Experimental investigations of the effects of cutting angle on chattering of a flexible manipulator

When a machine tool is mounted at the tip of a robotic manipulator, the manipulator becomes more flexible (the natural frequencies are lowered). Moreover, for a given flexible manipulator, its compliance will be different depending on feedback gains, configurations, and direction of interest. Here, the compliance of a manipulator is derived analytically, and its magnitude is represented as a compliance ellipsoid. Then, using a two-link flexible manipulator with an abrasive cut off saw, the experimental investigation shows that the chattering varies with the saw cutting angle due to different compliance. The main work is devoted to finding a desirable cutting angle which reduces the chattering

Current-eddy interaction in the Agulhas Return Current region from the seismic oceanography perspective

Interleaving in the Agulhas Return Current (ARC) frontal region is commonly manifested in the form of thermohaline intrusions, as sub-tropical and sub-polar water masses of similar density meet. In Jan/Feb 2012, the Naval Research Laboratory and collaborators carried out a field experiment in which seismic and traditional hydrographic observations were acquired to examine frontal zone mixing processes. The high lateral resolution (10 m) of the seismic observations allowed fine-scale lateral tracking of thermal intrusions, which were corroborated with simultaneous XBT casts. Between seismic deployments both salinity and temperature data were acquired via CTD, Underway-CTD and microstructure profiles. This study focuses on analyzing seismic reflection data in a particular E-W transect where the northward flowing ARC interacted with the southward flowing portion of a large anticyclonic eddy. Strong reflectors were most prominent at the edge of a hyperbolic zone formed between the eddy and ARC, where sub-polar waters interacted with waters of sub-tropical origin on either side. Reflectors were shallow within the hyperbolic zone and extended to 1200 m below the ARC. The nature of the observed reflectors will be determined from comparison of seismic reflection and derived ∂T/∂z fields, and XBT and TS profiles from the available hydrographic data

Tradeoffs in manipulator structure and control. Part 1: Summary

The study of various aspects of manipulator design and control is summarized, focusing on the interaction of the structure's flexible dynamics and the dynamics of the joint control system, including specific information on modeling and design, modal analysis and control, and the flexible manipulator analysis computer program, FMAP

Autoguidance video sensor for docking

The Automated Rendezvous and Docking system (ARAD) is composed of two parts. The first part is the sensor which consists of a video camera ringed with two wavelengths of laser diode. The second part is a standard Remote Manipulator System (RMS) target used on the Orbiter that has been modified with three circular pieces of retro-reflective tape covered by optical filters which correspond to one of the wavelengths of laser diode. The sensor is on the chase vehicle and the target is on the target vehicle. The ARAD system works by pulsing one wavelength laser diodes and taking a picture. Then the second wavelength laser diodes are pulsed and a second picture is taken. One picture is subtracted from the other and the resultant picture is thresholded. All adjacent pixels above threshold are blobbed together (X and Y centroids calculated). All blob centroids are checked to recognize the target out of noise. Then the three target spots are windowed and tracked. The three target spot centroids are used to evaluate the roll, yaw, pitch, range, azimuth, and elevation. From that a guidance routine can guide the chase vehicle to dock with the target vehicle with the correct orientation

Seismic oceanography imaging of thermal intrusions in strong frontal regions

The Naval Research Laboratory and collaborating partners carried out two dedicated seismic oceanography field experiments in two very different strong frontal regions. ADRIASEISMIC took seismic oceanography measurements at the confluence of North Adriatic Dense Water advected along the Western Adriatic Current and Modified Levantine Intermediate Water advected around the topographic rim of the Southern Adriatic basin. ARC12 took seismic oceanography measurements in and around the Agulhas Return Current as it curved northwards past the Agulhas Plateau and interacted with a large anticyclone that had collided with the current. Despite one study focused on coastal boundary currents and the other focused on a major Western Boundary Current extension, the complex horizontal structures seen through seismic imaging are tied to the processes of thermal intrusions and interleaving in both systems. Seismic Oceanography provides a unique capability of tracking the fine-scale horizontal extent of these intrusions

Plimne oscilacije u sjevernom Jadranu: opažanja, modeliranje varijacijskom asimilacijom podataka i linearna plimna dinamika

Fifteen open-sea time-series observations of tidal velocities and tidal bottom pressures for more than six months duration provide a new database for North Adriatic tides. The observations show nearly reversing tidal currents at most locations and increasing tidal-current strength near Istria. Tidal elevation amplitudes and phases respectively increase northwestward and counterclockwise, strongly for semidiurnal tides and weakly for diurnal tides. The data are used for optimal determination of boundary conditions for a linear strong-constraint variational data assimilation model and the resulting average rms difference errors for tidal elevations and currents are below 1 cm and 0.5 cm/s, respectively. The Q factors from the model are 14.0 for M2 and 22.4 for K1, but comparisons between frictional dissipation estimated from the model and from the data suggest that model dissipation values could be too high by a factor of two and Q factors too small. Model potential energy is 1.5 times kinetic energy for M2 and 6.1 times kinetic energy for K1. Observational and modeling results suggest that energy fluxes from Kvarner Bay are significant in the North Adriatic tidal energy balance. M2 energy fluxes support the concept of an incident and reflected Kelvin wave in the North Adriatic with some modification. K1 energy fluxes show a northeastward cross-basin flux near the 50 m isobath where the bathymetric slope is particularly steep, with Kelvin-wave-like structures north of the ridge and departures from Kelvin--wave structure south of the ridge.Petnaest vremenskih nizova mjerenja plimnih struja i pridnenih tlakova na otvorenom moru, u razdoblju duljem od šest mjeseci, predstavlja novu bazu podataka za plimne oscilacije sjevernog Jadrana. Opažanja pokazuju gotovo obrat plimnih struja na većini lokacija i povećanje njihove snage u blizini Istre. Amplitude plimnih denivelacija povećavaju se prema sjeverozapadu, a faze rastu u smjeru suprotno od kazaljke na satu, jako za poludnevnu komponentu, slabo za dnevnu. Podaci su upotrijebljeni za optimalno određivanje rubnih uvjeta u linearnom modelu koji je korišten kao strogi uvjet u varijacijskoj asimilaciji. Dobiveno srednje kvadratno odstupanje za plimne denivelacije je manje od 1 cm, a za plimne struje manje je od 0.5 cm/s. Izračunati Q-faktori za model su 14.0 za M2 komponentu i 22.4 za K1 komponentu, ali usporedbe između disipacije trenjem procijenjene iz modela i iz mjerenja sugerira da su vrijednosti disipacije u modelu prevelike za faktor 2, te da su vrijednosti Q faktora premale. Modelirana potencijalna energija je 1.5 puta veća od kinetičke energije za M2 komponentu i 6.1 puta veća od kinetičke energije za K1 komponentu. Rezultati mjerenja i modela sugeriraju da protoci energije iz Kvarnerskog zaljeva daju značajan doprinos ravnoteži plimne energije u sjevernom Jadranu. Protoci energije M2 komponente podržavaju koncept upadnog i reflektiranog Kelvinovog vala u sjevernom Jadranu uz neke modifikacije. Protoci energije K1 komponente pokazuju poprečni tok u smjeru sjeveroistoka u blizini 50 m izobate gdje je nagib dna osobito strm, sa strukturama sličnima Kelvinovom valu sjeverno od grebena i odstupanja od Kelvinovog vala južno od grebena

Vertical structure of bottom Ekman tidal flows: Observations, theory, and modeling from the northern Adriatic

From September 2002 to May 2003, fifteen bottom‐ mounted, acoustic Doppler current profilers measured currents of the northern Adriatic basin. Tidal fluctuations at all seven of the major Adriatic frequencies were synthesized from a response tidal analysis of these measurements. Most observed tidal current ellipses were nearly reversing, but near the bottom, tidal current ellipses all shortened and broadened, semidiurnal currents led upper water column currents, and diurnal tidal current ellipse orientations rotated counterclockwise toward the bottom. Theoretical solutions for a tidally forced, bottom Ekman layer with vertical eddy viscosity of the form A z = β z + k were least squares fit to the observations. Average values were β = 3 · 10− 4 m/s and k = 5 · 10− 4 m2/s. The value of k was important in matching tidal orientation and phase changes, and a nonzero β was important in matching tidal amplitude changes. The Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) and the Quoddy model were also compared to the observations. The average RMS errors for the bottom Ekman layer were 0.22 cm/s for the best fit theory, 0.35 cm/s for NCOM, and 0.36 cm/s for Quoddy. A z structures from NCOM and Quoddy show that time variation in A z is relatively unimportant for Adriatic tides. The bottom shear stresses from theory were larger in magnitude than those from the bottom drag formulations in NCOM and Quoddy

Mean structure and variability of the Kuroshio from northeastern Taiwan to southwestern Japan

Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 28, no. 4 (2015): 84-95, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2015.84.In the subtropical western North Pacific Ocean, the Kuroshio delivers heat, salt, and momentum poleward, much like its North Atlantic analog, the Gulf Stream. Though the Kuroshio generally flows along the western boundary from Taiwan to southeastern Japan as an “attached” current, the Kuroshio’s strength, vertical structure, and horizontal position undergo significant temporal and spatial variability along this entire route. Ubiquitous mesoscale eddies and complicated topography associated with a string of marginal seas combine to make the western North Pacific a region with complex circulation. Here, we synthesize results from the recent US Origins of the Kuroshio and Mindanao Currents and Taiwan Observations of Kuroshio Transport Variability observational programs with previous findings to build a comprehensive picture of the Kuroshio on its route from northeastern Taiwan to southeastern Japan, where the current finally transitions from a western boundary current into the Kuroshio Extension, a vigorously meandering free jet.ONR sponsored many of the field programs that are reported on in this study, including grant N00014-12- 1-0445 to MA and grant N00014-10-1-0468 to TBS. Additionally, MA received support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowed Fund for Innovative Research. LC and the drifter work were supported by ONR grant N0001-10-1-0273 and NOAA grant NA10OAR4320156, “The Global Drifter Program.” SJ was sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, ROC (Taiwan) grant NSC-101-2611-M- 002-018-MY3

Silent Transitions in Automata with Storage

We consider the computational power of silent transitions in one-way automata with storage. Specifically, we ask which storage mechanisms admit a transformation of a given automaton into one that accepts the same language and reads at least one input symbol in each step. We study this question using the model of valence automata. Here, a finite automaton is equipped with a storage mechanism that is given by a monoid. This work presents generalizations of known results on silent transitions. For two classes of monoids, it provides characterizations of those monoids that allow the removal of \lambda-transitions. Both classes are defined by graph products of copies of the bicyclic monoid and the group of integers. The first class contains pushdown storages as well as the blind counters while the second class contains the blind and the partially blind counters.Comment: 32 pages, submitte