Realizing ecosystem-safe hydropower from dams
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Physical structures are often sufficiently complicated to preclude constructing an accurate mathematical model of the system dynamics from simple analysis using the laws of physics. Consequently, determination of an accurate model requires utilization of (generally noisy) output measurements from dynamic tests. In this paper, a robust method for constructing accurate, structural-dynamic models from discrete time-domain measurements is presented. The method processes the measurements in order to determine the number of modes present, the damping and frequency of each mode, and the mode shape. The structure may be highly damped. Although the mode-shape identification is more sensitive to measurement noise than the order, frequency, and damping identification, the method is considerably less sensitive to noise than other leading methods. Accurate detection of the modal parameters and mode shapes is demonstrated for modes with damping ratios exceeding 15 percent.
All research results about flexible manipulator control were integrated to show a control scenario of a bracing manipulator. First, dynamic analysis of a flexible manipulator was done for modeling. Second, from the dynamic model, the inverse dynamic equation was derived, and the time domain inverse dynamic method was proposed for the calculation of the feedforward torque and the desired flexible coordinate trajectories. Third, a tracking controller was designed by combining the inverse dynamic feedforward control with the joint feedback control. The control scheme was applied to the tip position control of a single link flexible manipulator for zero and non-zero initial condition cases. Finally, the contact control scheme was added to the position tracking control. A control scenario of a bracing manipulator is provided and evaluated through simulation and experiment on a single link flexible manipulator.
This paper describes the results of a feasibility study for an Electric Propulsion Orbital Platform (EPOP), whose primary objective is to provide an instrumented platform for testing electric propulsion devices in space. It is anticipated that the first flight, EPO-1, will take place on the Shuttle-deployed Wake Shield Facility in 1996, and will be designed around a modified version of a commercial 1.8 kW hydrazine arcjet system, to be operated on gaseous hydrogen propellant. Specific subsystems are described, including the arcjet system, the propellant and power systems, and the diagnostics systems. Also, system engineering and integration issues are discussed.
The issue of designing and tuning fuzzy membership functions by neural networks (NN's) was started by NN-driven Fuzzy Reasoning in 1988. NN-driven fuzzy reasoning involves a NN embedded in the fuzzy system which generates membership values. In conventional fuzzy system design, the membership functions are hand-crafted by trial and error for each input variable. In contrast, NN-driven fuzzy reasoning considers several variables simultaneously and can design a multidimensional, nonlinear membership function for the entire subspace.
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A major problem associated with state assignment procedures for VLSI controllers is obtaining an assignment that produces minimal or near minimal logic. The key item in Programmable Logic Array (PLA) area minimization is the number of unique product terms required by the design equations. This paper presents a state assignment algorithm for minimizing the number of product terms required to implement a finite state machine using a PLA. Partition algebra with predecessor state information is used to derive a near optimal state assignment. A maximum bound on the number of product terms required can be obtained by inspecting the predecessor state information. The state assignment algorithm presented is much simpler than existing procedures and leads to the same number of product terms or less. An area-efficient PLA structure implemented in a 1.0 micron CMOS process is presented along with a summary of the performance for a controller implemented using this design procedure.
The sole all-pervasive feature of the environment that has helped shape, through evolution, all life on Earth is gravity. The near weightlessness of the Space Station Freedom space environment allows gravitational effects to be essentially uncoupled, thus providing an unprecedented opportunity to manipulate, systematically dissect, study, and exploit the role of gravity in the growth and development of all life forms. New and exciting opportunities are now available to utilize molecular biological and biochemical approaches to study the effects of microgravity on living organisms. By careful experimentation, we can determine how gravity perception occurs, how the resulting signals are produced and transduced, and how or if tissue-specific differences in gene expression occur. Microgravity research can provide unique new approaches to further our basic understanding of development and metabolic processes of cells and organisms, and to further the application of this new knowledge for the betterment of humankind.
Since 1974, CNES has been involved in geostationary positioning. Among different entities participating in operations and their preparation, the Flight Dynamics Center (FDC) is in charge of performing the following tasks: orbit determination; attitude determination; computation, monitoring, and calibration of orbit maneuvers; computation, monitoring, and calibration of attitude maneuvers; and operational predictions. In order to fulfill this mission, the FDC receives telemetry from the satellite and localization measurements from ground stations (e.g., CNES, NASA, INTELSAT). These data are processed by space dynamics programs integrated in the MERCATOR system which is run on SUN workstations (UNIX O.S.). The main features of MERCATOR are redundancy, modularity, and flexibility: efficient, flexible, and user friendly man-machine interface; and four identical SUN stations redundantly linked in an Ethernet network. Each workstation can perform all the tasks from data acquisition to computation results dissemination through a video network. A team of four engineers can handle the space mechanics aspects of a complete geostationary positioning from the injection into a transfer orbit to the final maneuvers in the station-keeping window. MERCATOR has been or is to be used for operations related to more than ten geostationary positionings. Initially developed for geostationary satellites, MERCATOR's methodology was also used for satellite control centers and can be applied to a wide range of satellites and to future manned missions.
Hybrid optical correlator systems use two spatial light modulators (SLM's), one at the input plane and the other at the filter plane. Currently available SLM's such as the deformable mirror device (DMD) and liquid crystal television (LCTV) SLM's exhibit arbitrarily constrained operating characteristics. The pattern recognition filters designed with the assumption that the SLM's have ideal operating characteristic may not behave as expected when implemented on the DMD or LCTV SLM's. Therefore it is necessary to incorporate the SLM constraints in the design of the filters. In this report, an iterative method is developed for the design of an unconstrained minimum average correlation energy (MACE) filter. Then using this algorithm a new approach for the design of a SLM constrained distortion invariant filter in the presence of input SLM is developed. Two different optimization algorithms are used to maximize the objective function during filter synthesis, one based on the simplex method and the other based on the Hooke and Jeeves method. Also, the simulated annealing based filter design algorithm proposed by Khan and Rajan is refined and improved. The performance of the filter is evaluated in terms of its recognition/discrimination capabilities using computer simulations and the results are compared with a simulated annealing optimization based MACE filter. The filters are designed for different LCTV SLM's operating characteristics and the correlation responses are compared. The distortion tolerance and the false class image discrimination qualities of the filter are comparable to those of the simulated annealing based filter but the new filter design takes about 1/6 of the computer time taken by the simulated annealing filter design.
Minimizing a Euclidean distance in the complex plane optimizes a wide class of correlation metrics for filters implemented on realistic devices. The algorithm searches over no more than two real scalars (gain and phase). It unifies a variety of previous solutions for special cases (e.g., a maximum signal-to-noise ratio with colored noise and a real filter and a maximum correlation intensity with no noise and a coupled filter). It extends optimal partial information filter theory to arbitrary spatial light modulators (fully complex, coupled, discrete, finite contrast ratio, and so forth), additive input noise (white or colored), spatially nonuniform filter modulators, and additive correlation detection noise (including signal dependent noise).
A theoretical explanation of some experimentally observed phenomena associated with the so-called Klebanoff modes is obtained by analyzing the flow over a finite thickness flat plate resulting from a small-amplitude distortion imposed on the upstream mean flow. The analysis shows (among other things) how the stretching of the vortex lines around the plate leads to streamwise vorticity at the plate surface, which then produces a streamwise velocity perturbation within the boundary layer that can be related to the experimentally observed Klebanoff mode. The complete evolution of this flow must be found by solving the boundary-region equations of Kemp (1951) and Davis and Rubin (1980), but a limiting analytical solution can also be obtained. Since the initial growth of the boundary-layer disturbance is nearly algebraic, our results demonstrate how the algebraically growing disturbances promoted by Landahl and others can be generated by a realistic external-disturbance environment. The relationship between these results and various bypass transition mechanisms is discussed.
The Wavelet Element Method (WEM) provides a construction of multiresolution systems and biorthogonal wavelets on fairly general domains. These are split into subdomains that are mapped to a single reference hypercube. Tensor products of scaling functions and wavelets defined on the unit interval are used on the reference domain. By introducing appropriate matching conditions across the interelement boundaries, a globally continuous biorthogonal wavelet basis on the general domain is obtained. This construction does not uniquely define the basis functions but rather leaves some freedom for fulfilling additional features. In this paper we detail the general construction principle of the WEM to the 1D, 2D and 3D cases. We address additional features such as symmetry, vanishing moments and minimal support of the wavelet functions in each particular dimension. The construction is illustrated by using biorthogonal spline wavelets on the interval.
Several approaches are presented to identify an experimental system model directly from frequency response data. The formulation uses a matrix-fraction description as the model structure. Frequency weighting such as exponential weighting is introduced to solve a weighted least-squares problem to obtain the coefficient matrices for the matrix-fraction description. A multi-variable state-space model can then be formed using the coefficient matrices of the matrix-fraction description. Three different approaches are introduced to fine-tune the model using nonlinear programming methods to minimize the desired cost function. The first method uses an eigenvalue assignment technique to reassign a subset of system poles to improve the identified model. The second method deals with the model in the real Schur or modal form, reassigns a subset of system poles, and adjusts the columns (rows) of the input (output) influence matrix using a nonlinear optimizer. The third method also optimizes a subset of poles, but the input and output influence matrices are refined at every optimization step through least-squares procedures.
Several approaches are presented to identify an experimental system model directly from frequency response data. The formulation begins with a matrix-fraction description as the model structure. Frequency weighting such as exponential weighting is introduced to solve a weighted least-squares problem to obtain the coefficient matrices for the matrix-fraction description. A multi-variable state-space model can then be formed using the coefficient matrices of the matrix-fraction description. An approach is introduced to fine-tune the model using non-linear programming methods to minimize the desired cost function. The method deals with the model in the real Schur or modal form and reassigns a subset of system poles using a nonlinear optimizer. At every optimization step, the input and output influence matrices are refined through least-squares procedures. The proposed approaches are used to identify an analytical model for a NASA testbed from experimental data.
A theoretical explanation of some experimentally observed phenomena associated with the so-called Klebanoff modes is obtained by analyzing the flow over a finite thickness flat plate resulting from a small-amplitude distortion imposed on the upstream mean flow. The analysis shows (among other things) how the stretching of the vortex lines around the plate leads to streamwise vorticity at the plate surface, which then produces a streamwise velocity perturbation within the boundary layer that can be related to the experimentally observed Klebanoff mode. The complete evolution of this flow must be found by solving the boundary-region equations of Kemp (1951) and Davis and Rubin (1980), but a limiting analytical solution can also be obtained. Since the initial growth of the boundary-layer disturbance is nearly algebraic, our results demonstrate how the algebraically growing disturbances promoted by Landahl and others can be generated by a realistic external-disturbance environment. The relationship between these results and various bypass transition mechanisms is discussed.
We explore the extent to which concerns can be separated in programs by program transformation with respect to the events required by these concerns. We describe our early work on developing a system to perform event-driven transformation and discuss possible applications of this approach.