This thesis investigates the use of blade-pitch control and real-time wind measurements to reduce the structural loads on the rotors and blades of wind turbines. The first part of the thesis studies the main similarities between the various classes of current blade-pitch control strategies, which have to date remained overlooked by mainstream literature. It also investigates the feasibility of an estimator design that extracts the turbine tower motion signal from the blade load measurements. In turn, the second part of the thesis proposes a novel model predictive control layer in the control architecture that enables an existing controller to incorporate the upcoming wind information and constraint-handling features. This thesis provides essential clarifications of and systematic design guidelines for these topics, which can benefit the design of wind turbines and, it is hoped, inspire the development of more innovative mechanical load-reduction solutions in the field of wind energy.

During the last decade, many researchers have dedicated their efforts to constructing revolutionary machines and to providing them with forms of artificial intelligence to perform some of the most hazardous, risky or monotonous tasks historically assigned to human beings. Among those machines, mobile robots are undoubtedly at the cutting edge of current research directions. A rough classification of mobile robots can be considered: on the one hand, mobile robots oriented to human-made indoor environments; on the other hand, mobile robots oriented to unstructured outdoor environments, which could include flying oriented robots, space-oriented robots and underwater robots. The most common motion mechanism for surface mobile robots is the wheel-based mechanism, adapted both to flat surfaces, found in human-made environments, and to rough terrain, found in outdoor environments. However, some researchers have reported successful developments with leg-based mobile robots capable of climbing up stairs, although they require further investigation. The research work presented here focuses on wheel-based mobile robots that navigate in human-made indoor environments. The main problems described throughout this book are: Representation and integration of uncertain geometric information by means of the Symmetries and Perturbations Model (SPmodel). This model combines the use of probability theory to represent the imprecision in the location of a geometric element, and the theory of symmetries to represent the partiality due to characteristics of each type of geometric element. A solution to the first location problem, that is, the computation of an estimation for the mobile robot location when the vehicle is completely lost in the environment. The problem is formulated as a search in an interpretation tree using efficient matching algorithms and geometric constraints to reduce the size of the solution space. The book proposes a new probabilistic framework adapted to the problem of simultaneous localization and map building for mobile robots: the Symmetries and Perturbations Map (SPmap). This framework has been experimentally validated by a complete experiment which profited from ground-truth to accurately validate the precision and the appropriateness of the approach. The book emphasizes the generality of the solutions proposed to the different problems and their independence with respect to the exteroceptive sensors mounted on the mobile robot. Theoretical results are complemented by real experiments, where the use of multisensor-based approaches is highlighted.

The book largely represents the extended version of select papers from the Inter- tional Conference on Intelligent Unmanned System ICIUS 2007 which was jointly organized by the Center for Unmanned System Studies at Institut Teknologi Bandung, Artificial Muscle Research Center at Konkuk University and Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astrona- ics. The joint-event was the 3rd conference extending from International Conference on Emerging System Technology (ICEST) in 2005 and International Conference on Technology Fusion (ICTF) in 2006 both conducted in Seoul. ICIUS 2007 was focused on both theory and application primarily covering the topics on robotics, autonomous vehicles and intelligent unmanned technologies. The conference was arranged into three parallel symposia with the following scope of topics: Unmanned Systems: Micro air vehicle, Underwater vehicle, Micro-satellite, - manned aerial vehicle, Multi-agent systems, Autonomous ground vehicle, Blimp, Swarm intelligence, learning and control Robotics and Biomimetics: Artificial muscle actuators, Smart sensors, Design and applications of MEMS/NEMS system, Intelligent robot system, Evolutionary al- rithm, Control of biological systems, AI and expert systems, Biological learning control systems, Neural networks, Genetic algorithm Control and Intelligent System: Distributed intelligence, Distributed/decentralized intelligent control, Distributed or decentralized control methods, Distributed and - bedded systems, Embedded intelligent control, Complex systems, Discrete event s- tems, Hybrid systems, Networked control systems, Delay systems, Fuzzy systems, Identification and estimation, Nonlinear systems, Precision motion control, Control applications, Control engineering education.

This book focuses on the topology theory of mechanisms developed by the authors and provides a systematic method for the topology design of robot mechanisms. The main original theoretical contributions of this book include: A. Three basic concepts * The "geometrical constraint type of axes" is introduced as the third element of the topological structure of a mechanism. When it is combined with the other two elements, the kinematic pair and the connection of links, the symbolic expression of the topological structure is independent of the motion positions (except for the singularity positions) and the fixed coordinate system (Chapter 2). * The position and orientation characteristic (POC) set is used to describe the POC of the relative motion between any two links. The POC set, derived from the unit vector set of the velocity of a link, is only depend on the topological structure of a mechanism. Therefore, it is also independent of the motion positions and the fixed coordinate system (Chapter 3). * The single open chain (SOC) unit is the base unit of the topological structure used to develop the four basic equations of the mechanism topology (Chapters 2, 4-6). B. The mechanism composition principle based on the SOC units This book proposes a mechanism composition principle, based on the SOC units, to establish a systematic theory for the unified modeling of the topology, kinematics, and dynamics of mechanisms based on the SOC units (Chapter 7). C. Four basic equations* The POC equation of serial mechanisms with 10 symbolic operation rules (Chapter 4). * The POC equation of parallel mechanisms with 14 symbolic operation rules (Chapter 5). * The general DOF formula for spatial mechanisms (Chapter 6).* The coupling degree formula for the Assur kinematic chain (Chapter 7). D. One systematic method for the topology design of robot mechanisms (Chapters 8-10) Based on the three basic concepts and the four basic equations addressed above, this book puts forward a systematic method for the topology design of parallel mechanisms, which is fundamentally different from all existing methods. Its main characteristics are as follows:* The design process includes two stages: the first is structure synthesis, which derives many structure types; the second involves the performance analysis, classification and optimization of structure types derived from the first stage. * The design operation is independent of the motion positions and the fixed coordinate system. Therefore, the proposed method is essentially a geometrical method, which ensures the full-cycle DOF and the generality of geometric conditions of mechanism existence. * Each individual design step follows an explicit formula or the guidelines for design criteria, making the operation simple, feasible and reproducible. In addition, the topology design of the SCARA PMs is studied in detail to demonstrate the proposed method (Chapter 10).

To describe the true behavior of most real-world systems with sufficient accuracy, engineers have to overcome difficulties arising from their lack of knowledge about certain parts of a process or from the impossibility of characterizing it with absolute certainty. Depending on the application at hand, uncertainties in modeling and measurements can be represented in different ways. For example, bounded uncertainties can be described by intervals, affine forms or general polynomial enclosures such as Taylor models, whereas stochastic uncertainties can be characterized in the form of a distribution described, for example, by the mean value, the standard deviation and higher-order moments.

The goal of this Special Volume on "Modeling, Design, and Simulation of Systems with Uncertainties" is to cover modern methods for dealing with the challenges presented by imprecise or unavailable information. All contributions tackle the topic from the point of view of control, state and parameter estimation, optimization and simulation.

Thematically, this volume can be divided into two parts. In the first we present works highlighting the theoretic background and current research on algorithmic approaches in the field of uncertainty handling, together with their reliable software implementation. The second part is concerned with real-life application scenarios from various areas including but not limited to mechatronics, robotics, and biomedical engineering.

The IFAC Workshop on Intelligent Components for Vehicles (ICV'98) was held in Seville (Spain), on March 23-24 1998. The event follows the Workshop on Intelligent Components for Autonomous and Semiautonomous Vehicles (ICASAV'95) held in Toulouse (France, October 1995).

The main objective of ICV'98 was to bring together specialists on components and instruments for automotive systems, mobile robots and vehicles in general to enhance the value of their experience in both hardware and software intelligent components.

Future vehicles will deal more and more with autonomous functions to improve safety and traffic management and to reduce consumption and pollution. Numerous on-board decision systems will replace the driver in critical running phases. The problems and solutions experienced, by adopting this new technology, will bring out many common points with other transportation systems and mobile robots.

Research and Developments on Mobile Robotics have produced many components for perception, control and planning that can be used in vehicles for collision detection and avoidance, position estimation, guidance and manoeuvering aids for drivers, advanced teleoperation, and other applications.

The topics of the Workshop are in an emerging field in which the research is quickly being converted into industrial products. Several applications in the automotive domain, marine vehicles, agricultural and others were included in the program.

In addition to the presentation of the papers, ICV also included a plenary talk and a round table about intelligent components for future vehicles with the participation of several industrial companies.

A complete reference to adaptive control of systems with nonsmooth industrial nonlinearities such as:- backlash- dead-zones- component failure- friction- hysteresis- saturation- time delays. These nonlinearities in industrial actuators cause severe problems in the motion control of industrial processes, particularly in view of modern requirements of speed and precision of movement such as occur in semiconductor manufacturing, precision machining, and elsewhere. Actuator nonlinearities are ubiquitous in engineering practice and limit control system performance. While standard feedback control alone cannot handle these nonsmooth nonlinearities effectively, this book, with unified and systematic adaptive design methods developed in 16 chapters, shows how such nonlinear characteristics can be effectively compensated for by using adaptive and intelligent control techniques. This allows desired system performance to be achieved in the presence of uncertain nonlinearities. With extensive surveys of literature and comprehensive summaries of various design methods, the authors of the book chapters, who are experts in their areas of interest, present new solutions to some important issues in adaptive control of systems with various sorts of nonsmooth nonlinearities.In addition to providing solutions, the book is also aimed at motivating more research activities in the important field of adaptive control of nonsmooth nonlinear industrial systems by formulating several challenging open problems in related areas.

Distributed robotics is a rapidly growing and maturing interdisciplinary research area lying at the intersection of computer science, network science, control theory, and electrical and mechanical engineering. The goal of the Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS) is to exchange and stimulate research ideas to realize advanced distributed robotic systems. This volume of proceedings includes 31 original contributions presented at the 2012 International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS 2012) held in November 2012 at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD USA. The selected papers in this volume are authored by leading researchers from Asia, Europa, and the Americas, thereby providing a broad coverage and perspective of the state-of-the-art technologies, algorithms, system architectures, and applications in distributed robotic systems. The book is organized into five parts, representative of critical long-term and emerging research thrusts in the multi-robot community: Coordination for Perception, Coverage, and Tracking; Task Allocation and Coordination Strategies; Modular Robots and Novel Mechanisms and Sensors; Formation Control and Planning for Robot Teams; and Learning, Adaptation, and Cognition for Robot Teams.

This edited volume contains sixteen research articles and presents recent and pressing issues in stochastic processes, control theory, differential games, optimization, and their applications in finance, manufacturing, queueing networks, and climate control. One of the salient features is that the book is highly multi-disciplinary. It assembles experts from the fields of operations research, control theory and optimization, stochastic analysis, and financial engineering to review and substantially update the recent progress in these fields. Another distinct characteristic of the book is that all papers are motivated by applications in which optimization, control, and stochastics are inseparable. The book will be a timely addition to the literature and will be of interest to people working in the aforementioned fields.

Most importantly, this volume is dedicated to Professor Suresh Sethi on the occasion of his 60th birthday. In view of his fundamental contributions, his distinguished career, his substantial achievements, his influence on the areas of control theory and applications, operations research, and management science, and his dedication to the scientific community, a number of leading experts in the fields of optimization, control, and operation management, have contributed to this volume in honor of him.

"SAFEPROCESS '97" was the third in this major IFAC symposia series and covered a wide range of theoretical and application studies concerned with the reliability, availability and safety of controlled systems.

The goal of the symposium was to bring together experts from different fields to give an overview of the state-of-the-art, present new research results and show future developments. In addition, there was special emphasis on industrial requirements for FDI (fault detection and isolation) and a new session on the human factors aspects of system monitoring and safety that reflects the growing interest in this area.

These proceedings contain the 209 papers presented at the symposium and comprise: plenary overviews; state-of-the-art reviews and surveys; the very latest results; and tutorial papers.

In the last ten years, a true explosion of investigations into fuzzy modeling and its applications in control, diagnostics, decision making, optimization, pattern recognition, robotics, etc. has been observed. The attraction of fuzzy modeling results from its intelligibility and the high effectiveness of the models obtained. Owing to this the modeling can be applied for the solution of problems which could not be solved till now with any known conventional methods. The book provides the reader with an advanced introduction to the problems of fuzzy modeling and to one of its most important applications: fuzzy control. It is based on the latest and most significant knowledge of the subject and can be used not only by control specialists but also by specialists working in any field requiring plant modeling, process modeling, and systems modeling, e.g. economics, business, medicine, agriculture,and meteorology.

Over the past decades, although stochastic system control has been studied intensively within the field of control engineering, all the modelling and control strategies developed so far have concentrated on the performance of one or two output properties of the system. such as minimum variance control and mean value control. The general assumption used in the formulation of modelling and control strategies is that the distribution of the random signals involved is Gaussian. In this book, a set of new approaches for the control of the output probability density function of stochastic dynamic systems (those subjected to any bounded random inputs), has been developed. In this context, the purpose of control system design becomes the selection of a control signal that makes the shape of the system outputs p.d.f. as close as possible to a given distribution. The book contains material on the subjects of: - Control of single-input single-output and multiple-input multiple-output stochastic systems; - Stable adaptive control of stochastic distributions; - Model reference adaptive control; - Control of nonlinear dynamic stochastic systems; - Condition monitoring of bounded stochastic distributions; - Control algorithm design; - Singular stochastic systems.
A new representation of dynamic stochastic systems is produced by using B-spline functions to descripe the output p.d.f. Advances in Industrial Control aims to report and encourage the transfer of technology in control engineering. The rapid development of control technology has an impact on all areas of the control discipline. The series offers an opportunity for researchers to present an extended exposition of new work in all aspects of industrial control.

Held from 3-5 September 1997 in Nantes, France, this was the fifth of the IFAC series of triennial Symposia on Robot Control.
The final selection lead to 126 papers (from 200 submissions) in the Technical Program. This consisted of 33 sessions disposed in 3 parallel tracks and brought together contributions from 298 leading researchers.
The papers covered a range of topics relevant to the field of robot control, including modelling and identification, force and compliance control, robot control techniques, vision control, grasp control, flexible robots, non holonomic robotic systems, walking robots, control design and architectures, teleoperation, and underwater robots.
The Symposium featured three invited plenary speakers: Professor Steven Dubowsky, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology presented a lecture entitled 'A perspective of the advancement of robotic systems during the past 15 years'; Professor Shanakr Sastry, from the University of California, presented a lecture entitled 'Air Traffic Management Systems: at the intersection of Control Theory and Robotics'; and Professor Friedrich Pfeiffer, from the Technical University of Munchen, presented a lecture entitled 'Robots with unilateral constraints'.

This is a book written by leading experts in the fields of cyber-physical systems (CPS) and wireless sensor networks (WSN). This book describes how wireless sensor networking technologies can help in establishing and maintaining seamless communications between the physical and cyber systems to enable efficient, secure, reliable acquisition, management, and routing of data. Topics covered include: an introduction to WSN and CPS; integration issues and challenges between WSN and CPS; enabling CPS design architectures with WSN technologies; cyber security in CPS; data management in CPS with WSN; routing in WSN for CPS; resource management in CPS; mobile sensors in CPS; intelligent WSN in CPS; resilient WSN for CPS; case studies of integrated WSN and CPS; and medical CPS. All chapters of the book have been rigorously peer-reviewed. Cyber-Physical System Design with Sensor Networking Technologies is essential reading for researchers, advanced students and developers working in the areas of cyber-physical systems and sensor networks.

"Hybrid Predictive Control for Dynamic Transport Problems" develops methods for the design of predictive control strategies for nonlinear-dynamic hybrid discrete-/continuous-variable systems. The methodology is designed for real-time applications, particularly the study of dynamic transport systems. Operational and service policies are considered, as well as cost reduction. The control structure is based on a sound definition of the key variables and their evolution. A flexible objective function able to capture the predictive behaviour of the system variables is described. Coupled with efficient algorithms, mainly drawn from area of computational intelligence, this is shown to optimize performance indices for real-time applications. The framework of the proposed predictive control methodology is generic and, being able to solve nonlinear mixed integer optimization problems dynamically, is readily extendable to other industrial processes.

The main topics of this book are:

. hybrid predictive control (HPC) design based on evolutionary multiobjective optimization (EMO);

. HPC based on EMO for dial-a-ride systems; and

. HPC based on EMO for operational decisions in public transport systems.

"Hybrid Predictive Control for Dynamic Transport Problems" is a comprehensive analysis of HPC and its application to dynamic transport systems. Introductory material on evolutionary algorithms is presented in summary in an appendix. The text will be of interest to control and transport engineers working on the operational optimization of transport systems and to academic researchers working with hybrid systems. The potential applications of the generic methods presented here to other process fields will make the book of interest to a wider group of researchers, scientists and graduate students working in other control-related disciplines."

Microsystems are an important success factor in the automobile industry. In order to fulfil the customers' requests for safety convenience and vehicle economy, and to satisfy environmental requirements, microsystems are becoming indispensable. Thus a large number of microsystem applications came into the discussion. With the international conference AMAA 2000, VDI/VDE-IT provides a platform for the discussion of all MST relevant components for automotive applications. The conference proceedings gather the papers by authors from automobile suppliers and manufacturers.

* Provides an elegant introduction to the geometric concepts that are important to applications in robotics

* Includes significant state-of-the art material that reflects important advances, connecting robotics back to mathematical fundamentals in group theory and geometry

* An invaluable reference that serves a wide audience of grad students and researchers in mechanical engineering, computer science, and applied mathematics

This book incorporates recent advances in the design of feedback laws to the purpose of globally stabilizing nonlinear systems via state or output feedback. It is a continuation of the first volume by Alberto Isidori on Nonlinear Control Systems. Specifically this second volume will cover: *Stability analysis of interconnected nonlinear systems. The notion of Input-to-State stability and its role in analysing stability of cascade-connected or feedback-connected systems. The notion of dissipativity and its consequences (passivity and "gain"). *Robust stabilization in the case of parametric uncertainties. The case of state feedback: global or semi-global stabilization. The case of output feedback: semi-global stabilization. *Robust stabilization in the case of unstructured perturbations. Feedback design via the small-gain approach. Robust semi-global stabilization via output feedback. *Methods for asymptotic tracking, disturbance rejection and model following. Global and semi-global analysis. *Normal forms for multi-input multi-output nonlinear systems form a global point of view. Their role in feedback design.

In the mathematical treatment of many problems which arise in physics, economics, engineering, management, etc., the researcher frequently faces two major difficulties: infinite dimensionality and randomness of the evolution process. Infinite dimensionality occurs when the evolution in time of a process is accompanied by a space-like dependence; for example, spatial distribution of the temperature for a heat-conductor, spatial dependence of the time-varying displacement of a membrane subject to external forces, etc. Randomness is intrinsic to the mathematical formulation of many phenomena, such as fluctuation in the stock market, or noise in communication networks. Control theory of distributed parameter systems and stochastic systems focuses on physical phenomena which are governed by partial differential equations, delay-differential equations, integral differential equations, etc., and stochastic differential equations of various types. This has been a fertile field of research with over 40 years of history, which continues to be very active under the thrust of new emerging applications. Among the subjects covered are: Control of distributed parameter systems; Stochastic control; Applications in finance/insurance/manufacturing; Adapted control; Numerical approximation . It is essential reading for applied mathematicians, control theorists, economic/financial analysts and engineers.

This book is the fourth volume of the sub series of the Lecture Notes in Mobility dedicated to Road Vehicle Automation. lts chapters have been written by researchers, engineers and analysts from all around the globe. Topics covered include public sector activities, human factors and challenges, ethical, legal, energy and technology perspectives, vehicle systems development, as well as transportation infrastructure and planning. The book is based on the Automated Vehicles Symposium which took place in San Francisco, California (USA) in July 2016.

It is a great pleasure for me to introduce this book which has the main ambition to make thermodynamics more directly accessible to engineers and physicists by stressing the analogies with the other physical domains; this science has discouraged more than a few students. The book comes from the meeting of two persons: 1. Jean Thoma, inventor of hydrostatic machines and transmissions, pro fessor at the University of Waterloo (Canada), expert in simulation and pilgrim for the promotion of bond graphs around the world. 2. Belkacem Ould Bouamama, associated professor at the University of Science and Technology in Lille, France, specialist in industrial control and seduced by the richness and structure of the bond graph method. Thermodynamics is a difficult subject; its concepts like entropy, enthalpy, etc. are not intuitive and often very abstract. For this reason, it is current practice to neglect the thermal aspects, although they are necessarily there in all physical phenomena, and to use isothermal models. This is equivalent to think that the system is immersed in an infinite temperature reservoir and maintains its temperature constant even if it receives or dissipates electric and other type of energy. For heat transfer and variable temperature, if it should be included, the classical approach is to study the changes between equilibrium states, and not the process itself, which is more a thermostatic than a thermodynamic approach. This is justified when only the constraints of equilibrium state must be satisfied."

The Engineering of Complex Real-Time Computer Control Systems brings together in one place important contributions and up-to-date research results in this important area. The Engineering of Complex Real-Time Computer Control Systems serves as an excellent reference, providing insight into some of the most important research issues in the field.

This book provides a comprehensive discussion of nonlinear multi-modal structural vibration problems, and shows how vibration suppression can be applied to such systems by considering a sample set of relevant control techniques. It covers the basic principles of nonlinear vibrations that occur in flexible and/or adaptive structures, with an emphasis on engineering analysis and relevant control techniques. Understanding nonlinear vibrations is becoming increasingly important in a range of engineering applications, particularly in the design of flexible structures such as aircraft, satellites, bridges, and sports stadia. There is an increasing trend towards lighter structures, with increased slenderness, often made of new composite materials and requiring some form of deployment and/or active vibration control. There are also applications in the areas of robotics, mechatronics, micro electrical mechanical systems, non-destructive testing and related disciplines such as structural health monitoring. Two broader themes cut across these application areas: (i) vibration suppression - or active damping - and, (ii) adaptive structures and machines. In this expanded 2nd edition, revisions include: An additional section on passive vibration control, including nonlinear vibration mounts. A more in-depth description of semi-active control, including switching and continuous schemes for dampers and other semi-active systems. A complet e reworking of normal form analysis, which now includes new material on internal resonance, bifurcation of backbone curves and stability analysis of forced responses.Further analysis of the nonlinear dynamics of cables including internal resonance leading to whirling. Additional material on the vibration of systems with impact friction. The book is accessible to practitioners in the areas of application, as well as students and researchers working on related topics. In particular, the aim is to introduce the key concepts of nonlinear vibration to readers who have an understanding of linear vibration and/or linear control, but no specialist knowledge in nonlinear dynamics or nonlinear control.

This book covers the conventional and most recent theories and applications in the area of evolutionary algorithms, swarm intelligence, and meta-heuristics. Each chapter offers a comprehensive description of a specific algorithm, from the mathematical model to its practical application. Different kind of optimization problems are solved in this book, including those related to path planning, image processing, hand gesture detection, among others. All in all, the book offers a tutorial on how to design, adapt, and evaluate evolutionary algorithms. Source codes for most of the proposed techniques have been included as supplementary materials on a dedicated webpage.