Millions of cranes are used around the world. Because of their wide-spread use in construction industries, boom cranes are an important class of cranes whose performance should be optimized. One limitation of most boom cranes is they are usually attached to a stationary base or a mobile base that is only used for initial positioning and not during operation. This limits the workspace of the boom crane significantly. If a boom crane was attached to a mobile base that could be safely used during lifting operations, then the boom crane workspace could be extended significantly. The problem with using cranes, and in particular mobile cranes, is the large oscillations of the payload that are typically induced when moving the crane. One control strategy that has been used to control oscillation on other types of cranes is called Input Shaping, a command filtering technique that reduces motion-induced vibration in oscillatory systems. This thesis develops a dynamics model for a mobile boom crane and analyzes the difficulty of controlling payload oscillation on a boom crane. Input shaping will shown to be effective for controlling oscillation on boom cranes. A new method for operating a boom crane in Cartesian coordinates will also be shown. This thesis will also detail the design of a small-scale mobile boom crane for experimental and research purposes. A substantial part of this thesis will also focus on the development of new input-shaping methods for nonlinear drive systems commonly found on boom and other types of cranes. An example application of a control system featuring input shaping for an industrial bridge crane will also be discussed.

This dissertation argues that financial cycles are different for advanced economies and emerging countries. The main underlying reason is the different financial development that makes for instability in emeging markets which is pronounced by more intensive and amplified financial cycle. As such, even the policy implications are different.

Syftet med denna undersökning är att belysa och analysera de breda effekterna av flykting- förläggningen i Svappavaara under dess verksamma tid 1987–1995. Däribland hur den togs emot i lokalsamhället, men även dess roll för upprätthållandet av arbetstillfällen, bostäder och samhällsfunktioner i och med den ekonomiska nedgång som drabbade Svappavaara med gruvkrisen, och föranledde till behovet av alternativa näringar såsom flyktingförläggningen. Undersökningen utgår från de teoretiska begreppen ekonomiska upp- och nedgångar samt platsanknytning, vilka används som analytiska redskap genom denna historiska fallstudie med vissa inslag av rumslig metod. Undersökningens slutsatser pekar på flyktingförläggningen som en stor bidragande faktor till att Svappavaara kunde behålla arbetstillfällen, befolkning, bostäder och samhällsfunktioner när krisen slog till. Lokalsamhället tog varmt emot flykting- förläggningen och flyktingarna som integrerades väl i samhället och bidrog med liv och rörelse i bygden, till minskad arbetslöshet, till att mängder av bostäder inte längre behövde rivas, och slutligen till att Svappavaara överlevde krisen. / This study aims to highlight and analyze the multifaceted effects of the refugee facility in Svappavaara during its operative time between 1987 and 1995. It illustrates how the local community received the refugee facility and its role in the maintenance of jobs, housing, and municipal services with the economic downturn that hit Svappavaara as part of the mining crisis, which led to the need for alternative industries such as the refugee facility. The study is based on the theoretical concepts of booms and busts, and place attachment, which are used as analytical tools throughout this historical case study including some elements of spatial method. The study's conclusions point to the refugee facility as a major contributing factor to Svappavaara being able to maintain jobs, population, housing, and community functions when the crisis hit. The local community warmly welcomed the refugee facility and the refugees who integrated well into the community and contributed to the activity in the area, to reduced unemployment, the fact that many homes no longer needed to be demolished, and finally to Svappavaara surviving the crisis.

The treatment of owner-occupied housing (OOH) is probably the most important unresolved issue in inflation measurement. How -- and whether -- it is included in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) affects inflation expectations, the measured level of real interest rates, and the behavior of governments, central banks and market participants. We show that none of the existing treatments of OOH are fit for purpose. Hence we propose a new simplified user cost method with better properties. Using a micro-level dataset, we then compare the empirical behavior of eight different treatments of OOH. Our preferred user cost approach pushes up the CPI during housing booms (by 2 percentage points or more). Our findings relate to the following important debates in macroeconomics: the behavior of the Phillips curve in the US during the global financial crisis, and the response of monetary policy to housing booms, secular stagnation, and globalization. / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series