A common problem encountered in mobile hydraulics is the desire to automate motion control functions in a restricted-cost and restricted-sensor environment. In this thesis a solution to this problem is presented. A velocity control scheme based on a novel single component pressure compensated ow controller was developed and evaluated. <p> The development of the controller involved solving several distinct technical challenges. First, a model reference control scheme was developed to provide control of the valve spool displacement for a particular electrohydraulic proportional valve. The control scheme had the effect of desensitizing the transient behaviour of the valve dynamics to changes in operating condition. Next, the pressure/flow relationship of the same valve was examined. A general approach for the mathematical characterization of this relationship was developed. This method was based on a modification of the so-called turbulent orifice equation. The general approach included a self-tuning algorithm. Next, the modified turbulent orifice equation was applied in conjunction with the model reference valve controller to create a single component pressure compensated flow control device. This required an inverse solution to the modified orifice equation. Finally, the kinematics of a specific single link hydraulically actuated mechanism were solved. Integration of the kinematic solution with the flow control device allowed for predictive velocity control of the single link mechanism.

A common problem encountered in mobile hydraulics is the desire to automate motion control functions in a restricted-cost and restricted-sensor environment. In this thesis a solution to this problem is presented. A velocity control scheme based on a novel single component pressure compensated ow controller was developed and evaluated. <p> The development of the controller involved solving several distinct technical challenges. First, a model reference control scheme was developed to provide control of the valve spool displacement for a particular electrohydraulic proportional valve. The control scheme had the effect of desensitizing the transient behaviour of the valve dynamics to changes in operating condition. Next, the pressure/flow relationship of the same valve was examined. A general approach for the mathematical characterization of this relationship was developed. This method was based on a modification of the so-called turbulent orifice equation. The general approach included a self-tuning algorithm. Next, the modified turbulent orifice equation was applied in conjunction with the model reference valve controller to create a single component pressure compensated flow control device. This required an inverse solution to the modified orifice equation. Finally, the kinematics of a specific single link hydraulically actuated mechanism were solved. Integration of the kinematic solution with the flow control device allowed for predictive velocity control of the single link mechanism.

Repetitive Model Predictive Control (RMPC) incorporates the idea of Repetitive Control (RC) into Model Predictive Control (MPC) to take full advantage of the constraint handling, multivariable control features of MPC in periodic processes. The RMPC achieves perfect asymptotic tracking/rejection in periodic processes, provided that the period length used in the control formulation matches the actual period of the reference/disturbance exactly. Even a small mismatch between the actual period of process and the controller period can deteriorate the RMPC performance significantly. The period mismatch occurs either from an inaccurate estimation of actual frequency of disturbance due to resolution limit or from trying to force the controller period to be an integer multiple of sampling time. An extension of RMPC called Robust Repetitive Model Predictive Control (R-RMPC) is proposed for such cases where period length cannot be predetermined accurately, or where period is not an integer multiple of sampling time. This robust RMPC borrows the idea of using weighted, multiple memory loops in RC for robustness enhancement. The modified RMPC is more robust in the sense that small changes in period length do not diminish the tracking/rejection properties by much. Simulation results show that R-RMPC achieves significant improvement over the standard RMPC in case of a slight period mismatch. The effectiveness of this Robust RMPC is demonstrated by applying it to a mechanical motion tracking machine whose function is to follow a constant trajectory while rejecting periodic disturbances of an uncertain period.

In this dissertation, a predictive (scalable) measurement-based PEEC modeling method for high-frequency interconnects on low-cost FR4 substrates is proposed and demonstrated. The interconnects are modeled with equivalent circuits of scalable building blocks using a rapid and accurate optimization method to fit parameter data up to 10 GHz. The predictive power of the developed scalable models is demonstrated in several extended interconnect structures and the ability to use interpolation to predict the high frequency performance of structures with differently sized building blocks is demonstrated. The usefulness of the proposed modeling method is validated by comparing predictions to measurements both in frequency domain and in time domain. The efficiency and accuracy of the method are also compared with the Advanced Design System (ADS) momentum simulation tool. The results show that this proposed high-frequency interconnect modeling method is very much more efficient in terms of simulation time, while maintaining comparable accuracy, compared to momentum simulations and measured behavior.

After joining in the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Taiwan¡¦s steel import tariff has been comprehensively reduced to almost nil customs duties (duty-free) since the year 2004. As a result of overwhelming importation of steel products and continuous investment in enhancing and enlarging output capabilities made by local steel manufacturers, the domestic steel markets are showing a tendency to a surplus status of supply over demand. However, due to the increasingly strong demand of steel materials made by the China mainland in the recent years, it has been not only greatly helped put off the execution of the world-wide scattered anti-dumping trade remedy assistance measures since the year 2000, but also benefited the domestic major steel manufacturers adjusting and improving their market structure and profit advantages in time. This enables the local steel producers to gradually enlarge their export quantity and aggressively expand their steel output on China mainland in the meantime. While the steel industries are boomingly developing, the international steel prices are rising and the steel market bargains are boosting, I am firmly confident that only the steel enterprises are able to concentrate their attention on what the anti-dumping measures formulated by WTO are stated, and to take appropriate dealing actions in the meantime, the competitive edge will be able to be elevated by the domestic steel producers. Therefore, to immediately setup information system on the forecast of dumping prediction and the knowledge of anti-dumping measures is a prerequisite to facilitate enhancing the enterprise¡¦s competitive edge and superiority. The results of this research are made into two fields on the application of a dumping prediction about the coated/galvanized plate steel products. i.e. (1) In line with the WTO regulations and the US anti-dumping law, I have made various collection concerning the information of law articles, dumping items, documents as well as miscellaneous information and have combined them into one consolidated concept to construct an up-dated dumping pre-warning alarm system. (2) Further study was made on the pre-warning subject concerning price negotiations and price finalizations of the S company¡¦s marketing department between the phases of order reception and goods issue. The result I discovered is that it is critically important for the enterprise to systematically pin down and appropriately structure its sales prices in advance and timely notice the pre-warning alarm measures in linking with the marketing model team before the entrepreneur is facing an international anti-dumping complaint or accusation in this regard.

In this thesis, a high-efficient integrated pixel compensator architecture for the H.264/AVC standard has been proposed which can provide both inter and intra prediction functions for luma and chroma components of pixels. By decomposing the algorithms used for both prediction methods into small micro-operation steps, the fundamental arithmetic processing unit architecture capable for performing these operations can be first determined. Next, by considering the possible reference sample transfer issue, the overall compensator architecture will be built by using parallel processing units with some input and intermediate buffers which can be dynamically configured to perform proper computation schedules of different modes suitable for the nature input order of reference samples. The proposed design not only can avoid the additional data transposition buffer, but most importantly the data transfer time spent to fetch the reference samples can be overlapped with the data computation time. Since both arithmetic units and the intermediate data buffer for both inter and intra prediction processes have been shared, our integrated design can achieve more than 30% reduction of gate count compared with the sum of the separate designs. Our design can also lead to more than 38% saving of gate count compared with the previous designs. In addition to the data-path design, this thesis also addresses the memory bandwidth optimization issue which is especially important for the luma interpolation process. A new data-reuse buffer design based on a two-dimensional cache architecture to explore the possible data reuse among the inter and intra partitions will be proposed. The proposed design can be easily integrated with the H.264 interpolator to reduce the enormous demand of memory access. Our experimental results shows that our saving of memory bandwidth can be 20% more than what the best design can achieve by exploring the intra-partition data reuse only. Besides, our compensator can decode the videos up to HDTV resolution, and be applied for the dedicated H.264 hardware codec for various consumer devices.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Florida, 2001. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 118 p.; also contains graphics. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-117).

The identification of asthma patients most at risk of experiencing an emergency department event is an important step toward lessening public health burdens in the United States. In this report, the CDC BRFSS Asthma Call Back Survey Data from 2006 to 2009 is explored for potential factors for a predictive model. A metric for classifying the control level of asthma patients is constructed and applied. The data is then used to construct a predictive model for ED events with the rpart algorithm. / text

Effective machine maintenance policy is a critical element of a smooth running manufacturing system. This paper evaluates a multiple-recipe predictive maintenance problem modeled using a M/G/1 queueing system. A numerical study is performed on an optimal predictive maintenance policy. A simulated job-based maintenance policy is used as a baseline for the optimal policy. We investigate the effects of varying degradation rates, holding costs, preventive maintenance times, and preventive maintenance costs. We also examine a two-recipe problem. / text

South Africa has faced tremendous changes over the past decade, which has had a huge impact on the working environment. Organisations are compelled to address the societal disparities between various cultural groups. However, previously disadvantaged groups have had to face inequalities of the education system in the past, such as a lack of qualified teachers (especially in the natural sciences), and poor educational books and facilities. This has often resulted in poor grade 12 results. Social responsibility and social investment programmes are an attempt to rectify these inequalities. The objective of this research was to investigate the validity of the current selection battery of the Youth Foundation Training Programme (YFTP) in terms of academic performance of the students on the bridging programme. A correlational design was used in this research in order to investigate predictive validity whereby data on the assessment procedure was collected at about the time applicants were hired. The scores obtained from the Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM), which forms part of the Raven's Progressive Matrices as well as the indices of the Potential Index Battery (PIB) tests, acted as the independent variables, while the Matric results of the participants served as the criterion measure ofthe dependent variable. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software programme by means of correlations and regression analyses. The results showed that although the current selection battery used for the bridging students does indeed have some value, it only appears to be a poor predictor of the Matric results. Individually, the SpEEx tests used in the battery evidently were not good predictors of the Matric results, while the respective beta weights of the individual instruments did confirm that the APM was the strongest predictor. Limitations were identified and recommendations for further research were discussed. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.