for its resources especially from emerging powers. This has threatened the EU&rsquo / s position in Africa and with the EU&rsquo / s quest to enhance its global actorness, there has been a need for the EU to restructure its relations with Africa. Though the strategy is based on a mutual partnership, it is skewed to the EU&rsquo / s favour due to its superior power both economically and politically.

<p>Many traffic incidents are due to the driver’s lack of attention, resulting in dangerous lane departures, either sliding off theroad or into the oppose lane. These kinds of incidents often have serious outcomes, which has led to much effort being concentrated on preventing or lessening the damages when the incident is already a fact, for example by installing safety belts and air bags. These measures may be considered to be acts of so-called passive safety. </p><p>Active safety on the other hand, means that the safety systems intervene before the incidents have occurred. Lane Keeping Aid (LKA), which has been developed and implemented in this master thesis project, is a system designed to support the driver in the lateral axis in situations when unwanted lane departure is an evident risk. </p><p>To be able to determine when the system should intervene and support the driver, information regarding how the driver handles the vehicle, along with the vehicle’s position and direction in the lane, is essential. The car’s position may be obtained by installing a camera in the vehicle. The information needed regarding other things, e.g. the car’s position in relation to the lane, is obtained by using a Kalmanfilter, which is based on a physically developed model, and which estimates the mentioned distances. Based on measurements and estimated values, it is possible for the LKA system to calculate an assistance torque, aimed at decreasing the lateral deviation from the centre of the lane. An electric power steering, instead of a conventional hydraulic steering servo is then used to produce the torque. </p><p>The LKA system has been developed in a simulation environment using Simulink before being implemented, in order to monitor the function of the system before beginning actual testdrives. Furthermore, real measurement data given at driving with the test vehicle has been used to adjust and test the function. </p><p>The results from the project’s first phase, in the simulation environment, show that the estimated values from the Kalmanfilter correlates well with real test data. Simulations with real measurement data show that the system functions as intended. </p><p>Finally, it may also be mentioned, that the system has yet not been fully tested in a vehicle equipped with an electric power steering, which ought to be included in future development of the system.</p>

yes / Not only is the participation of developing countries in international trade negotiations growing, so is their influence over the global trade agenda. This article highlights the increasing activism and impact of African states through a detailed study of the current Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) negotiations with the European Union (EU). In examining African resistance to EPAs, the article develops a constructivist approach to North-South trade negotiations that pays close attention to the role of development discourses. We argue that the growing willingness of African states to challenge the EU to deliver on its development promises during the decade-long EPA process was crucial to informing their sustained opposition to the EU’s goal of completing a comprehensive set of sub-regional economic agreements. We document African resistance to EU trade diplomacy in the EPAs, exploring how these otherwise weak countries were able to pursue normative-based negotiation strategies by recourse to the EU’s promise of a ‘development partnership.’

This thesis investigates and problematizes the notion of development in the context of the EU-ACP EPA agreements with a particular focus on Kenya. Official statements, documents, empirical observation and qualitative interviews conducted in Nairobi and Kagwe, Kenya in April of 2009 provide empirical data. Applying the concepts of international trade theory, capacity developments complex adaptive systems approach and supplementing these concepts with an underlying thread of axiology, this paper seeks to explore the drastically divided and widely differing definitions of the situation, world views and casual beliefs in viewing the EPA development tool for what it is vs. what it means. By problematizing the notion of development, the findings suggest that it seems as though much of the dissonance between what constitutes development, what the ‘problem’ is, why it exists, and what the ‘solution’ is, is the result of a clash between theoretical models and the informal concepts of how things get done in a particular context. Thus, it is difficult seeing the EPAs functioning as a tool for a form of development that would suit the values, norms, and voices involved in conceptualizing development.

Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM

La commande du système de Direction Assistée Electrique (DAE) est un défi majeur en raison de ses multiples objectifs et de la nécessitée de réaliser plusieurs mesures pour la mettre en oeuvre. La commande doit assurer : le suivi du couple d’assistance de référence tout en assurant la stabilité du système et sans introduire des retards, l’atténuation des vibrations provoquées par chacune des entrées du système, la transmission des informations de la route au conducteur pour un bon confort et une meilleure sensation de conduite, l’amélioration de la performance de retour au centre. La commande doit également être robuste vis-à-vis des erreurs de modélisation, des incertitudes des paramètres, et des perturbations extérieures. En outre, la mise en oeuvre de la commande nécessite plusieurs mesures telles que : l’angle au volant, l’angle du moteur, la vitesse du moteur, le couple conducteur et le couple de réaction de la route. / The control of Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) system is a challengingproblem due to the multiple objectives and the need of several pieces of information to implement the control. The control objectives are to generate assist torque with fast responses to driver’s torque commands, insure system stability, attenuate vibrations, transmit the road information to the driver, and improve the steering wheel returnability and free control performance. The control must also be robust against modeling errors and parameter uncertainties. In addition, several pieces of information are required to implement the control, such as steering wheel angle, motor velocity, driver torque and road reaction torque.