Complex order control for improved loop-shaping in precision positioning

This paper presents a complex order filter developed and subsequently integrated into a PID-based controller design. The nonlinear filter is designed with reset elements to have describing function based frequency response similar to that of a linear (practically non-implementable) complex order filter. This allows for a design which has a negative gain slope and a corresponding positive phase slope as desired from a loop-shaping controller-design perspective. This approach enables improvement in precision tracking without compromising the bandwidth or stability requirements. The proposed designs are tested on a planar precision positioning stage and performance compared with PID and other state-of-the-art reset based controllers to showcase the advantages of this filter

'Constant in gain Lead in phase' element - Application in precision motion control

This work presents a novel 'Constant in gain Lead in phase' (CgLp) element using nonlinear reset technique. PID is the industrial workhorse even to this day in high-tech precision positioning applications. However, Bode's gain phase relationship and waterbed effect fundamentally limit performance of PID and other linear controllers. This paper presents CgLp as a controlled nonlinear element which can be introduced within the framework of PID allowing for wide applicability and overcoming linear control limitations. Design of CgLp with generalized first order reset element (GFORE) and generalized second order reset element (GSORE) (introduced in this work) is presented using describing function analysis. A more detailed analysis of reset elements in frequency domain compared to existing literature is first carried out for this purpose. Finally, CgLp is integrated with PID and tested on one of the DOFs of a planar precision positioning stage. Performance improvement is shown in terms of tracking, steady-state precision and bandwidth

Heterozygosity for Fibrinogen Results in Efficient Resolution of Kidney Ischemia Reperfusion Injury

Fibrinogen (Fg) has been recognized to play a central role in coagulation, inflammation and tissue regeneration. Several studies have used Fg deficient mice (Fg−/−) in comparison with heterozygous mice (Fg+/−) to point the proinflammatory role of Fg in diverse pathological conditions and disease states. Although Fg+/− mice are considered ‘normal’, plasma Fg is reduced to ∼75% of the normal circulating levels present in wild type mice (Fg+/+). We report that this reduction in Fg protein production in the Fg+/− mice is enough to protect them from kidney ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) as assessed by tubular injury, kidney dysfunction, necrosis, apoptosis and inflammatory immune cell infiltration. Mechanistically, we observed binding of Fg to ICAM-1 in kidney tissues of Fg+/+ mice at 24 h following IRI as compared to a complete absence of binding observed in the Fg+/− and Fg−/− mice. Raf-1 and ERK were highly activated as evident by significantly higher phosphorylation in the Fg+/+ kidneys at 24 h following IRI as compared to Fg+/− and Fg−/− mice kidneys. On the other hand Cyclin D1 and pRb, indicating higher cell proliferation, were significantly increased in the Fg+/− and Fg−/− as compared to Fg+/+ kidneys. These data suggest that Fg heterozygosity allows maintenance of a critical balance of Fg that enables regression of initial injury and promotes faster resolution of kidney damage

GaAs on Si epitaxy by aspect ratio trapping: analysis and reduction of defects propagating along the trench direction

The Aspect Ratio Trapping technique has been extensively evaluated for improving the quality of III-V heteroepitaxial films grown on Si, due to the potential for terminating defects at the sidewalls of SiO2 patterned trenches that enclose the growth region. However, defects propagating along the trench direction cannot be effectively confined with this technique. We studied the effect of the trench bottom geometry on the density of defects of GaAs fins, grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on 300 mm Si (001) wafers inside narrow (<90 nm wide) trenches. Plan view and cross sectional Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy, together with High Resolution X-Ray Diffraction, were used to evaluate the crystal quality of GaAs. The prevalent defects that reach the top surface of GaAs fins are {111} twin planes propagating along the trench direction. The lowest density of twin planes, 8 108 cm 2, was achieved on “V” shaped bottom trenches, where GaAs nucleation occurs only on {111} Si planes, minimizing the interfacial energy and preventing the formation of antiphase boundaries

IMPROVED KERNEL FUZZY ADAPTIVE THRESHOLD ALGORITHM ON LEVEL SET METHOD FOR IMAGE SEGMENTATION

Using thresholding method to segment an image, a fixed threshold is not suitable if the background is rough Here, we propose a new adaptive thresholding method using level set theory. The method requires only one parameter to be selected and the adaptive threshold surface can be found automatically from the original image. An adaptive thresholding scheme using adaptive tracking and morphological filtering. The Improved Kernel fuzzy c-means (IKFCM) was used to generate an initial contour curve which overcomes leaking at the boundary during the curve propagation. IKFCM algorithm computes the fuzzy membership values for each pixel. On the basis of IKFCM the edge indicator function was redefined. Using the edge indicator function of a image was performed to extract the boundaries of objects on the basis of the presegmentation. Therefore, the proposed method is computationally efficient. Our method is good for detecting large and small images concurrently. It is also efficient to denoise and enhance the responses of images with low local contrast can be detected. The efficiency and accuracy of the algorithm is demonstrated by the experiments on the images. The above process of segmentation showed a considerable improvement in the evolution of the level set function

Polyurethane aqueous systems

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Loop-shaping for reset control systems -- A higher-order sinusoidal-input describing functions approach

The ever-growing demands on speed and precision from the precision motion industry have pushed control requirements to reach the limitations of linear control theory. Nonlinear controllers like reset provide a viable alternative since they can be easily integrated into the existing linear controller structure and designed using industry-preferred loop-shaping techniques. However, currently, loop-shaping is achieved using the describing function (DF) and performance analysed using linear control sensitivity functions not applicable for reset control systems, resulting in a significant deviation between expected and practical results. We overcome this major bottleneck to the wider adaptation of reset control with two contributions in this paper. First, we present the extension of frequency-domain tools for reset controllers in the form of higher-order sinusoidal-input describing functions (HOSIDFs) providing greater insight into their behaviour. Second, we propose a novel method which uses the DF and HOSIDFs of the open-loop reset control system for the estimation of the closed-loop sensitivity functions, establishing for the first time - the relation between open-loop and closed-loop behaviour of reset control systems in the frequency domain. The accuracy of the proposed solution is verified in both simulation and practice on a precision positioning stage and these results are further analysed to obtain insights into the tuning considerations for reset controllers