Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust Adaptive Control of Pulse-width Modulated Rectifiers Based on Adaptive Super-twisting Sliding-mode and State Feedback Controllers

Abstract—This article proposes a new robust adaptive hybrid controller for three-phase pulse-width modulated rectifiers to improve control performance. This hybridization is implemented by combining the second-order sliding mode with the adaptive gain super-twisting control law in the DC bus voltage control loop and state feedback adaptive control in the d-q-axis current control loops. The control objectives are fourfold: (1) driving the DC bus voltage to a reference signal without using a priori knowledge of the plant parameters, (2) forcing the d-q-axis current errors to zero, (3) assuring a satisfactory power factor correction in relation to the AC source, and (4) eliminating the chattering effect. In the closed-loop control system, three-phase source currents and the DC bus voltage are supposed to be available for feedback. As a result, no a priori knowledge of the plant parameters is necessary in the design of the proposed controller. In addition, the proposed controller does not have the disadvantages of singularity, over-parameterization, and chattering phenomenon. Results of experimental studies prove that the proposed control system guarantees the tracking of reference signals with high performance despite all the parameter and external disturbance uncertainties.
Gli stili di decision-making professionale: quali implicazioni per la pratica?

Il volume fornisce riflessioni e stimoli per l'approfondimento di aspetti, dimensioni e procedure dell'orientamento come la qualita della vita, l'adattabilita e career decision-making. L'orientamento del XXI secolo necessita di radicali cambiamenti a proposito dei contenuti del dibattito teorico, della tipologia delle ricerche che sara opportuno implementare e delle "buone pratiche" con le quali approcciare coloro che si rivolgeranno ai servizi e ai professionisti dell'orientamento. Di fatto le sfide che sempre piu frequentemente dovranno essere affrontate riguarderanno soprattutto il come aiutare le persone nelle loro operazioni di costruzione del proprio futuro professionale enfatizzando i significati che, interagendo con i diversi contesti di vita, esse stesse attribuiscono ai loro concetti di se, alle idee che hanno del mondo e a cio che considerano effettivamente importante.
Analysis of an E‐shaped patch antenna

This paper presents the theoretical and simulation investigations of an E‐shaped patch antenna applicable in modern mobile communications. It shows marked improvement in the bandwidth when compared with rectangular patch antenna with acceptable radiation pattern. Further, the bandwidth is optimized with respect to notch length, width, and position. Typically, the antenna shows an enhanced impedance bandwidth of 32.5%. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 4–7, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22024
On the History of Propeller Cavitation and Cavitation Tunnels

A condensed survey on the history of propeller cavitation and its understanding as well the development of cavitation tunnels is given. Propeller cavitation effects ship performance by thrust breakdown, erosion, vibration and noise. Each of these detrime ntal conseq uences will be shortly dealt w ith. Following the similarity laws for cavitation, a limited number of full scale investigations on propellers will be looked at which form one basis for the cavitation and propeller excited pressure fluctuation correlation between model and full scale.
Control information in visual flight

The purpose of the inquiry is to determine how precisely a pilot can estimate the movements of his vehicle, and thus exercise control, during an unaided visual approach. The method is to relate changes in the forward view, due to movements along and across the approach path, to human visual thresholds and errors. The scope is restricted to effects of inclination, expansion, size, and rotation in runway features during approaches at small angles of elevation. Quantitative relations are given which provide a basis for ranking the several information mechanisms. Alignment by inclination of a ground line is found to be an accurate lateral mechanism, probably superior to the expansion mechanism. Vertical control mechanisms are complex, of questionable accuracy, and difficult to rank. The results throw some doubt on the usefulness of a runway symbol as a source of displayed information.
On Robotic Assembly using Contact Force Control and Estimation

Force sensing provides robots the capability to accomplish tasks where physical interaction with the environment is required, such as assembly. Small position uncertainties can then be corrected for by sensing the contact forces. This thesis considers the problem of force-controlled assembly, including how tasks can be specified in a simple and intuitive way and how robust task execution under uncertainties can be accomplished. A framework for performing robotic assembly is presented. An assembly tasks is composed of a number of skills, where skills both can be force controlled and be carried out using standard position-based control. The skills using force control are specified as sequences of constrained motions, where transitions between the motions are triggered by sensor events. These events can either be simple threshold levels, or be more advanced classifiers based on machine learning. A method for explicitly modeling and resolving uncertainties is presented, as well as a method for adaptation of force control parameters based on identification of a contact model. Specification of sensor-based skills usually requires expert knowledge. To make the specification procedure more easy and intuitive, this thesis presents a method where force-controlled skills can be specified on a high level, and where an executable low-level description is generated. Experimental implementations of multiple assembly scenarios are used to validate the methods and to investigate the potential for force-controlled assembly with industrial robots. A force sensor may not always be available. The thesis presents two different methods for performing force estimation, based on the measured joint motor angles and the joint motor torques. Friction in the joints is the major disturbance when doing force estimation. A method to increase the accuracy of force estimation using dithering to decrease the effective friction level is proposed. Lead-through programming, to manually guide the robot, is useful for simple and intuitive robot programming. The thesis presents a method for performing such lead-through programming without any force sensor, based on disabling the low-level joint controllers, only feedforwarding the torque to compensate gravity. Specification and execution of tasks based on external sensing is difficult for non-experts. The methods presented in this thesis all contribute to making it easier and more intuitive to use industrial robots for performing assembly tasks. (Less)
Endogenous Prediction of Bankruptcy using a Support Vector Machine

We build a global bankruptcy prediction model using a support vector machine trained only on firms' endogenous information in the form of financial ratios. The model is tested not only on entirely random unseen data but on samples taken from specific global regions and industries to test for prediction bias, achieving satisfactory prediction performance in all cases. While support vector machines are not easily interpretable, we explore variable importance and find it consistent with economic intuition.
E-commerce for development

In this paper, we analyse the potential contribution of the Internet and its commercial application to the development process in poor countries. In historical perspective, the Internet has diffused at a far faster rate than earlier generations of communications technology: from 1990 to early 2000, the estimated number of Internet users grew more than tenfold to roughly 300 million, affecting the way in which people communicate with each other, acquire information, learn, do business, and interact culturally. Our particular focus is on the opportunities e-commerce offers to small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries and the challenges they face in exploiting e-commerce’s potential.There is a risk that a “digital divide” will emerge, reinforcing existing income and wealth inequalities within and between countries. Yet, a major potential benefit of globalisation is the freer movement of technology, including information and communication technology (ICT), across borders. In .
An investigation into product design and production techniques within a just-in-time manufacturing environment

This thesis describes the implementation of a Just-in-Time (JIT) c e l l on a greenfield site. It concentrates on a before and after implementation situation. Various production parameters are analysed to compare flowline performance before and after the implementation of JIT. The study i s primarily concerned Japanese management style of JIT relatively small production line. with the philosophies behind • the and the practical use of JIT in a Each area of JIT and i t s associated components are studied and, where practical, executed into practice within the production line. The study includes an investigation of the present manufacturing system and recommends improvements to aid manufacturing output. Total Quality Control, Set-up Reduction, Group Technology, Kanban, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis and Value Analysis are tools used to assist the formation of the JIT c e l l . Results taken after implementation revealed that stock levels reduced by 25%. Shop floor area was reduced by 205 square metres and lead time reduced by 33%. Large arrears in orders were virtually eliminated six weeks after implementation. Warranty claims were greatly reduced. Quality Management greatly enhanced the product and cross-training of operatives was achieved.
Real-Time Detection of Suspicious Human Movement

Crime is everywhere and it could be argued that we are in one of the most crime eras in human history. Crimes like theft, violence against people and property damage are some of the rising crimes in university. On the other hand, investigation is held to find the person who is responsible for the theft, only after the crime occurred, by using existing surveillance system. It acts as ‘post-mortem’ tools. Therefore, in this paper, an appropriate algorithm for autonomous suspicious human-movement detection from surveillance videos is proposed. First, proposed system extract human-movement information by detecting and tracking people in real-time using Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Morphological operations aid the detection of human-movement by eliminating noises. Features extracted from human-movement are then sent for post-processing in order to recognise whether the detected activity is suspicious or not. Examples of suspicious movements are loitering and hanging or looking around in the area of interest for longer time period. The framework used for recognising suspicious activities is called Grammar-based approach. This approach is effective in detecting suspicious activities with serial of events for a longer time period. By using recorded videos with people mimicking those suspicious activities, several experiments have been performed and results presented in this paper. The experimental results presented here demonstrate the outstanding performance and low computational complexity.
How can school help victims of violence? Evaluation of online training for European schools’ staff from a multidisciplinary approach

The interventions used to prevent or treat violence against children, particularly sexual abuse, tend to only consider the target audience as their main source of data. We tested the effect of an online training for school staff members in Europe through three studies. In Study I, we interviewed 5 adult women (Mage = 49.2, SD = 5.81) who were victims of sexual abuse during childhood to assess what school could have done during that time to protect them. Through Study II, we collected data on 66 school staff members to assess feasibility (based on quantitative indicators) and to explore the changes they would make to their everyday practice due to the training course (using qualitative analysis). In Study III, we used network analysis to assess to what extent the actions described by school staff in Study II met the needs expressed by the victims in Study I. Findings of Study I revealed new proposals from the victims’ perspective, such as working with the perpetrators. Study II showed the feasibility of training and identified five types of action that school staff members will include in their everyday working dynamics due to the training: detection (e.g., Greater attention to relationships with peers), reporting (e.g., Now I know that suspecting a case of child abuse is enough to report), everyday practices (e.g., Introducing a calming space), changes at school level (e.g., Propose the training course to the school management team) or practices that could belong to more than one category (e.g., Greater awareness of the activities undertaken by the school). Study III provided evidence that some of these changes (e.g., reporting without looking for proof) were in line with some of the victims’ expectations (e.g., listen to the children). We also identified gaps that need to be further developed.
Dynamic material flow analysis for Norway's dwelling stock

The architecture, engineering and construction industry is a major producer of waste, and a major consumer of primary materials. This study presents a method for analysing the dynamics of both floor area and material use in residential housing. The population's demand for housing represents the driver in the system, and the subsequent effects on stocks and flows of residential floor area and building materials in Norway are investigated from 1900 to the projected demands for 2100. Results show that knowledge about past activity levels is important in projecting future levels. Scenarios are applied to the input parameters in the dynamic model to investigate the impacts of changes in these, including variations in material usage (concrete and wood) and material density. All but one scenario suggest a continued increase in the residential housing stock, although at diminishing growth rates, and a substantial increase in demolition, renovation and construction activity in the last half of the present century. Le secteur de l'architecture, de l'ingénierie et de la construction est un des principaux producteurs de déchets et figure parmi les premiers consommateurs de matières premières. Cette étude présente une méthode d'analyse de l'évolution des surfaces de plancher et de l'utilisation des matériaux dans le logement résidentiel. Le moteur du système est la demande de la population en matière de logement et l'étude examine les effets de cette demande sur les « stocks » et les flux de surfaces résidentielles et de matériaux de construction en Norvège depuis 1900 et, en projection, jusqu'en 2100. Les résultats montrent qu'une bonne connaissance des activités passées est importante pour prévoir les niveaux à venir. Des scénarios appliqués aux paramètres d'entrée du modèle dynamique permettent d'étudier les conséquences de leurs variations, notamment en ce qui concerne l'utilisation des matériaux (béton et bois) et leur densité. Tous ces scénarios, à l'exception d'un seul, prévoient une croissance continue du parc de logements résidentiels – avec un rythme toutefois moins soutenu – ainsi qu'une augmentation substantielle des activités de démolition, de rénovation et de construction au cours de la seconde moitié de ce siècle. Mots clés: parc de bâtiments démolition parc de logements résidentiels analyse dynamique du flux des matériaux demande en matériaux tendances génération de déchets
Coevolutionary search among adversaries

Competitive coevolution is a biologically-inspired search technique that uses a genetic algorithm in two competing populations. During search, individuals in each population are evaluated by direct competition against members of the opposing population. A class of adversarial problems is defined, to which competitive coevolution can be applied. In such problems, it is important to actively choose difficult test cases to accurately evaluate candidate solutions. Competitive coevolution evaluates candidate solutions and test cases against one another while searching for both, so that each drives the improvement of the other. Tools from computational learning theory are used to obtain positive theoretical results on the efficiency of simplified coevolutionary algorithms. Lower bounds show the importance of several parameters for describing performance of these algorithms. This work gives insight into necessary and sufficient conditions for successful coevolutionary search. Experimental work uses competitive coevolution as a heuristic method for adversarial problems. Several measurement techniques are used to understand the behavior of coevolution. These allow identification of several flaws in simple forms of coevolution. Coevolution can be stalled by the loss of important niches, by coevolutionary cycles, or by a lack of balance between populations. New methods are described that overcome these Aaws and make coevolution more efficient. Competitive fitness sharing preserves important niches, the hall of fame encourages long-term progress, the phantom parasite maintains balance, and shared sampling allows efficient fitness testing. With these new methods, coevolution is able to solve several game learning test problems that cannot be efficiently solved without them. Several applications are discussed. The first uses a simulation of patient blood pressure during surgery to evaluate drug delivery controllers against patients; the goal is a controller that successfully controls all possible patients. The second application uses a sorting network design problem to explore the relationship between theoretical concepts of testability and experimental coevolutionary behavior. The third application is the design of strategies for the game of Go. Coevolution produces competitive players that push the strategy representation to its limits. Finally, preliminary work is presented on the design of drugs that are robust across possible drug resistance mutations.
Achieving consensus and synchronization by adapting the network topology

Abstract In this paper, we present a novel control strategy for achieving consensus via network evolution. Namely, we associate to each edge a multi-dimensional dynamical system forced by the state mismatch of its nodes. We consider the case in which the network evolution is driven by a multi-well potential, whose wells define the possible asymptotic levels of interactions between each pair of nodes. We show that the proposed network evolution supports asymptotic consensus while leading to an emerging steady-state weighted topology. Moreover, we illustrate how a proper tuning of the potential parameters can be used to tailor the properties of this emerging topology. Finally, numerical simulations confirm the theoretical predictions as well as the viability of this approach for synchronizing nonlinear dynamical systems.
Custom Contoured Cushion: A Finite Element Analysis

A good chair cushion not only provides comfort but also control the posture and to reduce the risk of pressure sore occurred. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mechanical interaction between the cushion and user of wheelchair. The buttock model geometric, individual data’s of healthy male subject were acquired by 3D reconstruction form laser scanner, while the custom made cushion design based on the Tekscan Clinseat pressure assessment system data. A standard clinical experiment protocol for the collection of interface pressure distribution was developed. The pressure distribution data of buttocks-cushion interface was collected when the subject sat on an initial cushion. According to the pressure distribution data and parameters of cushion material that was acquired in the material test; an individual mathematics model was built and then transferred into CAD software to create the CAD model of the cushion deflection geometry.
A light computing method for real-time activity recognition

Accelerometers offer a non-intrusive and low-cost solution to quantify physical activity (PA) level, but most commercialised systems provide a rough approximation based on activity counts. Moreover, few of them enable PA recognition during daily life, which is an important issue to evaluate quality of life. Based on a simple PA classification, some previous works (Bussmann et al. 2001) assessed postures and motions during daily life by means of accelerometers. Unfortunately, they do not yet allow to evaluate a large population in real time. In this work, we propose a new method that minimises the data flow transmission in order to set up an ambulatory monitoring device that could be integrated into a sensor network. This study is focused on postures and locomotion activities recognition and on velocity prediction.
The well-posedness of an elliptic problem and its solution using the finite element method

In this paper, we deal with an elliptic problem with the Dirichlet boundary condition. We operate in Sobolev spaces and the main analytic tool we use is the Lax-Milgram lemma. First, we present the variational approach of the problem which allows us to apply different functional analysis techniques. Then we study thoroughly the wellposedness of the problem. We conclude our work with a solution of the problem using numerical analysis techniques and the free software freefem++.
Load Balancing With Max-Min of Summations

Cloud computing is a computing tool for humankind. In recent years, it is using to generate IT services, appliances for higher activities computing and outsourcing in a cost-efficient and flexible way. In modern times, a variety of types of bandwidth eater are growing speedily Cloud computing is growing phenomenal gradually to supply the different kinds of cloud services and applications to the internet-based customer. Cloud computing utilizes Internet applications to execute the large-scale jobs. The most important objective of cloud computing is to allocate and calculate different services transparently throughout a scalable network of machines. Load balancing is one of the significant issues in Cloud Computing. Loads should be divided as CPU load, the capacity of memory and system load which is the measurement of work that a computation system performs. Load balancing is a modern method where the load is being shared amongst several machines of a distributed system to enhance the utilization of various applications and response time of multiple tasks and prevent overloading situation and under loading situation. In or approach, we developed an algorithm, LBMMS, which combines all least completion time. For this study, LBMMS presents the proficient deployment of various resources in cloud computing