An increase emphasis has been placed on the automotive industry to develop advanced technology vehicles which meet increasing strict government regulations and standards for emissions and fuel economy while maintaining the safety, performance, and consumer appeal of the vehicle. In response to these requirements, hybrid and electric vehicle technologies have become more complex as the necessity for vehicles with an overall better environmental impact. Modern engineers must understand the current methods used to analyze and evaluate risk with the new hybrid technologies to ensure the continued customer satisfaction and safety while meeting new government and agency standards. The primary goal of this work is to maintain consistent definitions, standards, and protocols for risk analysis using design failure modes and effects analysis. Throughout the entire automotive sector there exist standards for risk analysis and methods for analysis, however these models can be difficult to relate to the atmosphere under which educational competitions occur. The motor system case study within this work aims to allow the process for DFMEA to be simple and easily implemented and understood when it is appropriate to start. After defining the model, an electric motor system for hybrid vehicle is analyzed for mechanical and inverter system risks. The end result being a 32% reduction in motor system risk due to recommended actions for mitigating top motor systems risks for future motor system design and implementation, all to meet customer requirements. This work aims to provide an additional tool that when implemented will accelerate the next generation of automotive engineers. / Master of Science

Tittle: Speech fluency and motor system relations as the outcome of physiotherapy in comprehensive stuttering treatment Objectives: The aim of this thesis is to summarize the accessible literary sources about functional and structural etiology of developmental dysfluency and its effects on motor system. The next aim of this paper is to research current position of physiotherapy in comprehensive stuttering therapy. Methods: The thesis used literature research method, the specific criteria for the selection of literary sources were stated. The first part contains theoretical ground regarding general issues of dysfluency. The second, descriptive and analytical part contains several chapters describing many studies dealing with functional and organ cause of stuttering, features of stutter motor system of stutterers and the current state of physiotherapy in the issue of stuttering. Results: The thesis points out the fundamental meaning of motor system, particularly motor planning in the ethiopathogenesis of stuttering. Certain variations in the structure and function of the CNS of stuttering people have been described. These deviations are specifically manifested on the motor system effectors. The research shows that physical therapy in the complex treatment of stuttering has no clearly defined role so...

Durant ces dernières décennies, le moteur synchrone à aimants permanents (MSAP) est devenu un actionneur essentiel pour les applications militaires, industrielles et civilesgrâce à ses avantages de haute densité de puissance, de rendement élevé, de grande fiabilité avec une structure simple, un faible volume et un poids réduit. Parfois, plusieurs MSAP sont utilisés pour effectuer des tâches coopératives. Par exemple le boggie d'une locomotive ou encore les surfacesde vol d'un avion. Ces MSAP fonctionnent généralement à la même vitesse. Pour réduire le volume et le poids, une idée de mutualisation des dispositifs de conversion statique, appelée système Multi-MSAP Mono-Convertisseur (MIMSAPMC), est proposée. Bien que de nombreux chercheurs aient déjà proposé différentes solutions de contrôle pour le système MIMSAPMC, la plupart d'entre eux ne garantissent pas la stabilité et l'efficacité énergétique du système. Ceci estdevenu le plus grand obstacle à l'utilisation pratique du MIMSAPMC. A cet effet et en commençant par un système MIMSAPMC avec 2 moteurs nous avons testé expérimentalement quelques stratégies de commande pour en vérifier la faisabilité et les performances. Sur la base des données mesurées, nous avons constaté que le problème de sur-contraintes existe dans certaines stratégies de contrôle. Ensuite, la synthèse d’une commande basée sur un modèle en régime permanent d'un système MIMSAPMC est réalisée. En étudiant le problème d'existence du régime permanent, nous formulons une procédure de conception de la structure de la loi de commande. En combinant la stabilité en boucle ouverte et la solution en régime permanent, nous définissons alors la région de contrôlabilité et de stabilité. La méthode des multiplieurs de Lagrange est ensuite utilisée pour formuler l'expression de l'état d'équilibre optimal en fonction ducouple et de la vitesse. L'expérience a montré que l'efficacité avec cette nouvelle loi de commande s’est considérablement améliorée. Dans le même temps, nous avons exploré l'influence de la variation des paramètres pour la stabilité du système et pour l'optimisation de l'efficacité. Ainsi, nous montrons que la variation paramétrique influence la zone de stabilité. Mais son influence peut être éliminée en utilisant la stratégie Maitre-Esclave. Par ailleurs, en ce qui concerne l'optimisation de l'efficacité énergétique, les résultats de simulation ont montré que la non-concordance des paramètres, en particulier le flux de l’aimant, peut entraîner une perte d'efficacité élevée. Dans la dernière étape, ce contrôleur est également adapté à un système MIMSAPMC avec un nombre de moteurs supérieurs à 2. Les résultats de la simulation démontrent alors l'efficacité de la proposition. / During these decades, Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) has become a vital part of military, industry and civil applications due to the advantages of high power density, high efficiency, high reliability and simple structure, small volume and light weight. Sometimes, multiple PMSMs are used to carry out cooperative functions. For example, the bogie of a locomotive, the flight control surface of an airplane. These PMSMs usually operates at the same speed. To reduce the volume and weight, an idea of sharing the static power conversion devices, which is called Mono-Inverter Multi-PMSM system (MIMPMSM), is raised. Although many researchers have given different controller solutions for the MIMPMSM system, most of them are not clear in the aspects of system stability and efficiency issues. This has become the biggest obstacle to the practical use of MIMPMSM. Oriented with these problems, starting with a MIMPMSM system with 2 motors, in the first step, we have tested some control strategies by an experiment to verify the feasibility and performance of them. In final, based on the experiment data, we have figured that the overconstraint problem exists in some control strategies. Then, an analysis and controller design based on steady-state model of a Mono-Inverter Dual-PMSM (MIDPMSM) system is carried out.By studying the solution existence problem of the steady-state model, we give out the design guideline to the controller structure. Combining the open-loop stability and steady-state solution, the region of controllability and stability is obtained. Lagrange Multiplier is used develop theexpression of efficiency-optimal steady-staterelated to torque and speed. The experiment has shown that the efficiency of the new controller has improved significantly. Meanwhile, we have explored the influence of parameter variation in system stability and efficiency-optimization. The variation will influence the stability region. But its influence can be eliminated by using Master- Slave strategy. On the other hand, in the aspect of efficiency optimization, the simulation results have shown that parameter mismatch, especially the permeant flux, can cause high efficiency loss. In the last step, this controller is also adapted to a MIMPMSM system with more than two motors. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness.

Orientador: José Angelo Barela / Banca: Fabio Viadanna Serrão / Banca: Eliane Mauerberg de Castro / Resumo: O avanço da idade vem acompanhado de muitas alterações estruturais, funcionais e comportamentais. Como um bom desempenho do controle postural depende da integridade dos sistemas sensoriais e motor, as deteriorações que ocorrem nestes sistemas com o envelhecimento poderiam influenciar o desempenho de controle postural em indivíduos idosos. Entretanto, ainda não estão claras quais alterações funcionais nos sistemas sensoriais e motor são provocadas pelo envelhecimento por si só, bem como a relação entre estas alterações e as mudanças no desempenho de controle postural de adultos idosos. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o desempenho dos sistemas sensoriais e motor e do controle postural de adultos idosos e investigar a relação entre as alterações destes sistemas e o controle postural desta população. Vinte adultos idosos (68,9±3,7 anos) (GAI) e 20 adultos jovens (21,9±2,1 anos) (GAJ) foram submetidos a avaliações sensoriais, motoras e de controle portural. As avaliações sensoriais foram compostas por avaliação visual (acuidade e sensibilidade ao contraste) e somatossensorial (sensibilidade cutânea e sensibilidade ao movimento passivo). As avaliações motoras consistiram de medidas de torque articular e de latência de ativação muscular após perturbação da superfície de suporte. As avaliações de controle postural consistiram de medidas de oscilação corporal durante manutenção da postura ereta (em semi-tandem stance), resolução de conflito sensorial (movimentação discreta de uma sala móvel) e acoplamento entre informação visual e oscilação corporal (movimentação periódica, ...(Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: With aging, individuals exhibit several structural, functional and behavioral changes. As a good postural control performance depends on the integrity of the sensory and motor systems, deterioration of these systems occurring with aging could influence the postural control performance of older adults. However, it is still unclear which sensory and motor functional changes are due to aging per se, neither the relationship between these changes and the changes of the performance of postural control in older adults. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the performance of the sensory and motor systems and postural control in older adults and to investigate the relationship between changes in these systems and postural control in this population. Twenty older adults (68,9±3,7 years) (GAI) and 20 young adults (21,9±2,1 years) (GAJ) were submitted to sensory, motor and postural control assessments. Sensory assessments were composed of visual (acuity and contrast sensitivity) and somatosensory assessments (tactile sensitivity of and sensitivity to passive motion). Motor assessments consisted of measurements of joint torque and muscular activity latency after displacement of support surface. Postural control assessments consisted of measuring the body oscillation during maintenance of the upright stance (semi-tandem stance), the resolution of a sensory conflict (discrete movement of a moving room) and the coupling between visual information...(Complete abastract, click electronic access below) / Mestre

Les ruminations mentales sont majoritairement exprimées sous forme verbale et il a été proposé de les considérer, par conséquent, comme une forme dysfonctionnelle de parole intérieure (i.e., production mentale de parole). D’autre part, les recherches sur la psychophysiologie de la parole intérieure ont révélé que les processus neuronaux impliqués dans la parole à voix haute et dans la parole intérieure sont similaires. Ces observations sont cohérentes avec l’idée que certaines formes de parole intérieure pourraient être considérées comme une forme de simulation de la parole à voix haute, de la même manière que certaines actions imaginées peuvent être considérées comme le résultat d’une simulation de l’action correspondante (par exemple, marcher et s’imaginer en train de marcher). En d’autres termes, l’hypothèse de la simulation motrice suggère que le système moteur de la parole devrait également être impliqué lors de la production de parole intérieure. L’hypothèse corollaire peut être formulée, selon laquelle la production de parole intérieure (et de ruminations) devrait être perturbée par une perturbation du système moteur de la parole. Nous avons mené une série de cinq études visant à sonder le rôle du système moteur de la parole dans les ruminations. Dans l’ensemble, nos résultats soulignent que, bien que la rumination verbale puisse être considérée comme une forme de parole intérieure, elle ne semble pas recruter spécifiquement le système moteur de la parole. Plus précisément, nous soutenons que la rumination peut être considérée comme une forme de parole intérieure particulièrement condensée, qui s’exprimerait sous la forme d’une représentation phonologique, et dont les traits articulatoires ne seraient pas complètements spécifiés. Nous faisons le lien entre ces résultats et l’hypothèse théorique du cadre “habitude-but” de la rumination dépressive et nous discutons de leurs implications pour les théories de la production de parole intérieure. / Rumination is known to be a predominantly verbal process and has been proposed to be considered as such as a dysfunctional form of inner speech (i.e., the silent production of words in one’s mind). On the other hand, research on the psychophysiology of inner speech revealed that the neural processes involved in overt and covert speech tend to be very similar. This is coherent with the idea that some forms of inner speech could be considered as a kind of simulation of overt speech, in the same way as imagined actions can be considered as the result of a simulation of the corresponding overt action (e.g., walking and imagined walking). In other words, the motor simulation hypothesis suggests that the speech motor system should be involved as well during inner speech production. The corollary hypothesis might be drawn, according to which the production of inner speech (and rumination) should be disrupted by a disruption of the speech motor system. We conducted a series of five studies aiming to probe the role of the speech motor system in rumination. Overall, our results highlight that although verbal rumination may be considered as a form of inner speech, it might not specifically involve the speech motor system. More precisely, we argue that rumination might be considered as a particularly strongly condensed form of inner speech that does not systematically involve fully specified articulatory features. We discuss these findings in relation to the habit-goal framework of depressive rumination and we discuss the implications of these findings for theories of inner speech production.

Maximum voluntary contraction force (MVC) is an important predictor of athletic performance as well as physical fitness throughout life. Many everyday life activities involve multi-joint or whole-body movements that are determined in part through optimized muscle strength. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been reported to enhance muscle strength parameters in single-joint movements after its application to motor cortical areas, although tDCS effects on maximum isometric voluntary contraction force (MIVC) in compound movements remain to be investigated. Here, we tested whether anodal tDCS and/or sham stimulation over primary motor cortex (M1) and cerebellum (CB) improves MIVC during isometric barbell squats (iBS). Our results provide novel evidence that CB stimulation enhances MIVC during iBS. Although this indicates that parameters relating to muscle strength can be modulated through anodal tDCS of the cerebellum, our results serve as an initial reference point and need to be extended. Therefore, further studies are necessary to expand knowledge in this area of research through the inclusion of different tDCS paradigms, for example investigating dynamic barbell squats, as well as testing other whole-body movements.

Learning readiness is deficient in many first time school-going children. Learning readiness depends on a well-functioning neural network. Research has shown that movement as an early learning experience is necessary for optimal neural development. Presumably it is movement that activates the neural wiring in the brain. It influences neural organisation and stimulates the specific neurological systems required for optimal functioning and development of the brain. Some children are faced with motor proficiency deficits which may influence their learning and their readiness to learn. This study aimed at determining whether movement programmes are a means to promote and achieve learning readiness. A selected group of Grade two learners who participated in a specifically designed movement programme for ten weeks showed improvement in their levels of learning readiness based on their movement proficiency and academic level. Based on these findings, recommendations were made for the inclusion of movement in the school curriculum. / Educational Studies / M Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Résumé : L’interaction entre la douleur et le système moteur est bien connue en clinique et en réadaptation. Il est sans surprise que la douleur est un phénomène considérablement invalidant, affectant la qualité de vie de ceux et celles qui en souffrent. Toutefois, les bases neurophysiologiques qui sous-tendent cette interaction demeurent, encore aujourd’hui, mal comprises. Le but de la présente étude était de mieux comprendre les mécanismes corticaux impliqués dans l’interaction entre la douleur et le système moteur. Pour ce faire, une douleur expérimentale a été induite à l’aide d’une crème à base de capsaïcine au niveau de l’avant-bras gauche des participants. L'effet de la douleur sur la force des projections corticospinales ainsi que sur l’activité cérébrale a été mesuré à l’aide de la stimulation magnétique transcrânienne (TMS) et de l’électroencéphalographie (EEG), respectivement. L’analyse des données EEG a permis de révéler qu'en présence de douleur aiguë, il y a une augmentation de l’activité cérébrale au niveau du cuneus central (fréquence têta), du cortex dorsolatéral préfrontal gauche (fréquence alpha) ainsi que du cuneus gauche et de l'insula droite (toutes deux fréquence bêta), lorsque comparée à la condition initiale (sans douleur). Également, les analyses démontrent une augmentation de l'activité du cortex moteur primaire droit en présence de douleur, mais seulement chez les participants qui présentaient simultanément une diminution de leur force de projections corticales (mesurée avec la TMS t=4,45, p<0,05). Ces participants ont également montré une plus grande connectivité entre M1 et le cuneus que les participants dont la douleur n’a pas affecté la force des projections corticospinales (t=3,58, p<0,05). Ces résultats suggèrent qu’une douleur expérimentale induit, chez certains individus, une altération au niveau des forces de projections corticomotrices. Les connexions entre M1 et le cuneus seraient possiblement impliquées dans la survenue de ces changements corticomoteurs. / Abstract : The interaction between pain and the motor system is well-known in clinic. For instance, it is well documented that pain significantly complicates the rehabilitation of the patients. The aim of the present study was to better understand the cortical mechanisms underlying the interaction between pain and the motor system. Nineteen healthy adults participated in the study. The effect of pain (induced with a capsaicin cream) on brain activity and on the corticomotor system was assessed with electroencephalography (EEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), respectively. For EEG, 15 non-overlapping, 2-seconds artifacts were randomly selected for each participant. Intracranial source current density and functional connectivity was determined using sLORETA software. When participants experienced experimentally-induced inflammatory pain, their resting state brain activity increased significantly in the central cuneus (theta frequency), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (alpha frequency), and both left cuneus and right insula (beta frequency; all ts >3.66; all ps<0.01). A pain-evoked increase in the right primary motor cortex (M1) activity was also observed (beta frequency), but only among participants who showed a simultaneous reduction in the strength of the corticospinal projections (quantified using the recruitment curves obtained with TMS; t=4.45, p<0.05). These participants further showed greater beta motor-cuneus connectivity than participants for whom pain did not affect M1 somatotopy (t=3.58, p<0.05). These results suggest that pain-evoked increases in M1 beta power are intimately tied to alterations in corticospinal system. Moreover, we provide evidence that beta motor-cuneus connectivity is related to the corticomotor alterations induced by pain.

<p>A recent trend in evolutionary robotics and artificial life research is to maximize self-organization in the design of robotic systems, in particular using artificial evolutionary techniques, in order to reduce the human designer bias. This dissertation presents experiments in competitive co-evolutionary robotics that integrate and extend previous work on competitive co-evolution of neural robot controllers in a predator-prey scenario with work on the ‘co-evolution’ of robot morphology and control systems. The focus here is on a systematic investigation of tradeoffs and interdependencies between morphological parameters and behavioral strategies through a series of predator-prey experiments in which increasingly many aspects are subject to self-organization through competitive co-evolution. The results show that there is a strong interdependency between morphological parameters and behavioral strategies evolved, and that the competitive co-evolutionary process was able to find a balance between and within these two aspects. It is therefore concluded that competitive co-evolution has great potential as a method for the automatic design of robotic systems.</p>

Voir les gestes articulatoires de son interlocuteur permet d’améliorer significativement le décodage et la compréhension du signal acoustique de parole émis. Un premier objectif de cette thèse était de déterminer si les interactions multimodales lors de la perception de parole, en plus d’impliquer classiquement les informations auditives et visuelles transmises par le son et le visage du locuteur, pouvaient être déclenchées par d’autres sources sensorielles moins communément utilisées dans la communication parlée, comme la perception tactile de la parole ou encore la perception visuelle des mouvements de la langue. Parallèlement, nos travaux avaient également pour but de déterminer l’implication possible du système moteur dans ces mécanismes de perception multisensorielle. Enfin, un autre enjeu de nos recherches était de déterminer plus avant le décours temporel et l’organisation neuroanatomique fonctionnelle de ces mécanismes d’intégration à l’aide de différentes techniques comme l’électro-encéphalographie, l’imagerie par résonance magnétique fonctionnelle ou encore la stimulation magnétique transcrânienne. Nos travaux ont permis d’élargir la notion de « multisensorialité de la parole » en mettant en évidence une facilitation des traitements temporels auditifs lors de la perception audio-tactile de la parole et lors de l’observation de nos propres mouvements articulatoires. D’autre part, nos études ont fourni de nouveaux arguments en faveur d’un rôle fonctionnel du système moteur lors de la perception de parole en montrant une activation plus importante des régions motrices lors de l’observation de mouvements de la langue ainsi qu’un recrutement plus bilatéral du cortex prémoteur ventral au cours du vieillissement. Pris ensemble, nos résultats renforcent l’idée d’un couplage fonctionnel, d’une co-structuration des systèmes de perception et de production de la parole. Les études présentées dans cette thèse appuient ainsi l’existence de connexions entre régions sensorielles, intégratives et motrices permettant la mise en œuvre de processus et traitements multisensoriels, sensorimoteurs et prédictifs lors de la perception et compréhension des actions de parole. / Seeing the speaker’s articulatory gestures significantly enhances auditory speech perception. A key issue is whether cross-modal speech interactions only depend on well-known auditory and visual inputs from the speaker’s voice and face or, rather, might also be triggered by other sensory sources less common in speech communication, such as tactile information or vision of the tongue movements. Another goal of the present research was to determine the possible role of the motor system in these multisensory processes. Finally, we used electro-encephalographic, functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation techniques in order to better understand the time course and the functional neuroanatomical organization of these integration mechanisms. Our results extent the concept of “multisensory speech perception” by highlighting a facilitation of auditory processes during audio-haptic speech perception as well as during the observation of our own articulatory movements. They also provide new evidence in favor of a functional role of the motor system in speech perception by demonstrating an increase of motor activity during visuo-lingual speech perception and a more bilateral ventral premotor cortex recruitment during speech perception across aging. Taken together, our results reinforce the idea of a functional coupling and a co-structuring of speech perception and production systems. Our work support the existence of connections between sensory, integrative and motor regions allowing the implementation of multisensory, sensorimotor and predictive processes in the perception and understanding of speech actions.