Les Véhicules Etroits et Inclinables (VEI) sont la convergence d’une voiture et d’un motocycle. Un mètre de largeur seulement suffit pour transporter une ou deux personnes en Tandem. Les VEI sont conçus dans le but de résoudre partiellement les problèmes de trafic routier, de minimiser la consommation énergétique et l’émission de polluants. De par leurs dimensions(ratio hauteur/largeur), ces véhicules doivent s’incliner en virage pour rester stable en compensant l’effet de l’accélération latérale. Cette inclinaison doit dans certains cas être automatique : elle peut être réalisée à l’aide d’un couple d’inclinaison généré par un actionneur dédié (système DTC), soit encore en modulant l’angle de braquage des roues (Système STC). Nous avons proposé dans ce mémoire une méthodologie de synthèse d’un régulateur structuré minimisant la norme H2 d’un problème bien posé au bénéfice d’une régulation optimisée de l’accélération latérale, considérant tour à tour les systèmes DTC et STC. Les régulateurs proposés sont paramétrés par la vitesse longitudinale et s’avèrent performants et robustes, et les moyens de réglages proposés permettent d’étudier l’intérêt relatif d’une solution DTC pure ou mixte DTC/STC, permettant de supporter les développements futurs sur le sujet. L’originalité des solutions proposées en regard des études rencontrées dans la littérature porte en particulier sur le fait de choisir de réguler directement l’accélération latérale perçue (plutôt que l’angle d’inclinaison), en anticipant la prise de virage par la prise en compte des angles et vitesse de braquage. L’optimisation de la régulation permet de réduire de manière importante le couple d’inclinaison requis, et l’accélération latérale subie par les passagers est faible. Tous les développements proposés s’appuient naturellement en amont sur un travail de modélisation (recherche du modèle juste nécessaire), et de bibliographie conséquent. Le modèle retenu comprend 5 degrés de libertés. Nous avons démontré qu’il possédait la propriété intéressante d’être plat, et avons utilisé cette propriété pour ouvrir des perspectives relatives à la conception d’un régulateur non-linéaire robuste, susceptible apriori d’accroître les performances dans le cas de « grands mouvements ». Au contraire de ce qui existe dans la littérature,le régulateur multivariable conçu pour le système SDTC permet le contrôle coordonné des actions sur les systèmes STC et DTC. / Narrow Tilting Vehicles (NTV) are the convergence of a car and a motorcycle. One meter wide, these vehicles are designed for one or two people sitting the one in front the other. The idea behind the conception of NTV is the minimization of traffic congestion, energy consumption and pollutant emission. But because of their dimensions, these cars would have to lean into corners in order to compensate for the lateral acceleration and maintain their stability. The tilting should be automatic, and can be achieved by a tilting torque generated by a dedicated tilting actuator (DTC) or by modifying the steering angle (STC) or both (SDTC). In this thesis, we first propose a methodology for the design of an output feedback structured regulator, minimizing the H2 norm of a well-posed problem, built to optimize the lateral acceleration of the NTV, considering DTC and SDTC systems.The designed controllers, with the longitudinal velocity as a parameter, lead to the minimization of the tilting torque and of the lateral acceleration perceived by the driver, and have good performances as well as good robustness properties. Furthermore, the tuning methodology allows the comparison of a pure DTC solution and a mixed SDTC alternative. Compared to the literature, the originalities in this thesis are the direct control of the measured value of the lateral acceleration (instead of the tilting angle), and the anticipation of the tilt, thanks to the use of the steering angle and angular velocity. Furthermore, the SDTC solution allows to drive both the STC and DTC systems in a coordinated manner. The design strategies are based on a preliminary study of vehicle models, and a design model with 5DoF was developed. We demonstrated that the model has the nice property to be flat, and in the last section of the thesis, used this property to initiate the design of a non-linear robust controller, which can a priori lead to better performances in case of “large motions”.

Neste trabalho apresenta-se um procedimento de projeto para sistemas dinâmicos com não linearidades do tipo setor. Um sistema linear com incerteza estruturada é utilizado para descrever o sistema não linear, permitindo encontrar funções de Lyapunov, subconjuntos do domínio de atração e regiões invariantes do sistema não linear de forma relativamente simples. O controlador de ganho programado utiliza os estados do sistema para chavear controladores lineares robustos em subconjuntos do domínio de atração do sistema em torno do ponto de operação. O procedimento garante a estabilidade do sistema em malha fechada e reduz o conservadorismo que resulta quando uma grande região de atração é considerada. Além disto, também considera-se o problema de transição garantida entre pontos de operação, utilizando um caminho pré especificado no espaço de estado. Para o controle do sistema linear com incerteza, apresenta-se uma técnica de controle de custo garantido utilizando desigualdades de matrizes lineares. Um sistema de suspensão magnética e um sistema de bioxidação microbiana de sorbitol a sorbose são apresentados como exemplos de aplicação do controlador de ganho programado. / In this work a gain scheduling controller design procedure for dynamic systems with sector nonlinearities is given. An uncertain linear system with structured uncertainty is used to describe the nonlinear system, yielding an easy way to obtain Lyapunov functions, invariant sets and subsets of the system domain of attraction. The gain scheduling controller proposed uses the system state to switch linear robust controllers in subsets of the system domain of attraction around the operating point. The procedure guarantees the stability ofthe closed loop system and reduces the amount of conservatism that results when a large region of attraction around the operating point is considered. In addition, we also consider the problem of guaranteed transition between operating points by using a pre specified path in the state space for the system operating points. A guaranteed cost control law for uncertain linear systems using linear matrix inequalities is also presented. A magnetic suspension system and a sorbitol to sorbose microbial oxidation system are presented as applications of the gain scheduled controller.

The research topic is: Tools for the revision of a maintenance strategy for an explosives manufacturing plant, using asset management principles. This research has specific reference to the SASOL Prillan plant based in SASOL, Sasolburg. The purpose of this research is to identify tools for the revision of a maintenance strategy for an explosives manufacturing plant, using asset management principles. These tools must be aimed to increase the proactive work capacity index, Figure 3, and to identify and/or develop tools that can be used by the engineering team of this explosives manufacturing plant to increase equipment reliability and performance. In this research assets include people. The meaning and application of asset management principles were researched and the tools needed to combine existing efforts and future needs are discussed. The human element to ensure the successful implementation of an asset management culture was researched and attributes of leaders and a change model is presented. This research was done into the wider engineering management discipline and not only maintenance. The method used to gather data was by means of interviews of a sample group within this organization. As this manufacturing unit makes use of subject matter experts, these support functions and plant personnel that were not interviewed, were issued with questionnaires to ensure that the sample group is a fair representation of the total manufacturing facility. To obtain a holistic view of potential shortcomings within the current maintenance strategy, all disciplines and levels within this operation were interviewed and commonalities of various asset management models were determined and used to define existing problem areas. This data was used to determine statistical correlations. The case study presented in Chapter 1 indicates that there is a case for change that can improve the proactive work capacity index of the engineering team. The results of this research confirm that there is in fact a real requirement to increase spares accuracy, improve on technical training as well as a need to establish visual performance indicators (dashboard) to measure overall equipment efficiency with the goal toTools for the revision of a maintenance strategy for an explosives manufacturing plant, using asset management principles increase equipment reliability and performance. The technical training referred to in this research reflects on training of people on equipment after investment in new technology. The current spares holding strategy is lacking equipment description accuracy. Furthermore, it is recommended that the implementation of career paths and development plans for individuals must be developed to create an environment of learning. The use of user status information captured on the computerized maintenance management system (SAP R/3) can add to the management of works orders and indicate where the focus must be to complete overdue work orders. Open work orders should be used to manage expenditure, to measure planning efficiency and to manage the cash flow of the business. The use of overall equipment efficiency and engineering efficiency measures is recommended and must be visually displayed on a “dashboard”. It was recommended that the engineering and operations personnel of this manufacturing plant be trained in asset management principles and that balanced scorecards are developed to ensure that the strategies of the various departments are aligned with the business strategy. Diagram 1 best illustrates the thinking and process flow of this research. The flow diagram shows five distinct stages and the appropriate objectives and/ or elements that were considered. The dissertation is also structured in this manner. All abbreviations, acronyms and definitions used in this document were listed in APPENDIX B / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The research topic is: Tools for the revision of a maintenance strategy for an explosives manufacturing plant, using asset management principles. This research has specific reference to the SASOL Prillan plant based in SASOL, Sasolburg. The purpose of this research is to identify tools for the revision of a maintenance strategy for an explosives manufacturing plant, using asset management principles. These tools must be aimed to increase the proactive work capacity index, Figure 3, and to identify and/or develop tools that can be used by the engineering team of this explosives manufacturing plant to increase equipment reliability and performance. In this research assets include people. The meaning and application of asset management principles were researched and the tools needed to combine existing efforts and future needs are discussed. The human element to ensure the successful implementation of an asset management culture was researched and attributes of leaders and a change model is presented. This research was done into the wider engineering management discipline and not only maintenance. The method used to gather data was by means of interviews of a sample group within this organization. As this manufacturing unit makes use of subject matter experts, these support functions and plant personnel that were not interviewed, were issued with questionnaires to ensure that the sample group is a fair representation of the total manufacturing facility. To obtain a holistic view of potential shortcomings within the current maintenance strategy, all disciplines and levels within this operation were interviewed and commonalities of various asset management models were determined and used to define existing problem areas. This data was used to determine statistical correlations. The case study presented in Chapter 1 indicates that there is a case for change that can improve the proactive work capacity index of the engineering team. The results of this research confirm that there is in fact a real requirement to increase spares accuracy, improve on technical training as well as a need to establish visual performance indicators (dashboard) to measure overall equipment efficiency with the goal toTools for the revision of a maintenance strategy for an explosives manufacturing plant, using asset management principles increase equipment reliability and performance. The technical training referred to in this research reflects on training of people on equipment after investment in new technology. The current spares holding strategy is lacking equipment description accuracy. Furthermore, it is recommended that the implementation of career paths and development plans for individuals must be developed to create an environment of learning. The use of user status information captured on the computerized maintenance management system (SAP R/3) can add to the management of works orders and indicate where the focus must be to complete overdue work orders. Open work orders should be used to manage expenditure, to measure planning efficiency and to manage the cash flow of the business. The use of overall equipment efficiency and engineering efficiency measures is recommended and must be visually displayed on a “dashboard”. It was recommended that the engineering and operations personnel of this manufacturing plant be trained in asset management principles and that balanced scorecards are developed to ensure that the strategies of the various departments are aligned with the business strategy. Diagram 1 best illustrates the thinking and process flow of this research. The flow diagram shows five distinct stages and the appropriate objectives and/ or elements that were considered. The dissertation is also structured in this manner. All abbreviations, acronyms and definitions used in this document were listed in APPENDIX B / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:45:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissABL.pdf: 6341606 bytes, checksum: 16c0c100fd3c16c4089f0b78475d5ef7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-02-28 / Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos / The present study investigated the effects of the training of psychology students in the application of a software developed for teaching reading skills to children with reported academic failure. This training was composed by teaching conditions proposed from the elaboration of a teaching program. These conditions was developed for promoting those children s learning, based on a technology derived from the experimental analysis of behavior in the context special education. For the implementation of the training, the students were presented with different suggested teaching conditions: presentation of the exercises in the classroom; visit to the laboratory, which included a presentation of how the computerized program works; simulation of settings in which the program was applied; participative supervision of the participant s performance; reading of the manual with written instructions. A follow up on the upholding of learning in the participant s performance was also performed with no direct interference by the experimenter (final observation). The teaching conditions were assessed in terms of the contribution of each condition in the development of educational capabilities in the participants, as well as in terms of possibilities of improvement of each condition. The target behaviors (skills to be developed in the participants) were observed and recorded in terms of occurrence, non-occurrence, or aided occurrence; a different set of target behaviors were recorded as they occurred during the sessions of application of the software. The results from 22 participants that were presented with the different conditions of the training program were grouped by the 10 possible sequences of presentation of the conditions. In general, all participants showed an increase in the percentage of target behaviors performed, with a decrease in the percentage of occurrence and aided occurrence recorded between the first and the last condition. In addition, was analyzed the conditions individually (simulation, supervision and final observation) independent of the sequence of conditions to which they were presented. An evaluation of the teaching conditions by the participants was also used, with the assessment of their opinion on the positive and negative aspects of the training. The main conclusions on the relative contribution of each condition were: the simulation condition seemed to be more efficient in reducing the frequency of non-occurrence of the target behaviors; the supervision condition seemed to be more efficient in reducing aided occurrence of the target behaviors; it was not possible to make inferences about the impact of reading the manual, as participants that were not presented with this condition had a similar performance when compared with the participants the were presented with that condition performance of the participants was unstable, which suggests the need for revising relevant aspects to the development of teaching programs; the number of sessions might have played a more important role in the participants performance than the sequence of conditions to which they were presented. Finally, the present study raised important issues to be considered in the training of new agents, and suggests further experiments to investigate the limitations observed. / Este estudo investigou o impacto da capacitação de estudantes de Psicologia na aplicação de um programa informatizado, software especialmente desenvolvido para ensinar leitura e escrita a crianças com histórico de fracasso escolar. A capacitação foi composta por diferentes condições de ensino, as quais foram propostas a partir da elaboração de um programa de ensino desenvolvido para promover a aprendizagem dos estudantes; a proposta teve como base a tecnologia derivada da Análise Experimental do Comportamento e sua aplicação no contexto da Educação Especial. Para a implementação do programa de capacitação, os participantes do estudo foram exposto às diferentes condições de ensino propostas, sendo: apresentação das atividades em sala de aula; visita ao laboratório com demonstração do funcionamento do programa informatizado; simulação de situações de aplicação do programa informatizado; monitoramento participativo do desempenho dos participantes; leitura do manual com instruções escritas. Houve ainda uma situação em que foi feita a observação da manutenção da aprendizagem, sem interferência direta do pesquisador no desempenho dos participantes (observação final). As condições de ensino foram avaliadas em termos da contribuição de cada uma delas para desenvolver competências educativas nos participantes, bem como para obter subsídios para o aperfeiçoamento destas condições. Os comportamentos-alvo (habilidades a serem desenvolvidas nos participantes) foram observados e registrados conforme sua ocorrência, não-ocorrência ou ocorrência com ajuda de outra pessoa; um outro conjunto de comportamentos-alvo foi registrado conforme a freqüência de ocorrência durante as sessões de aplicação do programa informatizado. Os resultados são de 22 participantes nas diferentes condições do programa de capacitação, agrupados de acordo com as seqüências de apresentação das condições pelas quais eles passaram, num total de dez seqüências dentre as possíveis combinações. De modo geral, todos os participantes apresentaram aumentos nas percentagens de ocorrência dos comportamentos-alvo e redução de não-ocorrência e ocorrência com ajuda entre a primeira e a última condição observada. Foi analisado ainda, o desempenho dos participantes em cada condição isoladamente (simulação, monitoramento e observação final), independente da seqüência de condições realizada por eles. Ocorreu, também, uma avaliação feita pelos participantes sobre as condições de ensino e os aspectos positivos e negativos da capacitação. As principais conclusões sobre o grau de contribuição das diferentes condições, a partir dos dados de desempenho dos participantes foram: a condição de simulação parece ter sido mais eficaz na redução da não-ocorrência dos comportamentos-alvo; a condição de monitoramento parece ter sido mais eficaz na redução da ocorrência dos comportamentos-alvo com ajuda; não foi possível concluir o impacto da condição de Leitura do Manual, já que participantes que não foram expostos a essa condição tiveram um desempenho semelhante a outros participantes que foram expostos a essa condição; houve variações de desempenho dos participantes que pode indicar a necessidade de rever aspectos relevantes para a construção de Programas de Ensino; o número de sessões realizadas pelos participantes parece ter tido maior impacto no desempenho dos participantes do que a seqüência de condições realizadas por eles. Por fim, há a indicação de aspectos importantes a serem considerados na capacitação de novos agentes, com sugestões de estudos futuros para investigar algumas limitações encontradas neste estudo.

Neste trabalho apresenta-se um procedimento de projeto para sistemas dinâmicos com não linearidades do tipo setor. Um sistema linear com incerteza estruturada é utilizado para descrever o sistema não linear, permitindo encontrar funções de Lyapunov, subconjuntos do domínio de atração e regiões invariantes do sistema não linear de forma relativamente simples. O controlador de ganho programado utiliza os estados do sistema para chavear controladores lineares robustos em subconjuntos do domínio de atração do sistema em torno do ponto de operação. O procedimento garante a estabilidade do sistema em malha fechada e reduz o conservadorismo que resulta quando uma grande região de atração é considerada. Além disto, também considera-se o problema de transição garantida entre pontos de operação, utilizando um caminho pré especificado no espaço de estado. Para o controle do sistema linear com incerteza, apresenta-se uma técnica de controle de custo garantido utilizando desigualdades de matrizes lineares. Um sistema de suspensão magnética e um sistema de bioxidação microbiana de sorbitol a sorbose são apresentados como exemplos de aplicação do controlador de ganho programado. / In this work a gain scheduling controller design procedure for dynamic systems with sector nonlinearities is given. An uncertain linear system with structured uncertainty is used to describe the nonlinear system, yielding an easy way to obtain Lyapunov functions, invariant sets and subsets of the system domain of attraction. The gain scheduling controller proposed uses the system state to switch linear robust controllers in subsets of the system domain of attraction around the operating point. The procedure guarantees the stability ofthe closed loop system and reduces the amount of conservatism that results when a large region of attraction around the operating point is considered. In addition, we also consider the problem of guaranteed transition between operating points by using a pre specified path in the state space for the system operating points. A guaranteed cost control law for uncertain linear systems using linear matrix inequalities is also presented. A magnetic suspension system and a sorbitol to sorbose microbial oxidation system are presented as applications of the gain scheduled controller.

This thesis describes the analysis, design and implementation of a high performance DSP-based servo drive for a limited-angle torque motor used in thermal imaging applications. A limited-angle torque motor is an electromagnetic actuator based on the Laws' relay principle, and in the present application the rotation required was from - 10° to + 10° in 16 ms, with a flyback period of 4 ms. To ensure good quality picture reproduction, an exceptionally high linearity of ±0.02 ° was necessary throughout the forward sweep. In addition, the drive voltage to the exciting winding of the motor should be less than the +35 V ceiling of the drive amplifier. A research survey shows that little literature was available, probably due to the commercial sensitivity of many of the applications for torque motors. A detailed mathematical model of the motor drive, including high-order linear dynamics and the significant nonlinear characteristics, was developed to provide an insight into the overall system behaviour. The proposed control scheme uses a multicompensator, multi-loop linear controller, to reshape substantially the motor response characteristic, with a non-linear adaptive gain-scheduled controller to compensate effectively for the nonlinear variations of the motor parameters. The scheme demonstrates that a demanding nonlinear control system may be conveniently analysed and synthesised using frequency-domain methods, and that the design techniques may be reliably applied to similar electro-mechanical systems required to track a repetitive waveform. A prototype drive system was designed, constructed and tested during the course of the research. The drive system comprises a DSP-based digital controller, a linear power amplifier and the feedback signal conditioning circuit necessary for the closed-loop control. A switch-mode amplifier was also built, evaluated and compared with the linear amplifier. It was shown that the overall performance of the linear amplifier was superior to that of the switch-mode amplifier for the present application. The control software was developed using the structured programming method, with the continuous controller converted to digital form using the bilinear transform. The 6- operator was used rather than the z-operator, since it is more advantageous for high speed sampling systems. The gain-scheduled control was implemented by developing a schedule table, which is controlled by the DSP program to update continuously the controller parameters in synchronism with the periodic scanning of the motor. The experimental results show excellent agreement with the simulated results, with linearity of ±0.05 ° achieved throughout the forward sweep. Although this did not quite meet the very demanding specifications due to the limitations of the experimental drive system, it clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. The discrepancies between simulated and experimental results are analyzed and discussed, the control design method is reviewed, and detailed suggestions are presented for further work which may improve the drive performance.

This paper describes the design and implementation of an automated build system for the JAS39A simulator FUS39A at HiQ:s offices in Arboga. The assignment was to automate the process in which modules are built; the simulator is composed of a number of modules which are built manually at the end of each week, this process takes about a day of manual labor. The system can automatically build a module as either a scheduled service or by manual invocation. The system contains functionality for reporting the build results to any given recipient by e-mail. The purpose of the system is to free up the time put into manually building the modules for better suited tasks by automating the build of FUS39A. The assignment was split into two parts, an analysis part where information of the old system was gathered, tools and methods were chosen and the new system was designed. In the second part the system was implemented and tested. / Denna rapport beskriver designen och implementationen av ett system för automatiskt bygge av JAS39A simulatorn FUS39A vid HiQ:s kontor i Arboga. Målet var att automatisera bygget av modulerna som simulatorn består av då de i utgångsläget byggs manuellt mot en insats på en mandag i veckan. Systemet kan utan övervakning generera en modulutgåva genom en schemalagd tjänst eller en manuell invokering. Systemet innehåller även funktionalitet för att rapportera byggets resultat till avsedd mottagare via e-post. Syftet med systemet är att avlasta en persons arbetsbörda genom att automatisera bygget av mjukvaran i simulatorn FUS39A. Arbetet delades in i två delar, en analysfas där information om det nuvarande systemet samlas, verktyg väljs och designen av det nya systemet tas fram. I den andra delen implementeras och testas systemet.

The thesis deals with dalit literature and its role in the dalit movement. In the preface it summarizes information about indian caste system, untouchability and outlines the history of the dalit movement. It tries to highlight certain important points within the history of dalit movement that were significant for the evolvement and development of the dalit literature. Then it goes onto the dalit literature itself. The brief historical depiction is devided into parts based on geographic and lingual regions (Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Gujarati). Further the author deals with classification of dalit literature and its relation with afro- american literature. She poses and tries to answer the question of who in fact is the dalit writer, how is dalit literature received by literature critics and briefly also mentions its language specificities. In the analysis of dalit literature motives the author describes significant and frequent storylines and shows the connection of literature and dalit movement. Specific examples taken from dalit works point out particular motives and nicely illustrate the character of this literature. Separate chapter deals with recently current theme of women in dalit literature. In conclusion author offers summary of the whole theme, emphasizes its most important points...

This dissertation deals with international transport law and looks at the development of bilateral air service agreements governing international scheduled flights from their inception after the Chicago Conference of 1944 until the present day. The Chicago Conference left a legacy of separation in airline services. Scheduled and nonscheduled flights came into existence and bilateral agreements are needed to regulate international scheduled services. The relationship between the state and its designated airline forms the pivot of the bilateral relationship. However, the aviation relationship between state and airline and between states inter se face challenges as globalisation and development take place in the air transport industry. New methods of cooperation now exist which need to be adapted to suit the needs of individual countries and airlines. South Africa has accepted the challenges of development and undertaken modern methods of cooperation such as code-sharing. / Law / LL.M.