Volume 12, Number 1, 2015

Special Issue on Recent Advance in Automation and Computing (pp.1-49)

Display Method:
Regular Paper
A Comparison of Mamdani and Sugeno Fuzzy Based Packet Scheduler for MANET with a Realistic Wireless Propagation Model
Oche Alexander Egaji , Alison Griffiths , Mohammad S. Hasan , Hong-Nian Yu
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 1-13, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0861-y
Abstract:
The mobile nature of the nodes in a wireless mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) and the error prone link connectivity between nodes pose many challenges. These include frequent route changes, high packet loss, etc. Such problems increase the end-toend delay and decrease the throughput. This paper proposes two adaptive priority packet scheduling algorithms for MANET based on Mamdani and Sugeno fuzzy inference system. The fuzzy systems consist of three input variables: data rate, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and queue size. The fuzzy decision system has been optimised to improve its efficiency. Both fuzzy systems were verified using the Matlab fuzzy toolbox and the performance of both algorithms were evaluated using the riverbed modeler (formally known as OPNET modeler). The results were compared to an existing fuzzy scheduler under various network loads, for constant-bit-rate (CBR) and variable-bit-rate (VBR) traffic. The measuring metrics which form the basis for performance evaluation are end-to-end delay, throughput and packet delivery ratio. The proposed Mamdani and Sugeno scheduler perform better than the existing scheduler for CBR traffic. The end-to-end delay for Mamdani and Sugeno scheduler was reduced by an average of 52% and 54%, respectively. The performance of the throughput and packet delivery ratio for CBR traffic are very similar to the existing scheduler because of the characteristic of the traffic. The network was also at full capacity. The proposed schedulers also showed a better performance for VBR traffic. The end-to-end delay was reduced by an average of 38% and 52%, respectively. Both the throughput and packet delivery ratio (PDR) increased by an average of 53% and 47%, respectively. The Mamdani scheduler is more computationally complex than the Sugeno scheduler, even though they both showed similar network performance. Thus, the Sugeno scheduler is more suitable for real-time applications.
Implementation of Envelope Analysis on a Wireless Condition Monitoring System for Bearing Fault Diagnosis
Guo-Jin Feng , James Gu , Dong Zhen , Mustafa Aliwan , Feng-Shou Gu , Andrew D. Ball
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 14-24, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0862-x
Abstract:
Envelope analysis is an effective method for characterizing impulsive vibrations in wired condition monitoring (CM) systems. This paper depicts the implementation of envelope analysis on a wireless sensor node for obtaining a more convenient and reliable CM system. To maintain CM performances under the constraints of resources available in the cost effective Zigbee based wireless sensor network (WSN), a low cost cortex-M4F microcontroller is employed as the core processor to implement the envelope analysis algorithm on the sensor node. The on-chip 12 bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) working at 10 kHz sampling rate is adopted to acquire vibration signals measured by a wide frequency band piezoelectric accelerometer. The data processing flow inside the processor is optimized to satisfy the large memory usage in implementing fast Fourier transform (FFT) and Hilbert transform (HT). Thus, the envelope spectrum can be computed from a data frame of 2048 points to achieve a frequency resolution acceptable for identifying the characteristic frequencies of different bearing faults. Experimental evaluation results show that the embedded envelope analysis algorithm can successfully diagnose the simulated bearing faults and the data transmission throughput can be reduced by at least 95% per frame compared with that of the raw data, allowing a large number of sensor nodes to be deployed in the network for real time monitoring.
Model-based and Fuzzy Logic Approaches to Condition Monitoring of Operational Wind Turbines
Philip Cross , Xiandong Ma
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 25-34, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0863-9
Abstract:
It is common for wind turbines to be installed in remote locations on land or offshore, leading to difficulties in routine inspection and maintenance. Further, wind turbines in these locations are often subject to harsh operating conditions. These challenges mean there is a requirement for a high degree of maintenance. The data generated by monitoring systems can be used to obtain models of wind turbines operating under different conditions, and hence predict output signals based on known inputs. A model-based condition monitoring system can be implemented by comparing output data obtained from operational turbines with those predicted by the models, so as to detect changes that could be due to the presence of faults. This paper discusses several techniques for model-based condition monitoring systems: linear models, artificial neural networks, and state dependent parameter "pseudo" transfer functions. The models are identified using supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) data acquired from an operational wind firm. It is found that the multiple-input single-output state dependent parameter method outperforms both multivariate linear and artificial neural network-based approaches. Subsequently, state dependent parameter models are used to develop adaptive thresholds for critical output signals. In order to provide an early warning of a developing fault, it is necessary to interpret the amount by which the threshold is exceeded, together with the period of time over which this occurs. In this regard, a fuzzy logic-based inference system is proposed and demonstrated to be practically feasible.
Recursive Filter with Partial Knowledge on Inputs and Outputs
Jinya Su , Baibing Li , Wen-Hua Chen
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 35-42, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0864-8
Abstract:
This paper investigates the problem of state estimation for discrete-time stochastic linear systems, where additional knowledge on the unknown inputs is available at an aggregate level and the knowledge on the missing measurements can be described by a known stochastic distribution. Firstly, the available knowledge on the unknown inputs and the state equation is used to form the prior distribution of the state vector at each time step. Secondly, to obtain an analytically tractable likelihood function, the effect of missing measurements is broken down into a systematic part and a random part, and the latter is modeled as part of the observation noise. Then, a recursive filter is obtained based on Bayesian inference. Finally, a numerical example is provided to evaluate the performance of the proposed methods.
Flexible Strip Supercapacitors for Future Energy Storage
Rui-Rong Zhang , Yan-Meng Xu , David Harrison , John Fyson , Fu-Lian Qiu , Darren Southee
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 43-49, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0866-6
Abstract:
Flexible strip supercapacitors are developed and their electrochemical properties are characterized. Activated carbon is used as the electrode material and it is found to have a good porous structure which provides a large surface area for energy storage. Furthermore, this activated carbon performs well. The manufacturing processes for the supercapacitors are described in detail and the preparation process has good reproducibility. The strip supercapacitors are combined in series and parallel to measure their electrical properties. The performances of these two samples in series or in parallel both follow the theoretical models. The electrochemical potential window of a series circuit of these two strip supercapacitors is 4.8 V. The energy and power of the series or parallel circuits are equal to the sums of the two strip supercapacitors'.
Selection of Suitable Maximum-heart-rate Formulas for Use with Karvonen Formula to Calculate Exercise Intensity
Jinhua She , Hitoshi Nakamura , Koji Makino , Yasuhiro Ohyama , Hiroshi Hashimoto
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 62-69, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0824-3
Abstract:
The Karvonen formula, which is widely used to estimate exercise intensity, contains maximum heart rate, HRmax, as a variable. This study employed pedaling experiments to assess which of the proposed formulas for calculating HRmax was the most suitable for use with the Karvonen formula. First, two kinds of experiments involving an ergometer were performed: an all-in-one-day experiment that tested eight pedaling loads in one day, and a one-load-per-day experiment that tested one load per day for eight days. A comparison of the data on 7 subjects showed that the all-in-one-day type of experiment was better for assessing HRmax formulas, at least for the load levels tested in our experiments. A statistical analysis of the experimental data on 47 subjects showed two of the HRmax formulas to be suitable for use in the Karvonen formula to estimate exercise intensity for males in their 20 s. In addition, the physical characteristics of a person having the greatest impact on exercise intensity were determined.
Grey Qualitative Modeling and Control Method for Subjective Uncertain Systems
Peng Wang , Shu-Jie Li , Yan Lv , Zong-Hai Chen
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 70-76, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0820-7
Abstract:
A new approach to model and control an unknown system using subjective uncertain rules is proposed. This method is established by combining the grey system theory and the qualitative simulation method. The proposed approach mainly contains three steps. In the first step, subjective uncertain rules are accumulated gradually during cognizing the system; the mapping relations between the system inputs and outputs are built and represented using the grey qualitative matrix in the second step; in the third step, the generalized whitening function is defined to realize the transformation between qualitative and quantitative information. Besides the theoretical results, two sets of simulations based on a water level control system are conducted comparatively to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The water level expectation is set to be constant in the first set, while it changes in the second set. The simulation results show that the proposed method tracks the water level expectation well. By combining the proposed method with proportional-integral-derivative (PID) or fuzzy logic controller (FLC), it can be concluded that the system can reach the stable state more quickly and the overshoot can also be reduced compared to using PID or FLC alone.
Bandwidth Allocation with Minimum Rate Constraints in Cluster-based Femtocell Networks
Kai Ma , Liang Li , Jie Yang , Zhi-Xin Liu , Xin-Bin Li , Xin-Ping Guan
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 77-82, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0843-0
Abstract:
Inter-femtocell interference becomes serious when femtocells are densely deployed. To mitigate the inter-femtocell interference, this paper proposes a cluster-based bandwidth allocation algorithm. We create femtocell clusters by constructing a weighted interference graph and allocate bandwidth to each cluster based on a Nash bargaining solution (NBS). Simulation results show that the cluster-based bandwidth allocation algorithm can reduce the inter-femtocell interference and meet the minimum rate constraint of each cluster.
A Robust Tracking Controller for Electrically Driven Robot Manipulators: Stability Analysis and Experiment
Mohamadreza Homayounzade , Mehdi Keshmiri , Mostafa Ghobadi
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 83-92, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0850-1
Abstract:
In this paper, a robust controller for electrically driven robotic systems is developed. The controller is designed in a backstepping manner. The main features of the controller are: 1) Control strategy is developed at the voltage level and can deal with both mechanical and electrical uncertainties. 2) The proposed control law removes the restriction of previous robust methods on the upper bound of system uncertainties. 3) It also benefits from global asymptotic stability in the Lyapunov sense. It is worth to mention that the proposed controller can be utilized for constrained and nonconstrained robotic systems. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is verified by simulations for a two link robot manipulator and a four-bar linkage. In addition to simulation results, experimental results on a two link serial manipulator are included to demonstrate the performance of the proposed controller in tracking a given trajectory.
Detection of Impending Vehicle Rollover with Road Bank Angle Consideration Using a Robust Fuzzy Observer
Hamid Dahmani , Mohammed Chadli , Abdelhamid Rabhi , Ahmed El Hajjaji
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 93-101, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0836-z
Abstract:
This article describes a method of vehicle dynamics estimation for impending rollover detection. We estimate vehicle dynamic states in presence of the road bank angle as a disturbance in the vehicle model using a robust observer. The estimated roll angle and roll rate are used to compute the rollover index which is based on the prediction of the lateral load transfer. In order to anticipate rollover detection, a new method is proposed to compute the time to rollover (TTR) using the load transfer ratio (LTR). The nonlinear model, deduced from the vehicle lateral and roll dynamics, is represented by a Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model. This representation is used to account for the nonlinearities of lateral cornering forces. The proposed T-S observer is designed with unmeasurable premise variables to cater for non-availability of the slip angles measurement. The proposed approach is evaluated using CarSim simulator under different driving scenarios. Simulation results show good efficiency of the proposed T-S observer and the rollover detection method.
Survey Paper
Observer Design—A Survey
Chia-Chi Tsui
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 50-61, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0865-7
Abstract:
This paper surveys the results of observer design for linear time-invariant (L-T-I) deterministic irreducible open-loop systems (OLS), the most basic type of OLS. An observer estimates Kx(t) signal where K is a constant and x(t) is the state vector of the OLS. Thus, an observer can be used as a feedback controller that implements state feedback control (SFC) or Kx(t)-control, and observer design is therefore utterly important in all feedback control designs of state space theory. In this survey, the observer design results are divided into three categories and for three respective main purposes. The first category of observers estimate signal Kx(t) only with a given K, and this survey has four conclusions: 1) Function observer that estimates Kx(t) directly is more general than state observer that estimates x(t), and may be designed with order lower than that of state observer, and the additional design objective is to minimize observer order; 2) The function observer design problem has already been simplified to the solving of a single set of linear equations only while seeking the lowest possible number of rows of the solution matrix, and an apparently most effective and general algorithm of solving such a problem can guarantee unified upper and lower bounds of the observer order; 3) Because such a single set of linear equations is the simplest possible theoretical formulation of the design problem and such theoretical observer order bounds are the lowest possible, and because the general, simple, and explicit theoretical formula for the function observer order itself do not exist, the theoretical part of this design problem is solved; 4) Because the function observer order is generically near its upper bound, further improvement on the computational design algorithm so that the corresponding observer order can be further reduced, is generically not worthwhile. The second category of observers further realize the loop transfer function and robustness properties of the direct SFC, and the conclusion of this survey is also fourfold: 1) To fully realize the loop transfer function of a practically designed Kx(t)-control, the observer must be an output feedback controller (OFC) which has zero gain to OLS input; 2) If parameter K is separately designed before the observer design, as in the separation principle which has been followed by almost all people for over half of a century, then OFC that estimates Kx(t) does not exist for almost all OLS s; 3) As a result, a synthesized design principle that designs an OFC first and is valid for almost all OLS s, is proposed and fully developed, the corresponding K will be designed afterwards and will be constrained by the OFC order as well as the OFC parameters; 4) Although the Kx(t)-control is constrained in this new design principle and is therefore called the "generalized SFC" (as compared to the existing SFC in which K is unconstrained), it is still strong enough for most OLS's and this new design principle overcomes many fundamental drawbacks of the existing separation principle. The third category of observers estimate Kx(t) signal at special applications such as fault detection and identification and systems with time delay effects. Using directly the result of OFC that estimates Kx(t) of the second category, these observers can be generally and satisfactorily designed.
Brief Paper
On Improved Delay-dependent Robust Stability Criteria for Uncertain Systems with Interval Time-varying Delay
Jun-Jun Hui , He-Xin Zhang , Xiang-Yu Kong , Xin Zhou
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 102-108, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0822-5
Abstract:
This paper considers the problem of delay-dependent robust stability for uncertain systems with interval time-varying delays. By using the direct Lyapunov method, a new Lyapunov-Krasovskii (L-K) functional is introduced based on decomposition approach, when dealing with the time derivative of L-K functional, a new tight integral inequality is adopted for bounding the cross terms. Then, a new less conservative delay-dependent stability criterion is formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which can be easily solved by optimization algorithms. Numerical examples are given to show the effectiveness and the benefits of the proposed method.
Delay-dependent Non-fragile H Control for Linear Systems with Interval Time-varying Delay
Jun-Jun Hui , He-Xin Zhang , Xiang-Yu Kong
2015, vol. 12, no. 1,  pp. 109-116, doi: 10.1007/s11633-014-0851-0
Abstract:
This paper considers the problem of delay-dependent non-fragile H control for a class of linear systems with interval time-varying delay. Based on the direct Lyapunov method, an appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF) with triple-integral terms and augment terms is introduced. Then, by using the integral inequalities and convex combination technique, an improved H performance analysis criterion and non-fragile H controller are formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which can be easily solved by using standard numerical packages. At last, two numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.