Direct image-analysis methods for surgical simulation and mixed meshfree methods

Presentation (2014, May 28)

A discrete droplet method for modelling thin film flows

in Applied Mathematical Modelling (2022), 112

Discrete Multiscale Modelling and Future Research Plans concerning Metals

Presentation (2014, October 14)

A discrete-continuous approach to describe CaCO3 decarbonation in non-steady thermal conditions

in Powder Technology (2015), 275

In cement production, direct measurements of thermal and chemical variables are often unfeasible as a consequence of aggressive environments, moving parts and physical inaccessibility, and therefore ... [more ▼]

In cement production, direct measurements of thermal and chemical variables are often unfeasible as a consequence of aggressive environments, moving parts and physical inaccessibility, and therefore prediction models are essential tools in these types of industrial applications. This article addresses the problem of the numerical prediction of the CaCO3 calcination process, which is the first and the most energy expensive process in clinker production. This study was conducted using the Extended Discrete Element Method (XDEM), a framework which allows a Eulerian approach for the gas phase to be combined with a Lagrange one for the powder phase. A detailed validation of the numerical model was performed by comparison to non-isothermal TG curves for mass loss during the CaCO3 decarbonation process. The complex three-dimensional predictions for solid and gas phases are believed to represent a first step towards a new insight into the cement production process. Thus, the high accuracy and detailed description of the problem addressed, serve as a basis to assess the uncertainty of more simplified models such as those used in soft sensors. [less ▲]

Distributed attitude synchronization control

in Proceedings of the 50th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control and European Control Conference (CDC-ECC) (2011)

In this paper we consider the problem of constructing feedback control laws for a system of n agents that shall synchronize their attitudes in SO(3). We propose distributed controllers for two ... [more ▼]

In this paper we consider the problem of constructing feedback control laws for a system of n agents that shall synchronize their attitudes in SO(3). We propose distributed controllers for two synchronization problems, in which the objective is the same, to synchronize the orientations, but what the agents can perceive or communicate differs. In the first problem the agents can measure their orientation to a common reference object, and either communicate with the neighbors or estimate the relative orientation to their neighbors. In the second problem the agents can, without communication, only measure the relative orientation to the neighbors. For the first problem we present a controller which will lead to synchronization, provided the neighborhood graph is connected. For the second problem we present a controller that will lead to synchronization provided the neighborhood graph is connected and the agents initially are contained within a geodesic ball of radius π/2, which is the maximal convex set in SO(3). [less ▲]

Distributed attitude synchronization control of multi-agent systems with switching topologies

in Automatica (2014), 50(3), 832-840

This paper addresses the attitude synchronization problem in multi-agent systems with directed and switching interconnection topologies. Two cases for the synchronization problem are discussed under ... [more ▼]

This paper addresses the attitude synchronization problem in multi-agent systems with directed and switching interconnection topologies. Two cases for the synchronization problem are discussed under different assumptions about the measurable information. In the first case the agents can measure their rotations relative to a global reference coordinate frame, whilst in the second case they can only measure the relative rotations between each other. Two intuitive distributed control laws based on the axis–angle representations of the rotations are proposed for the two cases, respectively. The invariance of convex balls in SO(3) is guaranteed. Moreover, attitude synchronization is ensured under the well-known mild switching assumptions, the joint strong connection for the first case and joint quasi-strong connection for the second case. To show the effectiveness of the proposed control schemes, illustrative examples are provided. [less ▲]

Distributed attitude synchronization using backstepping and sliding mode control

in Control Theory and Technology (2014), 12(1), 48-55

We consider the problem of attitude synchronization for systems of rigid body agents with directed topologies. Two different scenarios for the rotation matrices of the agents are considered. In the first ... [more ▼]

We consider the problem of attitude synchronization for systems of rigid body agents with directed topologies. Two different scenarios for the rotation matrices of the agents are considered. In the first scenario, the rotations are contained in a convex subset of SO(3), which is a ball of radius less than π/2, whereas in the second scenario the agents are contained in a subset of SO(3), which is a ball of radius less than π. Using a control law based on backstepping and sliding mode control, we provide distributed, semi-global, torque control laws for the agents so that the rotations asymptotically synchronize. The control laws for the agents in the first scenario only depend on the relative rotations between neighboring agents, whereas the control laws in the second scenario depend on rotations defined in a global coordinate frame. Illustrative examples are provided where the synchronization is shown for both scenarios. [less ▲]

Distributed high-gain attitude synchronization using rotation vectors

in Journal of Systems Science and Complexity (2015), 28(2), 289-304

This paper addresses attitude synchronization problems for systems of multiple rigid-body agents with directed interconnection topologies. Two scenarios which differ in available information are ... [more ▼]

This paper addresses attitude synchronization problems for systems of multiple rigid-body agents with directed interconnection topologies. Two scenarios which differ in available information are considered. In the first scenario the agents can obtain their rotations and angular velocities relative to an inertial reference frame and transmit these information to their neighbors, while in the second scenario the agents can only obtain their own angular velocities and measure the relative rotations and relative angular velocities of their neighbors. By using rotation vectors and the high gain control, the authors provide torque control laws asymptotically synchronizing the rotations of the system almost globally for the first scenario and with initial rotations of the agents contained in a convex ball of SO(3) for the second scenario. An illustrative example is provided to show the synchronization results for both scenarios. [less ▲]

Distributed Kalman Filter with minimum-time covariance computation

in The proceedings of the IEEE 52nd Annual Conference on Decision and Control (2013)

This paper considerably improves the well-known Distributed Kalman Filter (DKF) algorithm by Olfati-Saber (2007) by introducing a novel decentralised consensus value computation scheme, using only local ... [more ▼]

This paper considerably improves the well-known Distributed Kalman Filter (DKF) algorithm by Olfati-Saber (2007) by introducing a novel decentralised consensus value computation scheme, using only local observations of sensors. It has been shown that the state estimates obtained in [8] and [9] approaches those of the Central Kalman Filter (CKF) asymptotically. However, the convergence to the CKF can sometimes be too slow. This paper proposes an algorithm that enables every node in a sensor network to compute the global average consensus matrix of measurement noise covariance in minimum time without accessing global information. Compared with the algorithm in [8], our theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the new algorithm can offer improved performance in terms of time taken for the state estimates to converge to that of the CKF. [less ▲]

Distributed reconstruction of nonlinear networks: An ADMM approach

in Proceedings of the 19th World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC 2014) (2014)

In this paper, we present a distributed algorithm for the reconstruction of large-scale nonlinear networks. In particular, we focus on the identification from time-series data of the nonlinear functional ... [more ▼]

In this paper, we present a distributed algorithm for the reconstruction of large-scale nonlinear networks. In particular, we focus on the identification from time-series data of the nonlinear functional forms and associated parameters of large-scale nonlinear networks. In (Pan et al. (2013)), a nonlinear network reconstruction problem was formulated as a nonconvex optimisation problem based on the combination of a marginal likelihood maximisation procedure with sparsity inducing priors. Using a convex-concave procedure (CCCP), an iterative reweighted lasso algorithm was derived to solve the initial nonconvex optimisation problem. By exploiting the structure of the objective function of this reweighted lasso algorithm, a distributed algorithm can be designed. To this end, we apply the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) to decompose the original problem into several subproblems. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods, we use our approach to identify a network of interconnected Kuramoto oscillators with different network sizes (500∼100,000 nodes). [less ▲]