Search results

The purpose of this paper is to construct an event-triggered finite-time fault-tolerant formation tracking controller, which can achieve a time-varying formation control for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during actuator failures and external perturbations.

First, this study developed the formation tracking protocol for each follower using UAV formation members, defining the tracking inaccuracy of the UAV followers’ location. Subsequently, this study designed the multilayer event-triggered controller based on the backstepping method framework within finite time. Then, considering the actuator failures, and added self-adaptive thought for fault-tolerant control within finite time, the event-triggered closed-loop system is subsequently shown to be a finite-time stable system. Furthermore, the Zeno behavior is analyzed to prevent infinite triggering instances within a finite time. Finally, simulations are conducted with external disturbances and actuator failure conditions to demonstrate formation tracking controller performance.

It achieves improved performance in the presence of external disturbances and system failures. Combining limited-time adaptive control and event triggering improves system stability, increase robustness to disturbances and calculation efficiency. In addition, the designed formation tracking controller can effectively control the time-varying formation of the leader and followers to complete the task, and by adding a fixed-time observer, it can effectively compensate for external disturbances and improve formation control accuracy.

A formation-following controller is designed, which can handle both external disturbances and internal actuator failures during formation flight, and the proposed method can be applied to a variety of formation control scenarios and does not rely on a specific type of UAV or communication network.

Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is widely used in resource prospection and underwater detection due to its excellent performance. This study considers input saturation, nonlinear model uncertainties and external ocean current disturbances. The containment errors can be limited to a small neighborhood of zero in finite time by employing control strategy. The control strategy can keep errors within a certain range between the trajectory followed by AUVs and their intended targets. This can mitigate the issues of collisions and disruptions in communication which may arise from AUVs being in close proximity or excessively distant from each other.

The tracking errors are constrained. Based on the directed communication topology, a cooperative formation control algorithm for multi-AUV systems with constrained errors is designed. By using the saturation function, state observers are designed to estimate the AUV’s velocity in six degrees of freedom. A new virtual control algorithm is designed through combining backstepping technique and the tan-type barrier Lyapunov function. Neural networks are used to estimate and compensate for the nonlinear model uncertainties and external ocean current disturbances. A neural network adaptive law is designed.

The containment errors can be limited to a small neighborhood of zero in finite time so that follower AUVs can arrive at the convex hull consisting of leader AUVs within finite time. The validity of the results is indicated by simulations.

The state observers are designed to approximate the speed of the AUV and improve the accuracy of the control method. The anti-saturation function and neural network adaptive law are designed to deal with input saturation and general disturbances, respectively. It can ensure the safety and reliability of the multiple AUV systems.

To provide high torques needed to move a robot’s links, electric actuators are followed by a transmission system with a high transmission rate. For instance, gear ratios of 100:1 are often used in the joints of a robotic manipulator. This results into an actuator with large mechanical impedance (also known as nonback-drivable actuator). This in turn generates high contact forces when collision of the robotic mechanism occur and can cause humans’ injury. Another disadvantage of electric actuators is that they can exhibit overheating when constant torques have to be provided. Comparing to electric actuators, pneumatic actuators have promising properties for robotic applications, due to their low weight, simple mechanical design, low cost and good power-to-weight ratio. Electropneumatically actuated robots usually have better friction properties. Moreover, because of low mechanical impedance, pneumatic robots can provide moderate interaction forces which is important for robotic surgery and rehabilitation tasks. Pneumatic actuators are also well suited for exoskeleton robots. Actuation in exoskeletons should have a fast and accurate response. While electric motors come against high mechanical impedance and the risk of causing injuries, pneumatic actuators exhibit forces and torques which stay within moderate variation ranges. Besides, unlike direct current electric motors, pneumatic actuators have an improved weight-to-power ratio and avoid overheating problems.

The aim of this paper is to analyze a nonlinear optimal control method for electropneumatically actuated robots. A two-link robotic exoskeleton with electropneumatic actuators is considered as a case study. The associated nonlinear and multivariable state-space model is formulated and its differential flatness properties are proven. The dynamic model of the electropneumatic robot is linearized at each sampling instance with the use of first-order Taylor series expansion and through the computation of the associated Jacobian matrices. Within each sampling period, the time-varying linearization point is defined by the present value of the robot’s state vector and by the last sampled value of the control inputs vector. An H-infinity controller is designed for the linearized model of the robot aiming at solving the related optimal control problem under model uncertainties and external perturbations. An algebraic Riccati equation is solved at each time-step of the control method to obtain the stabilizing feedback gains of the H-infinity controller. Through Lyapunov stability analysis, it is proven that the robot’s control scheme satisfies the H-infinity tracking performance conditions which indicate the robustness properties of the control method. Moreover, global asymptotic stability is proven for the control loop. The method achieves fast convergence of the robot’s state variables to the associated reference trajectories, and despite strong nonlinearities in the robot’s dynamics, it keeps moderate the variations of the control inputs.

In this paper, a novel solution has been proposed for the nonlinear optimal control problem of robotic exoskeletons with electropneumatic actuators. As a case study, the dynamic model of a two-link lower-limb robotic exoskeleton with electropneumatic actuators has been considered. The dynamic model of this robotic system undergoes first approximate linearization at each iteration of the control algorithm around a temporary operating point. Within each sampling period, this linearization point is defined by the present value of the robot’s state vector and by the last sampled value of the control inputs vector. The linearization process relies on first-order Taylor series expansion and on the computation of the associated Jacobian matrices. The modeling error which is due to the truncation of higher-order terms from the Taylor series is considered to be a perturbation which is asymptotically compensated by the robustness of the control algorithm. To stabilize the dynamics of the electropneumatically actuated robot and to achieve precise tracking of reference setpoints, an H-infinity (optimal) feedback controller is designed. Actually, the proposed H-infinity controller for the model of the two-link electropneumatically actuated exoskeleton achieves the solution of the associated optimal control problem under model uncertainty and external disturbances. This controller implements a min-max differential game taking place between: (i) the control inputs which try to minimize a cost function which comprises a quadratic term of the state vector’s tracking error and (ii) the model uncertainty and perturbation inputs which try to maximize this cost function. To select the stabilizing feedback gains of this H-infinity controller, an algebraic Riccati equation is being repetitively solved at each time-step of the control method. The global stability properties of the H-infinity control scheme are proven through Lyapunov analysis.

Pneumatic actuators are characterized by high nonlinearities which are due to air compressibility, thermodynamics and valves behavior and thus pneumatic robots require elaborated nonlinear control schemes to ensure their fast and precise positioning. Among the control methods which have been applied to pneumatic robots, one can distinguish differential geometric approaches (Lie algebra-based control, differential flatness theory-based control, nonlinear model predictive control [NMPC], sliding-mode control, backstepping control and multiple models-based fuzzy control). Treating nonlinearities and fault tolerance issues in the control problem of robotic manipulators with electropneumatic actuators has been a nontrivial task.

The novelty of the proposed control method is outlined as follows: preceding results on the use of H-infinity control to nonlinear dynamical systems were limited to the case of affine-in-the-input systems with drift-only dynamics. These results considered that the control inputs gain matrix is not dependent on the values of the system’s state vector. Moreover, in these approaches the linearization was performed around points of the desirable trajectory, whereas in the present paper’s control method the linearization points are related with the value of the state vector at each sampling instance as well as with the last sampled value of the control inputs vector. The Riccati equation which has been proposed for computing the feedback gains of the controller is novel, so is the presented global stability proof through Lyapunov analysis. This paper’s scientific contribution is summarized as follows: (i) the presented nonlinear optimal control method has improved or equally satisfactory performance when compared against other nonlinear control schemes that one can consider for the dynamic model of robots with electropneumatic actuators (such as Lie algebra-based control, differential flatness theory-based control, nonlinear model-based predictive control, sliding-mode control and backstepping control), (ii) it achieves fast and accurate tracking of all reference setpoints, (iii) despite strong nonlinearities in the dynamic model of the robot, it keeps moderate the variations of the control inputs and (iv) unlike the aforementioned alternative control approaches, this paper’s method is the only one that achieves solution of the optimal control problem for electropneumatic robots.

The use of electropneumatic actuation in robots exhibits certain advantages. These can be the improved weight-to-power ratio, the lower mechanical impedance and the avoidance of overheating. At the same time, precise positioning and accurate execution of tasks by electropneumatic robots requires the application of elaborated nonlinear control methods. In this paper, a new nonlinear optimal control method has been developed for electropneumatically actuated robots and has been specifically applied to the dynamic model of a two-link robotic exoskeleton. The benefit from using this paper’s results in industrial and biomedical applications is apparent.

A comparison of the proposed nonlinear optimal (H-infinity) control method against other linear and nonlinear control schemes for electropneumatically actuated robots shows the following: (1) Unlike global linearization-based control approaches, such as Lie algebra-based control and differential flatness theory-based control, the optimal control approach does not rely on complicated transformations (diffeomorphisms) of the system’s state variables. Besides, the computed control inputs are applied directly on the initial nonlinear model of the electropneumatic robot and not on its linearized equivalent. The inverse transformations which are met in global linearization-based control are avoided and consequently one does not come against the related singularity problems. (2) Unlike model predictive control (MPC) and NMPC, the proposed control method is of proven global stability. It is known that MPC is a linear control approach that if applied to the nonlinear dynamics of the electropneumatic robot, the stability of the control loop will be lost. Besides, in NMPC the convergence of its iterative search for an optimum depends on initialization and parameter values selection and consequently the global stability of this control method cannot be always assured. (3) Unlike sliding-mode control and backstepping control, the proposed optimal control method does not require the state-space description of the system to be found in a specific form. About sliding-mode control, it is known that when the controlled system is not found in the input-output linearized form the definition of the sliding surface can be an intuitive procedure. About backstepping control, it is known that it cannot be directly applied to a dynamical system if the related state-space model is not found in the triangular (backstepping integral) form. (4) Unlike PID control, the proposed nonlinear optimal control method is of proven global stability, the selection of the controller’s parameters does not rely on a heuristic tuning procedure, and the stability of the control loop is assured in the case of changes of operating points. (5) Unlike multiple local models-based control, the nonlinear optimal control method uses only one linearization point and needs the solution of only one Riccati equation so as to compute the stabilizing feedback gains of the controller. Consequently, in terms of computation load the proposed control method for the electropneumatic actuator’s dynamics is much more efficient.

There are various uncertain and nonlinear problems in hydraulic legged robot systems, including parameter uncertainty, unmodeled dynamics and external disturbances. This study aims to eliminate uncertainties and improve the foot trajectory tracking control performance of hydraulic legged robots, a high-performance foot trajectory tracking control method based on fixed-time disturbance observers for hydraulic legged robots is proposed.

First, the robot leg mechanical system model and hydraulic system model of the hydraulic legged robot are established. Subsequently, two fixed-time disturbance observers are designed to address the unmatched lumped uncertainty and match lumped uncertainty in the system. Finally, the lumped uncertainties are compensated in the controller design, and the designed motion controller also achieves fixed-time stability.

Through simulation and experiments, it can be found that the proposed tracking control method based on fixed-time observers has better tracking control performance. The effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method have been verified.

Both the disturbance observers and the controller achieve fixed-time stability, effectively improving the performance of foot trajectory tracking control for hydraulic legged robots.

This study aims to promote the anti-disturbance and tracking accuracy performance of the servo systems, in which a modified active disturbance rejection control (MADRC) scheme is proposed.

An adaptive radial basis function (ARBF) neural network is utilized to estimate and compensate dominant friction torque disturbance, and a parallel high-gain extended state observer (PHESO) is employed to further compensate residual and other uncertain disturbances. This parallel compensation structure reduces the burden of single ESO and improves the response speed of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) to hybrid disturbances. Moreover, the sliding mode control (SMC) rate is introduced to design an adaptive update law of ARBF.

Simulation and experimental results show that as compared to conventional ADRC and SMC algorithms, the position tracking error is only 2.3% and the average estimation error of the total disturbances is only 1.4% in the proposed MADRC algorithm.

The disturbance parallel estimation structure proposed in MADRC algorithm is proved to significantly improve the performance of anti-disturbance and tracking accuracy.

Visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) has limitations such as sensitivity to lighting changes and lower measurement accuracy. The effective fusion of information from multiple modalities to address these limitations has emerged as a key research focus. This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of the development of vision-based SLAM (including visual SLAM) for navigation and pose estimation, with a specific focus on techniques for integrating multiple modalities.

This paper initially introduces the mathematical models and framework development of visual SLAM. Subsequently, this paper presents various methods for improving accuracy in visual SLAM by fusing different spatial and semantic features. This paper also examines the research advancements in vision-based SLAM with respect to multi-sensor fusion in both loosely coupled and tightly coupled approaches. Finally, this paper analyzes the limitations of current vision-based SLAM and provides predictions for future advancements.

The combination of vision-based SLAM and deep learning has significant potential for development. There are advantages and disadvantages to both loosely coupled and tightly coupled approaches in multi-sensor fusion, and the most suitable algorithm should be chosen based on the specific application scenario. In the future, vision-based SLAM is evolving toward better addressing challenges such as resource-limited platforms and long-term mapping.

This review introduces the development of vision-based SLAM and focuses on the advancements in multimodal fusion. It allows readers to quickly understand the progress and current status of research in this field.

This paper aims to develop a method for tuning the parameters of the active disturbance rejection controller (ADRC) for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The bald eagle search (BES) algorithm has been improved, and a cost function has been designed to enhance the optimization efficiency of ADRC parameters.

A six-degree-of-freedom nonlinear model for a fixed-wing UAV has been developed, and its attitude controller has been formulated using the active disturbance rejection control method. The parameters of the disturbance rejection controller have been fine-tuned using the collaborative mutual promotion bald eagle search (CMP-BES) algorithm. The pitch and roll controllers for the UAV have been individually optimized to obtain the most effective controller parameters.

Inspired by the salp swarm algorithm (SSA), the interaction among individual eagles has been incorporated into the CMP-BES algorithm, thereby enhancing the algorithm's exploration capability. The efficient and accurate optimization ability of the proposed algorithm has been demonstrated through comparative experiments with genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, Harris hawks optimization HHO, BES and modified bald eagle search algorithms. The algorithm's capability to solve complex optimization problems has been further proven by testing on the CEC2017 test function suite. A transitional function for fitness calculation has been introduced to accelerate the ability of the algorithm to find the optimal parameters for the ADRC controller. The tuned ADRC controller has been compared with the classical proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller, with gust disturbances introduced to the UAV body axis. The results have shown that the tuned ADRC controller has faster response times and stronger disturbance rejection capabilities than the PID controller.

The proposed CMP-BES algorithm, combined with a fitness function composed of transition functions, can be used to optimize the ADRC controller parameters for fixed-wing UAVs more quickly and effectively. The tuned ADRC controller has exhibited excellent robustness and disturbance rejection capabilities.

The CMP-BES algorithm and transitional function have been proposed for the parameter optimization of the active disturbance rejection controller for fixed-wing UAVs.

To solve the problem that the underwater vehicles is difficult to turn and exit in a small range in the face of complex marine environment such as concave and ring under the limitation of its limitation of its shape and maximum steering angle, this paper aims to propose an improved ant colony algorithm based on trap filling strategy and energy consumption constraint strategy.

Firstly, on the basis of searching the global path, the disturbed terrain was pre-filled in the complex marine environments. Based on the energy constraint strategy, the ant colony algorithm was improved to make the search path of the underwater vehicle meet the requirements of the lowest energy consumption and the shortest path in the complex obstacle environment.

The simulation results showed that the modified grid environment diagram effectively reduced the redundancy search and improved the optimization efficiency. Aiming at the problem of “the shortest distance is not the lowest energy consumption” in the traditional path optimization algorithm, the energy consumption level was reduced by 26.41% after increasing the energy consumption constraint, although the path length and the number of inflection points were slightly higher than the shortest path constraint, which was more conducive to the navigation of underwater vehicles.

The method proposed in this paper is not only suitable for trajectory planning of underwater robots but also suitable for trajectory planning of land robots.

The digital media recording and broadcasting classroom using Internet real-time intelligent image positioning and opinion monitoring in communication teaching is researched and analyzed.

First, spatial grid positioning and monitoring and image intelligent recognition technologies were used to extract and analyze teaching images by mastering Internet of Things (IoT) technology and establishing an intelligent image positioning and opinion monitoring digital media recording and broadcasting system framework. Next, a positioning node algorithm was utilized to measure the image distance, and then a moving node location model under the IoT was established. In addition, a radial basis function (RBF) neural network was used to realize the signal transmission function. The experimental data of the adopted RBF based on the optimization of the adaptive cuckoo search (ACS-RBF) neural network, particle swarm algorithm neural network, and method of least squares optimization were compared and analyzed. In addition, a more efficient RBF neural network was adopted. Finally, the digital media recording and broadcasting classroom scheme of real-time intelligent image positioning and opinion monitoring was designed. In addition, the application environment of digital media actual teacher teaching was detected, and recording and broadcasting pictures were analyzed and researched.

The actual value, predicted value, and the number of predicted samples of the ACS-RBF model were all better than those of the two other neural networks. According to the analysis and comparison of the sampling optimization Monte Carlo localization (SOMCL), Monte Carlo, and genetic algorithm optimization-based Monte Carlo positioning algorithms, the SOMCL algorithm showed better robustness, and its positioning efficiency was superior to that of the two other algorithms. In addition, the SOMCL algorithm greatly reduced the positioning and monitoring energy consumption.

The application of real-time intelligent image positioning and monitoring technology in actual communication teaching was realized in the study.

Temperature is an important load for a ballastless track. However, little research has been conducted on the dynamic responses when a train travels on a ballastless track under the temperature gradient. The dynamic responses under different temperature gradients of the slab are theoretically investigated in this work.

Considering the moving train, the temperature gradient of the slab, and the gravity of the slab track, a dynamic model for a high-speed train that runs along the CRTS III slab track on subgrade is developed by a nonlinear coupled way in Abaqus.

The results are as follows: (1) The upward transmission of the periodic deformation of the slab causes periodic track irregularity. (2) Because of the geometric constraint of limiting structures, the maximum bending stresses of the slab occur near the end of the slab under positive temperature gradients, but in the middle of the slab under negative temperature gradients. (3) The periodic deformation of the slab can induce periodic changes in the interlayer stiffness and contact status, leading to a large vibration of the slab. Because of the vibration-reduction capacity of the fastener and the larger mass of the concrete base, the accelerations of both the slab and concrete base are far less than the acceleration of the rail.

This study reveals the influence mechanism of temperature gradient-induced periodic deformation in the dynamic responses of the train-track system, and it also provides a guide for the safe service of CRTS III slab track.