Precise dynamic models of processes are required for many applications, ranging from control engineering to the natural sciences and economics. Frequently, such precise models cannot be derived using theoretical considerations alone. Therefore, they must be determined experimentally. This book treats the determination of dynamic models based on measurements taken at the process, which is known as system identification or process identification. Both offline and online methods are presented, i.e. methods that post-process the measured data as well as methods that provide models during the measurement. The book is theory-oriented and application-oriented and most methods covered have been used successfully in practical applications for many different processes. Illustrative examples in this book with real measured data range from hydraulic and electric actuators up to combustion engines. Real experimental data is also provided on the Springer webpage, allowing readers to gather their first experience with the methods presented in this book. Among others, the book covers the following subjects: determination of the non-parametric frequency response, (fast) Fourier transform, correlation analysis, parameter estimation with a focus on the method of Least Squares and modifications, identification of time-variant processes, identification in closed-loop, identification of continuous time processes, and subspace methods. Some methods for nonlinear system identification are also considered, such as the Extended Kalman filter and neural networks. The different methods are compared by using a real three-mass oscillator process, a model of a drive train. For many identification methods, hints for the practical implementation and application are provided. The book is intended to meet the needs of students and practicing engineers working in research and development, design and manufacturing.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computational Logistics, ICCL 2013, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in September 2013. The 19 papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. They are organized in topical sections named: maritime shipping, road transport, vehicle routing problems, aviation applications, and logistics and supply chain management.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Model and Data Engineering, MEDI 2013, held in Amantea, Calabria, Italy, in September 2013. The 19 long papers and 3 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 61 submissions. The papers specifically focus on model engineering and data engineering with special emphasis on most recent and relevant topics in the areas of model-driven engineering, ontology engineering, formal modeling, security, and database modeling.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Product-Focused Software Process Improvement, PROFES 2014, held in Helsinki, Finland, in December 2014. The 18 revised full papers presented together with 14 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 45 initial submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on agile development, decision-making, development practices and issues, product planning, and project management.

The book presents a peer-reviewed collection of papers presented during the 10th issue of the Artificial Economics conference, addressing a variety of issues related to macroeconomics, industrial organization, networks, management and finance, as well as purely methodological issues. The field of artificial economics covers a broad range of methodologies relying on computer simulations in order to model and study the complexity of economic and social phenomena. The grounding principle of artificial economics is the analysis of aggregate properties of simulated systems populated by interacting adaptive agents that are equipped with heterogeneous individual behavioral rules. These macroscopic properties are neither foreseen nor intended by the artificial agents but generated collectively by them. They are emerging characteristics of such artificially simulated systems.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of workshops, held at the 32nd International Conference on Conceptual Modeling, ER 2013, in Hong Kong, China in November 2013. The 30 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected out of 57 submissions. The papers are organized in sections related to the individual workshops: LSAWM, Legal and Social Aspects in Web Modeling; MoBiD, 1st International Workshop on Modeling and Management of Big Data; RIGiM, 5th International Workshop on Requirements, Intentions and Goals in Conceptual Modeling; SeCoGIS, 7th International Workshop on Semantic and Conceptual Issues in Geographic Information Systems; WISM, 10th International Workshop on Web Information Systems Modeling; DaSeM, Data Mining and Semantic Computing for Object Modeling; SCME, 1st Symposium on Conceptual Modeling Education; and PhD Symposium. Continuing the ER tradition, the ER 2013 workshops provided researchers, students, and industry professionals with a forum to present and discuss emerging, cutting-edge topics related to conceptual modeling and its applications.

This book describes thermal plant simulation, that is, dynamic simulation of plants which produce, exchange and otherwise utilize heat as their working medium. Directed at chemical, mechanical and control engineers involved with operations, control and optimization and operator training, the book gives the mathematical formulation and use of simulation models of the equipment and systems typically found in these industries. The author has adopted a fundamental approach to the subject. The initial chapters provide an overview of simulation concepts and describe a suitable computer environment. Reviews of relevant numerical computation methods and fundamental thermodynamics are followed by a detailed examination of the basic conservation equations. The bulk of the book is concerned with development of specific simulation models. Care is taken to trace each model derivation path from the basic underlying physical equations, explaining simplifying and restrictive assumptions as they arise and relating the model coefficients to the physical dimensions and physical properties of the working materials. Numerous photographs of real equipment complement the text and most models are illustrated by numerical examples based on typical real plant operations.

This book introduces and describes in detail the SEQUAL framework for understanding the quality of models and modeling languages, including the numerous specializations of the generic framework, and the various ways in which this can be used for different applications. Topics and features: contains case studies, chapter summaries, review questions, problems and exercises throughout the text, in addition to Appendices on terminology and abbreviations; presents a thorough introduction to the most important concepts in conceptual modeling, including the underlying philosophical outlook on the quality of models; describes the basic tasks and model types in information systems development and evolution, and the main methodologies for mixing different phases of information system development; provides an overview of the general mechanisms and perspectives used in conceptual modeling; predicts future trends in technological development, and discusses how the role of modeling can be envisaged in this landscape.

The two-volume set LNCS 8618 and 8619 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 9th International Conference EuroHaptics 2014, held in Versailles, France, in June 2014. The 118 papers (36 oral presentations and 82 poster presentations) presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 183 submissions. Furthermore, 27 demos were exhibited, each of them resulting in a short paper included in the volumes. These proceedings reflect the multidisciplinary nature of EuroHaptics and cover topics such as human-computer interaction, human-robot interactions, neuroscience, perception and psychophysics, biomechanics and motor control, modelling and simulation; and a broad range of applications in medicine, rehabilitation, art, and design.

This book deals with one of the most novel advances in natural computing, namely, in the field of tactile sense analysis. Massage, which provides relaxation and stimulation for human beings, is analyzed in this book for the first time by encoding the motions and tactile senses involved. The target audience is not limited to researchers who are interested in natural computing but also includes those working in ergonomic design, biomedical engineering, Kansei engineering, and cognitive science.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Parallel Computing Technologies, PaCT 2013, held in St. Petersburg, Russia, during September 30-October 4, 2013. The 41 full papers presented together with 2 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 83 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on all technological aspects of the applications of parallel computer systems High level parallel programming languages and systems, methods and tools for parallel solution of large-scale problems, languages, environments and software tools supporting parallel processing, operating systems, scheduling, mapping, load balancing, general architectural concepts, cellular automata, performance measurement and analysis tools, teaching parallel processing, software for grid and cloud computing, scalable computing, fragmentation and aggregation of algorithms and programs as well as programs assembling and reuse.

Grasping in Robotics contains original contributions in the field of grasping in robotics with a broad multidisciplinary approach. This gives the possibility of addressing all the major issues related to robotized grasping, including milestones in grasping through the centuries, mechanical design issues, control issues, modelling achievements and issues, formulations and software for simulation purposes, sensors and vision integration, applications in industrial field and non-conventional applications (including service robotics and agriculture). The contributors to this book are experts in their own diverse and wide ranging fields. This multidisciplinary approach can help make Grasping in Robotics of interest to a very wide audience. In particular, it can be a useful reference book for researchers, students and users in the wide field of grasping in robotics from many different disciplines including mechanical design, hardware design, control design, user interfaces, modelling, simulation, sensors and humanoid robotics. It could even be adopted as a reference textbook in specific PhD courses.

This book constitutes the third part of the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Life System Modeling and Simulation, LSMS 2014, and of the International Conference on Intelligent Computing for Sustainable Energy and Environment, ICSEE 2014, held in Shanghai, China, in September 2014. The 159 revised full papers presented in the three volumes of CCIS 461-463 were carefully reviewed and selected from 572 submissions. The papers of this volume are organized in topical sections on computational intelligence in utilization of clean and renewable energy resources, including fuel cell, hydrogen, solar and winder power, marine and biomass; intelligent modeling, control and supervision for energy saving and pollution reduction; intelligent methods in developing electric vehicles, engines and equipment; intelligent computing and control in distributed power generation systems; intelligent modeling, simulation and control of power electronics and power networks; intelligent road management and electricity marketing strategies; intelligent water treatment and waste management technologies; integration of electric vehicles with smart grid.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th German Conference on Multiagent System Technologies, MATES 2013, held in Koblenz, Germany, in September 2013. The 29 revised full papers and 3 keynote talks presented were carefully reviewed and selected from various submissions. The papers cover a broad area of topics of interest ranging from issues of agent-based coordination to simulation to negotiation.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Bio-inspired Computing: Theories and Applications, BIC-TA 2014, held in Wuhan, China, in October 2014. The 109 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 204 submissions. The papers focus on four main topics, namely evolutionary computing, neural computing, DNA computing, and membrane computing.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Algorithmic Game Theory, SAGT 2014, held in Haifa, Israel, in October 2014. The 24 full papers and 5 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 65 submissions. They cover various important aspects of algorithmic game theory, such as matching theory, game dynamics, games of coordination, networks and social choice, markets and auctions, price of anarchy, computational aspects of games, mechanism design and auctions.

This book contains extended and revised versions of a set of selected papers from two workshops organized by the Euro Working Group on Decision Support Systems (EWG-DSS), which were held in Thessaloniki, Greece, and Rome, Italy, in May and July 2013. From a total of 45 submissions, 15 papers were accepted for publication in this edition after being reviewed by at least three internationally known experts from the EWG-DSS Program Committee and external invited reviewers. The selected papers are representative of current research activities in the area of operational research and decision support systems, focusing on topics such as decision-making using social networks and Web resources; spatio-temporal Web-based decision making; group support systems; technical, legal, and social aspects of decision making; knowledge management and decision support systems; business intelligence and data warehousing; and negotiation support systems.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 12th German Conference on Multiagent System Technologies, MATES 2014, held in Stuttgart, Germany, in September 2014. The 9 full papers and 7 short papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 31 submissions. The book also contains 2 invited talks. The papers are organized in topical sections named: mechanisms, negotiation, and game theory; multiagent planning, learning, and control; and multiagent systems engineering, modeling and simulation.

This book constitutes the refereed post-proceedings of the 10th European Performance Engineering Workshop, EPEW 2013, held in Venice, Italy, in September 2013.

The 16 regular papers presented together with 8 short papers and 2 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 33 submissions. The Workshop aims to gather academic and industrial researchers working on all aspects of performance engineering.

Original papers related to theoretical and methodological issues as well as case studies and automated tool support are solicited in the following areas: performance modeling and evaluation, system and network performance engineering, and software performance engineering.

Queueing theory applications can be discovered in many walks of life including; transportation, manufacturing, telecommunications, computer systems and more. However, the most prevalent applications of queueing theory are in the telecommunications field. Queueing Theory for Telecommunications: Discrete Time Modelling of a Single Node System focuses on discrete time modeling and illustrates that most queueing systems encountered in real life can be set up as a Markov chain. This feature is very unique because the models are set in such a way that matrix-analytic methods are used to analyze them. Queueing Theory for Telecommunications: Discrete Time Modelling of a Single Node System is the most relevant book available on queueing models designed for applications to telecommunications. This book presents clear concise theories behind how to model and analyze key single node queues in discrete time using special tools that were presented in the second chapter. The text also delves into the types of single node queues that are very frequently encountered in telecommunication systems modeling, and provides simple methods for analyzing them. Where appropriate, alternative analysis methods are also presented. This book is for advanced-level students and researchers concentrating on engineering, computer science and mathematics as a secondary text or reference book. Professionals who work in the related industries of telecommunications, industrial engineering and communications engineering will find this book useful as well.

Modeling Chemical Systems using Cellular Automata provides a practical introduction to an exciting modeling paradigm for complex systems. The book first discusses the nature of scientific inquiry using models and simulations, and then describes the nature of cellular automata models. It then gives detailed descriptions, with examples and exercises, of how cellular automata models can be used in the study of a wide variety chemical, physical, and biochemical phenomena. Topics covered include models of water itself, solution phenomena, solution interactions with stationary systems, first- and second-order kinetic phenomena, enzyme kinetics, vapor-liquid equilibrium, and atomic and molecular excited-state kinetics. The student experiences these systems through hands-on examples and guided studies. This book is the first of its kind: a textbook and a laboratory manual about cellular automata modeling of common systems in chemistry. The book is designed to be used as a text in undergraduate courses dealing with complex systems and/or as a computational supplement to laboratory courses taught at the undergraduate level. The book includes: - Compact descriptions of a large variety of physical and chemical phenomena - Illustrative examples of simulations, with exercises for further study - An instructor's manual for use of the program The book will be of great value in undergraduate courses in chemistry, physics, biology, applied mathematics, and bioinformatics, and as a supplement for laboratory courses in introductory chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, medicinal chemistry, chemical engineering and other courses dealing with statistical and dynamic systems. It allows the exploration of a wide range of dynamic phenomena, many of which are not normally accessible within conventional laboratory settings due to limitations of time, cost, and experimental equipment. The book is both a textbook on applied Cellular Automata and a lab manual for chemistry (physics, engineering) courses with lab activity. It would supplement other lab work and be an additonal book the students would use in the course. The authors have assessed the emerging need for this kind of activity in science labs because of the cost of the practical activitites and the frequent failure of some exercises leading to lost didactic value of some experiments. This book is pioneering an alternative that will grow in use. There are no course directors who would use Cellular Automata exclusively. The authors see an emerging interest in this kind of work in courses that contain lab exercises. One such course is the graduate course that Lemont Kier gives in Life Sciences about complexity. He uses many examples and studies from Cellular Automata in the latter part of this course.

Decision makers in large scale interconnected network systems require simulation models for decision support. The behaviour of these systems is determined by many actors, situated in a dynamic, multi-actor, multi-objective and multi-level environment. How can such systems be modelled and how can the socio-technical complexity be captured? Agent-based modelling is a proven approach to handle this challenge. This book provides a practical introduction to agent-based modelling of socio-technical systems, based on a methodology that has been developed at TU Delft and which has been deployed in a large number of case studies. The book consists of two parts: the first presents the background, theory and methodology as well as practical guidelines and procedures for building models. In the second part this theory is applied to a number of case studies, where for each model the development steps are presented extensively, preparing the reader for creating own models.

Quality Management in Reverse Logistics intends to develop, collect, examine and evaluate a number of quality management (QM) tools and techniques, which can be applied in practice in order to understand, review and improve any closed-loop supply chain process. In other words, the book aims to examine the existing relationship between various well-developed and thoroughly studied quality issues, such as QM, quality assurance, standardization of processes and statistical quality control and the emerging research area of reverse logistics. Quality Management in Reverse Logistics contains modeling and quantitative methods that could be used by practitioners and academics in the reverse logistics industry, as well as a thorough description of QM tools and techniques. The book leads the potential reader to broaden their scope of thinking and acting in the new, promising area of reverse logistics, where QM can be applied.

An overview of biomechanical modeling of human soft tissue using nonlinear theoretical mechanics and incremental finite element methods, useful for computer simulation of the human musculoskeletal system.

FEM updating allows FEMs to be tuned better to reflect measured data. It can be conducted using two different statistical frameworks: the maximum likelihood approach and Bayesian approaches. This book applies both strategies to the field of structural mechanics, using vibration data. Computational intelligence techniques including: multi-layer perceptron neural networks; particle swarm and GA-based optimization methods; simulated annealing; response surface methods; and expectation maximization algorithms, are proposed to facilitate the updating process. Based on these methods, the most appropriate updated FEM is selected, a problem that traditional FEM updating has not addressed. This is found to incorporate engineering judgment into finite elements through the formulations of prior distributions. Case studies, demonstrating the principles test the viability of the approaches, and. by critically analysing the state of the art in FEM updating, this book identifies new research directions.