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The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a recent project of complex tests on the survival of structural health monitoring (SHM) technology with piezo wafer active sensors (PWAS) and electromechanical impedance spectroscopy (EMIS) at simulating the concomitant action of harsh conditions of outer space: extreme temperatures, radiations, vacuum.

The tests were conducted on PWAS, consists in adhesive and aluminium discs as structural specimens, with PWAS bonded on them. The substantiating of PWAS-EMIS-based SHM technique consists the fact that real part of the PWAS electromechanical impedance spectrum follows with fidelity the resonance behaviour of the structure vibrating under the PWAS excitation. This EMIS signature is very sensitive to any structural changes and, on this basis, can be monitored the onset and progress of structural damages such as fatigue, cracks, corrosion, etc.

The conclusion of the tests is that the cumulative impact of severe conditions of temperature, radiation and vacuum has not generated decommissioning of sensors or adhesive, which would have meant the compromise of the methodology. A second important outcome is linked to the capability of this methodology to distinguish between the damages of mechanical origin and the false ones, caused by environmental conditions, which are, basically, harmless.

The question of transfer of PWAS-EMIS-based SHM technology to space vehicles and applications received, as a novelty, a first and encouraging response.

Presents a switching type neuro‐fuzzy control synthesis. The control algorithm supposes as a component part a neurocontrol designed to optimize a performance index. Whenever the neurocontrol saturates or a certain performance parameter of the system decreases, the scheme of control switches to a feasible and reliable fuzzy logic control. Describes the procedure of return to the optimizing neurocontrol which is essential. This methodology of control synthesis ensures antisaturating, antichattering and robustness properties of the controlling system, as illustrated by numerical simulation in the case of a primary flight controls electrohydraulic servo actuator

A pointing control system, combining passive inertial stabilization with active control, is presented. Such systems can direct an apparatus towards a fixed or slow moving target from a moving vehicle whose motion is almost rectilinear. The system was initially conceived to study the total solar eclipse in August 1999 in Romania. The passive inertial stabilization method consists of suspending a large mass by means of very low friction bearings. Consequently, a good static and dynamic equilibration is required. If the position information used by the control system is obtained by processing the image of the target, the large time delay involved makes the control synthesis rather difficult. In this paper, two control synthesis approaches, both providing the required tracking precision, and a comparison between the two corresponding control algorithms are presented.