Företaget Omicron Ceti AB köpte en Intel Movidius Neural Compute Stick (NCS), som är en usb-enhet där neurala nätverk kan laddas in för att processa data. Min uppgift blev att studera hur NCS används och göra en guide med exempel. Med TensorFlow och hjälpbiblioteket TFLearn gjordes först ett testnätverk för att prova hela kedjan från träning till användning med NCS. Sedan tränades ett nätverk att kunna klassificera 14 olika ord. En mängd olika utformningar på nätverket testades, men till slut hittades ett exempel som blev en bra utgångspunkt och som efter lite justering gav en träffsäkerhet på 86% med testdatat. Vid inläsning i mikrofon så blev resultatet lite sämre, med 67% träffsäkerhet. Att processa data med NCS tog längre tid än med TFLearn men använde betydligt mindre CPU-kraft. I mindre system såsom en Raspberry Pi går det däremot inte ens att använda TensorFlow/TFLearn, så huruvida det är värt att använda NCS eller inte beror på det specifika användningsscenariot. / Omicron Ceti AB company had an Intel Movidius Neural Compute Stick (NCS), which is a usb device that may be loaded with neural networks to process data. My assignment was to study how NCS is used and to make a guide with examples. Using TensorFlow and the TFLearn help library a test network was made for the purpose of trying the work pipeline, from network training to using the NCS. After that a network was trained to classify 14 different words. Many different configurations of the network were tried, until a good example was found that was expanded upon until an accuracy of 86% with the test data was reached. The accuracy when speaking into a microphone was a bit worse at 67%. To process data with the NCS took a longer time than with TFLearn but used a lot less CPU power. However it’s not even possible to use TensorFlow/TFLearn in smaller systems like a Raspberry Pi, so whether it’s worth using the NCS depends on the specific usage scenario.

This study focuses on the extent to which the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) Professional Development (PD) orientation programme for Intermediate Phase educators achieved its intended outcomes. The study was conducted with 17 Intermediate Phase educators who attended the NCS PD orientation programme, which was presented by the Department of Education officials. This orientation programme was aimed at ensuring that Intermediate Phase educators are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to implement the NCS effectively. The participants in this study are all Intermediate Phase educators in Mpumalanga Province, Nkangala Region. The researcher used both quantitative and qualitative methods in gathering data. Questionnaires, interviews and documentary analysis were used as data streams. The study revealed that the NCS PD orientation programme achieved its intended outcomes but the majority of teachers are still struggling to implement the NCS in line with the requirements of the NCS policy. The research also revealed that the support these educators obtain from the district subject advisors result in these educators developing a dependency syndrome and therefore compromising their professional roles as designers of learning programmes and constructors of knowledge (constructivist approach to teaching and learning). Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

This was a study about the New Century Scholarship (NCS) program offered to Utah high school students at commencement for earning an AA degree by the time of high school graduation. The scholarship paid 75% of the remaining 2 years of tuition over a 5-year period. The goal of the program was to assist students to bachelor degree completion faster than the traditional time. This program has been in Utah for the past 20 years, but little to no information about the program exists. Annually, the cost to taxpayers is approximately $2 million dollars. This study was conducted to determine if the NCS expedites bachelor degree completion and if so for whom, and what variables on the career pathway assisted toward quicker completion. The Utah System of Higher Education emailed and mailed 613 surveys to graduates from the three cohort groups of high school graduates earning the NCS from 2004-2006. The response rate was 56%. This response rate was high enough to generalize results. Descriptive data, statistical analysis, and multiple-regression tests were run on the data. Perhaps, the most significant discovery was the fact that the NCS does expedite bachelor degree completion for both males and females with time to completion of 3.57 years on average. The significant variables in this study were: gender, choice of college major, and college selection. Females did complete their degree earlier than males by half a year and females tended to major in art, social science, and education, while males were more likely to major in business and STEM. Students could also graduate at least 1 year earlier depending on the college or university they selected to attend. Another very important finding was the rate of completion with a bachelor degree. Eighty-three percent of the recipients who responded to the survey had completed their bachelor’s degree. For this group of respondents, the matriculation rate from high school graduation to college was 100%. Using multiple-regressions analysis, several additional variables were identified that expedited bachelor degree completion for these scholarship recipients. These variables were attending school full time, enrolling in and attending only one college, and the acceptance of the AA courses the student had completed by the college toward their bachelor degree. Variables such as quality of counseling, GPA, finances, and other life circumstances, with the exception of religious service were not significant in this study. The workforce of the future will need to have more education than ever. In order to meet these demands Utah has a goal of 66% of the adult population ages 20-64 earning a postsecondary certificate or degree by 2020. The NCS program was successful in expediting graduation and the NCS recipients had a higher than average college graduation rate. It is one way Utah and perhaps other states can help students to gain faster access to a degree in higher education.

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Sistema de controle via rede (NCS) é um sistema de controle distribuído onde os sensores, atuadores e controladores estão alocados fisicamente em locais separados e são conectados através de uma rede de comunicação industrial. O NCS representa a evolução das arquiteturas de controle em rede, fornecendo maior modularidade e descentralização do controle, facilidade de diagnóstico e manutenção e menor custo. O desafio no desenvolvimento de um NCS é contornar os efeitos degenerativos causados por fatores que afetam o seu desempenho e estabilidade. Entre estes fatores estão o período de amostragem dos sinais, a perda de informações transmitidas na rede e os atrasos de comunicação. Buscando superar este desafio, este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de NCS para aplicações em redes CAN baseado no uso da simulação e na proposta de uma estratégia de controle. A utilização de ferramentas de simulação de NCS, selecionadas através de um estudo comparativo e qualitativo, permitiu analisar o impacto de fatores degenerativos no desempenho de controle e estabilidade de NCS. Essa análise por simulação permitiu evidenciar o período de amostragem como o fator de maior influência para o projeto de NCS em redes CAN. Para superar o problema do período de amostragem, uma estratégia de controle adaptativo foi proposta. Essa estratégia usa informações de saída do NCS para automaticamente adaptar o período de amostragem das mensagens, garantindo desempenho de controle e diminuindo significativamente a ocupação da rede CAN. Experimentos realizados em uma plataforma de pesquisa sobre NCS demonstraram a confiabilidade e robustez do uso da estratégia de controle adaptativo, mesmo em condições extremas de operação da rede CAN. Os experimentos também permitiram comprovar a eficácia de uma técnica de identificação de NCS desenvolvida, que apresenta a vantagem de utilizar informações disponíveis na rede para obtenção de um modelo do NCS com precisão aceitável. / Networked control system (NCS) is a distributed control system where the sensors, actuators and controllers are physically separated and connected through an industrial communication network. The NCS represents the evolution of networked control architectures providing greater modularity and control decentralization, maintenance and diagnosis ease and lower cost of implementation. The challenge in the development of NCS is to overcome the degenerative effects of factors which affect its performance and stability. Among these factors are the sampling time, the loss of information on the network and the network delays. Aiming to overcome this challenge, this work presents the development of NCS for applications in CAN-Based networks based on the simulation use and in a control strategy proposal. The use NCS simulation tools, selected by a comparative and qualitative study, allowed to analyze the impact of degrading factors in the NCS control performance and stability. This analysis using simulation highlighted the message sampling time as factor with the biggest influence for the design of CAN-based NCS. To overcome the sampling time problem, an adaptive control strategy was proposed. This strategy uses the NCS output to automatically adapt the message sampling time, ensuring NCS control performance and stability and providing significant reduction of the CAN network load. Experiments carried out on a NCS Research Platform demonstrated the reliability and robustness of the adaptive control methodology application, even under worst case conditions of operation of the CAN-based network. Experiments have also proved the effectiveness of a model identification technique developed for NCS, which presents the advantage of using information available on the network to obtain the NCS model with acceptable accuracy.

Sistema de controle via rede (NCS) é um sistema de controle distribuído onde os sensores, atuadores e controladores estão alocados fisicamente em locais separados e são conectados através de uma rede de comunicação industrial. O NCS representa a evolução das arquiteturas de controle em rede, fornecendo maior modularidade e descentralização do controle, facilidade de diagnóstico e manutenção e menor custo. O desafio no desenvolvimento de um NCS é contornar os efeitos degenerativos causados por fatores que afetam o seu desempenho e estabilidade. Entre estes fatores estão o período de amostragem dos sinais, a perda de informações transmitidas na rede e os atrasos de comunicação. Buscando superar este desafio, este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de NCS para aplicações em redes CAN baseado no uso da simulação e na proposta de uma estratégia de controle. A utilização de ferramentas de simulação de NCS, selecionadas através de um estudo comparativo e qualitativo, permitiu analisar o impacto de fatores degenerativos no desempenho de controle e estabilidade de NCS. Essa análise por simulação permitiu evidenciar o período de amostragem como o fator de maior influência para o projeto de NCS em redes CAN. Para superar o problema do período de amostragem, uma estratégia de controle adaptativo foi proposta. Essa estratégia usa informações de saída do NCS para automaticamente adaptar o período de amostragem das mensagens, garantindo desempenho de controle e diminuindo significativamente a ocupação da rede CAN. Experimentos realizados em uma plataforma de pesquisa sobre NCS demonstraram a confiabilidade e robustez do uso da estratégia de controle adaptativo, mesmo em condições extremas de operação da rede CAN. Os experimentos também permitiram comprovar a eficácia de uma técnica de identificação de NCS desenvolvida, que apresenta a vantagem de utilizar informações disponíveis na rede para obtenção de um modelo do NCS com precisão aceitável. / Networked control system (NCS) is a distributed control system where the sensors, actuators and controllers are physically separated and connected through an industrial communication network. The NCS represents the evolution of networked control architectures providing greater modularity and control decentralization, maintenance and diagnosis ease and lower cost of implementation. The challenge in the development of NCS is to overcome the degenerative effects of factors which affect its performance and stability. Among these factors are the sampling time, the loss of information on the network and the network delays. Aiming to overcome this challenge, this work presents the development of NCS for applications in CAN-Based networks based on the simulation use and in a control strategy proposal. The use NCS simulation tools, selected by a comparative and qualitative study, allowed to analyze the impact of degrading factors in the NCS control performance and stability. This analysis using simulation highlighted the message sampling time as factor with the biggest influence for the design of CAN-based NCS. To overcome the sampling time problem, an adaptive control strategy was proposed. This strategy uses the NCS output to automatically adapt the message sampling time, ensuring NCS control performance and stability and providing significant reduction of the CAN network load. Experiments carried out on a NCS Research Platform demonstrated the reliability and robustness of the adaptive control methodology application, even under worst case conditions of operation of the CAN-based network. Experiments have also proved the effectiveness of a model identification technique developed for NCS, which presents the advantage of using information available on the network to obtain the NCS model with acceptable accuracy.

Nous avons étudié par STM, SQUID, Réflectivité X, Diffraction des rayons X, absorption optique et XAS des échantillons de Fe(phen)2(NCS)2 et Fe{[3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl]3BH}2 déposé par évaporation thermique sur des substrats de Cu(100), Co(100) et SiO2, et comparé avec des échantillons en poudre. Nous avons confirmé l'existence de l'effet de piégeage d'état de spin induit par les rayons X (SOXIESST), et étudié ses propriétés, en particulier dynamiques. Celui-ci dépend de l'intensité et de la structure du faisceau X appliqué, et est non-résonant. Nous suggérons que son efficacité est influencée également par les états de transfert de charge métal-ligand (MLCT). L'étude des molécules isolées a montré que l'on pouvait les faire transiter par une impulsion électrique, et construire ainsi des dispositifs memrésistifs, mais seulement si l'influence du substrat est suffisamment réduite. À l'aide d'un modèle thermodynamique simple, nous avons alors étudié les couches minces et montré que la coopérativité est réduite et que la température de transition est modifiée (plus grande pour la Fe-phen, plus faible pour la Fe-pyrz). Enfin, nous utilisons ces résultats pour construire des dispositifs multicouche verticaux Au/Fe-phen/Au dont les propriétés électriques, d'après nos résultats préliminaires, sont dépendantes des stimuli extérieurs (température, champ magnétique). Notamment, ils présentent un effet « diode » à la transition de spin. / We have studied by STM, SQUID, X-ray reflectivity, X-ray diffraction, optical absorption and XAS Fe(phen)2(NCS)2 and Fe{[3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl]3BH}2 samples deposited by thermal evaporation on Cu(100), Co(100) and SiO2 substrates, and compared with results on powder samples. We have confirmed the existence of the soft X-ray induced excited spin state trapping (SOXIESST), and investigated its properties, in particular dynamic aspects. The effect is sensitive to the intensity and the structure of the applied X-ray beam, and is non-resonant. We suggest that its efficiency is also governed by metal-ligand charge transfer states (MLCT). The study of single molecules has revealed that they could be switched by voltage pulses, and by this way building memristive devices, but only if the influence of the substrate is sufficiently reduced. We have then investigated thin films with the help from a simple thermodynamic model, and evidenced that the cooperativity was reduced and the transition temperature is modified (higher for Fe-phen, and lower for Fe-pyrz). Finally, we use these results to build multilayer vertical devices Au/Fe-phen/Au, and its electrical properties depends, according to our preliminary results, on the external stimuli (temperature, magnetic field). Notably, they present a “diode” effect at the spin transition.

Networked predictive control is a new research method for Networked Control Systems (NCS), which is able to handle network-induced problems such as time-delay, data dropouts, packets disorders, etc. while stabilizing the closed-loop system. This work is an extension and complement of networked predictive control methodology. There is always present model uncertainties or physical nonlinearity in the process of NCS. Therefore, it makes the study of the robust control of NCS and that of networked nonlinear control system (NNCS) considerably important. This work studied the following three problems: the robust control of networked predictive linear control systems, the control scheme for networked nonlinear control systems (NNCS) and the robust control of NNCS. The emphasis is on stability analysis and the design of robust control. This work adapted the two control schemes, namely, the time-driven and the event driven predictive controller for the implementation of NCS. It studied networked linear control systems and networked nonlinear control systems. Firstly, time-driven predictive controller is used to compensate for the networked-induced problems of a class of networked linear control systems while robustly stabilizing the closed-loop system. Secondly, event-driven predictive controller is applied to networked linear control system and NNCS and the work goes on to solve the robust control problem. The event-driven predictive controller brings great benefits to NCS implementation: it makes the synchronization of the clocks of the process and the controller unnecessary and it avoids measuring the exact values of the individual components of the network induced time-delay. This work developed the theory of stability analysis and robust synthesis of NCS and NNCS. The robust stability analysis and robust synthesis of a range of different system configurations have been thoroughly studied. A series of methods have been developed to handle the stability analysis and controller design for NCS and NNCS. The stability of the closed-loop of NCS has been studied by transforming it into that of a corresponding augmented system. It has been proved that if some equality conditions are satisfied then the closed-loop of NCS is stable for an upper-bounded random time delay and data dropouts. The equality conditions can be incorporated into a sub-optimal problem. Solving the sub-optimal problem gives the controller parameters and thus enables the synthesis of NCS. To simplify the calculation of solving the controller parameters, this thesis developed the relationship between networked nonlinear control system and a class of uncertain linear feedback control system. It proves that the controller parameters of some types of networked control system can be equivalently derived from the robust control of a class of uncertain linear feedback control system. The methods developed in this thesis for control design and robustness analysis have been validated by simulations or experiments.

Der Trend auch für schnelle, zeitkritische Regelungsaufgaben geht zunehmend in Richtung Feldbusse und Industrial Ethernet. Dem unbestreitbaren Nutzen der Kosteneinsparung stehen Probleme gegenüber: Die unsicheren Zeitbedingungen im Netz verschlechtern die dynamischen Eigenschaften digitaler Regelungen in unvorhersehbarer Weise. Diese Arbeit stellt eine praktikable Methodik vor, um die Regelgüte solcher Systeme sicher und aufwandsarm vorherzusagen.:1. Einführung 2. Übersicht bisher eingesetzter Beschreibungen 3. Statistische Beschreibung von Netzen mit wahlfreiem Zugriff 4. Einbindung in Regelkreise 5. Statistische Beschreibung von Netzen mit wahlfreiem Zugriff 6. Zuverlässigkeit der Aussagen 7. Anwendungsbeispiele 8. Zusammenfassung und Ausblick 9. Literaturverzeichnis / High dynamic, i.e. time-critical automatic feedback control systems are more and more implemented using field bus or industrial ethernet solutions. The cost-efficiency of these approaches is unchallengeable, but they also cause serious technical problems: Uncertain time behavior of data networks so far degrades the dynamic performance of digital closed-loop controls in an unpredictable manner. The research paper introduces a practicable, reliable and straightforward method to forecast the system behavior.:1. Einführung 2. Übersicht bisher eingesetzter Beschreibungen 3. Statistische Beschreibung von Netzen mit wahlfreiem Zugriff 4. Einbindung in Regelkreise 5. Statistische Beschreibung von Netzen mit wahlfreiem Zugriff 6. Zuverlässigkeit der Aussagen 7. Anwendungsbeispiele 8. Zusammenfassung und Ausblick 9. Literaturverzeichnis

Les travaux développés dans cette thèse portent sur la "co-conception diagnostic / ordonnancement des mesures dans un système contrôlé en réseau" qui est un sujet multidisciplinaire nécessitant des compétences en théorie du contrôle et en théorie des réseaux. La thèse a pour but de développer, dans le contexte des systèmes contrôlés en réseau, une approche de co-conception qui intègre de façon coordonnée les caractéristiques qui expriment la performance du diagnostic des défauts et les paramètres de l'ordonnancement temps-réel des messages. L'intérêt de cette approche coordonnée réside essentiellement dans la minimisation des ressources nécessaires pour atteindre la performance du diagnostic requise, minimisation qui prend tout son sens dans le contexte des systèmes embarqués. Nous nous sommes intéressés plus particulièrement à l'étude des problèmes liés à l'élaboration d'algorithmes de diagnostic efficaces et adaptés aux caractéristiques de l'application de façon tout en prenant en compte différents types de contraintes liées au réseau. En conjonction avec ces algorithmes, deux ensembles de techniques d'ordonnancement des mesures ont été développés : - ordonnancement hors ligne - ordonnancement évènementiel en ligne Pour l'ordonnancement hors ligne, les séquences de communication sont conçues en amont, préalablement à la mise en oeuvre de l'algorithme de diagnostic (implémentation). D'autre part, nous proposons aussi des techniques d'ordonnancement en ligne basées sur l'échantillonnage évènementiel développé au cours de la dernière décennie. Au contraire de la plupart des recherches en automatique classique, considérant que l'échantillonnage des signaux continus est réalisé d'une manière périodique, les mesures dans cette approche sont transmises si et seulement si la condition de transmission (évènement) est vérifiée / The works developed in this thesis deal with 'fault diagnosis and sensor scheduling co-design' in networked control system. This multidisciplinary subject requires theoretical knowledge in both fault diagnosis and communication networks. Our contribution consists in developing a co-design approach that integrates in the same framework the characteristics of fault diagnosis performance and real time sensor scheduling. The main benefit of this approach is minimizing the required network resources for attending acceptable fault diagnosis performances. We are interested in the development of more efficient and more adapted for real time implementation fault diagnosis algorithms while taking into account different types of communication constraints. In conjunction with these algorithms, two sets of sensor scheduling techniques are used : - Off-line scheduling - On-line scheduling (event triggered sampling) For off-line scheduling, the communication sequences are designed before the implementation of the diagnostic algorithm. In this context, we proposed several techniques for scheduling with different spatial and temporal complexity and adapted to different operating condition for the detection and the isolation of faults based on the information provided by the selected communication sequences. Moreover, we deal also with on-line scheduling techniques based on the event triggered sampling developed during the last decade. In This approach measurement packets are transmitted if and only if the transmission condition (event) is verified. This saves resources provided by the network while maintaining acceptable performance of fault diagnosis. The objective of these algorithms is to minimize the number of transmitted information which means less energy consumption and has a major importance in wireless networked control systems