This study investigates the robust quantised H_∞ control problem for active suspension systems. First, based on the half-vehicle suspension model, the dynamical system with polytopic parameter uncertainties, which are caused by vehicle load variation, is established. In the meanwhile, the active suspension system performance, namely ride comfort, road holding and suspension deflection, are taken into account for the control design aim. Secondly, an input delay approach is utilised to transform the resulting active vehicle suspension system with sampling and quantisation measurements into a continuous-time system with a delay in the input sector bound uncertainty. Thirdly, robust quantised H_∞ performance analysis and controller synthesis criteria are presented in the form of convex optimisation problem by exploiting the Lyapunov functional approach. The existing robust quantised H_∞ controller condition not only guarantees the robust asymptotical stability of the closed-loop system, but also satisfies the output constrained performance. Finally, the effectiveness and application of the proposed method can be demonstrated by providing a design example.

Presented is a novel approach for online trajectory modification of joint motions to transfer a free open kinematic chain, undergoing flight phase, from a specified initial configuration to a specified final configuration. Formally, it is assumed that a nominal trajectory, computed offline, can reorient the kinematic chain (reconfiguration problem) for a given angular momentum on a time interval. A modification algorithm of body joints, based on optimal control, is developed such that for different angular momentums and time intervals, the same reconfiguration problem can be solved online. This approach can be utilised for space robotics applications and online computation of planar running trajectories during flight phases.

In this study, adaptive fuzzy output feedback motion/force control is investigated for wheeled inverted pendulums with unmodelled dynamics, whose states and time derivatives of the output are unavailable. The proposed adaptive fuzzy output feedback control reconstructs the system states by using a high-gain observer, and makes use of bounds online adaptation mechanism to cancel the dynamics uncertainties. Based on Lyapunov synthesis, the proposed control ensures that the system outputs track the given bounded reference signals within a small neighbourhood of zero, and guarantees zero-dynamics stability. The effectiveness of the proposed control is verified through extensive simulations.

In this study, the authors propose a novel control strategy of torque ripple reduction in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). By its periodic cycle of power production, the internal combustion engine used in a hybrid vehicle provides a torque that fluctuates constantly. This is problematic for vehicle manufacturers since this torque ripple creates uncomfortable vibrations and mechanical damage. To achieve this active control, the problem is reformulated in complex notation in the frequency domain with respect to the main order of the fluctuations. A permanent magnet synchronous machine is mounted on the crankshaft in order to generate a torque sequence opposing ripple torque. The control strategy is based on a static output feedback synthesis under ℋ_∞ performance specification. A complete modelling of the hybrid propulsion from an experimental test bench is achieved. The model is performed at low speed (900 rpm). In fact, at this speed, the ripple is very restrictive. Experimental results highlight the control approach interest.

The growing use of heavier and faster trains means that more consideration must be given to routine inspection of rails. Inspection trains, dual purpose road/track vehicles and hand held trolleys utilising ultrasonic, eddy current, alternating current field measurement (ACFM) or magnetic flux leakage sensors are the techniques which are currently employed in the rail industry. The vehicle mounted systems generally provide information on defect locations but provide less dependable data about defect sizes, which has to be ascertained by hand-held systems. However, the hand held systems require expert operators to interpret the collected data and, hence, are more costly and time consuming to use. Therefore, in order to address the requirements of higher axle weight and faster trains, the rail inspection system needs to be improved. In this research, a robotic system has been proposed for detection and characterisation of rolling contact fatigue (RCF) cracks on in-service rail tracks. The system consists of a mechanised trolley, an FS02N Kawasaki robot arm and a commercially available AMIGO ACFM system, supplied by TSC Inspection Systems. The RCF defects will be located while the ACFM sensor is fixed in position and the trolley moves at a controlled speed. The detected defects are then re-visited and the robot arm is utilised to perform a detailed scan over the defects (for characterisation) while the trolley is stationary. This paper summarises experimental results obtained when the trolley is stationary and the robot arm is used to survey the rail head. The results suggest that the proposed system has the potential to improve the quality of RCF crack characterisation and to be used autonomously to inspect the rail tracks. (6 pages)

Electronic Embedded system based solution for automotive plays a dominant role in the automotive industries. Research work for displaying graphical images or text on wheel rims while the vehicle is running at presented. The very big challenge faced on implementation is without breakage of image and text displaying graphically with high resolution while the wheel rotating with different speed and different timings. This designed system had Memory and it has having the capability to upload Image and text depends upon what we integrated. This designed Device driver able to display virtually any image, including text, graphics, logos, and even digital photos when the wheel is on rotating. An Accurate time and speed of rotation of wheel for timeline is very important for proper display. To face this challenge to calculate their timeline analysis and correlation of speed of rotation to wheel must be done and Human perception timing analysis also should be carried out. All this analysis timing is carryout in this research work to face this challenge. This system design ensure with to maintain on how fast the vehicle is rotating there should be proper display of the Rims of the wheel . Thus design analysis of device driver development is associate with system and also Mechanical design with LED assembly.

The aim of this research is to identify problems at transition zones, also known as critical zones, which are between an open track and a super structure, by means of field monitoring. Data has been collected using vehicle-borne instrumentation, including bogie-mounted inertial sensors. The purpose of this research is to simultaneously measure the vertical displacement of mam" consecutive sleepers by means of sleeper mounted Positional Sensitivity Device (PSD) sensors and geophones connected via a Controlled Area Network (CAN) bus, which enables data transmission among multiple nodes. This paper summarises the initial work carried out with a prototype of the PSD sensor. PSD sensors were tested in the laboratory using different electronic components and fine tuned with a range of central frequencies using a programmable oscillator. In future work the sensor network will be deployed, which can cover up to 16 sleepers in a known critical zone to obtain data during the train passage. In addition, to supplement the constraints of each methodology, comparison tests between the PSD sensor and geophone sensors will be part of future work. (5 pages)

Methods for multibody modelling and simulation should accurately replicate the dynamic behaviour of rail-wheel interface including precise values for wheel-rail contact positions. This paper studies the development of a novel 3-D wheel-rail contact model which is used for dynamic simulation of a suspended wheelset with parameters listed for a typical Mark IV coach. The contact point locations on the wheel and rail are determined by the minimum difference method considering the lateral displacement, yaw angle and the roll angle. The proposed new 3D wheel-rail contact model can be applied in railway condition monitoring techniques to estimate the wheel geometry parameters and thus to achieve practical optimised wheel-rail interfaces. (6 pages)

The material feeding in hot stamping is quite different from traditional cold stamping. This paper described some key issues of automatic high-temperature steel plate feeding, some analysis and studies were done about gripping method, clamping force, local and whole plate temperature drop in transferring process, and some ideas about robot manipulator' design were proposed with that.