This paper proposes the generalized structure of a model-based disturbance rejection controller called a Robust Internal-loop Compensator (RIC). The framework consists of the RIC in the internal-loop to eliminate disturbances and a feedback controller in the external-loop to achieve nominal control performance. As the main contribution of this paper, we redefine the design problem of the RIC as a regulation control problem, then show that this new definition with the RIC structure provides more design flexibility and less implementation constraints. This is verified through a comparative structural analysis with Disturbance Observer (DOB) and Adaptive Robust Control (ARC). Two design examples of the RIC are given, along with practical issues that should be considered in the design procedure. The proposed framework is demonstrated by simulations of a rotary-type motor and experiments with a linear-type motor system.

We present an AILC(Adaptive Iterative Learning Control) scheme and a sufficient condition for system parameter identification for uncertain robotic systems that perform the same tasks repetitively. It is guaranteed that the joint velocity and position asymptotically converge to the reference joint velocity and position, respectively. In addition, it is proved that a sufficient condition for parameter identification is the PE(Persistent Excitation) condition on the regressor matrix evaluated at the reference trajectory during the operation period. Since the regressor matrix on the reference trajectory can be easily computed prior to the real robot operation, the proposed algorithm provides a useful method to verify whether the parameter error converges to zero or not.

To obtain a good tracking performance in an optical disk drive servo system, it is essential to attenuate periodic disturbances caused by eccentric rotation of the disk. As an effective control scheme for enhancing disturbance attenuation performance, disturbance observers (DOBs) have been successfully applied to the track-following servo system of optical disk drives. In disk drive systems, the improvement of data transfer rate has been achieved mainly by the increase of disk rotational speed, which leads to the increase of the disturbance frequency. Conventional DOBs are no longer effective in disk drive systems with a high-speed rotation mechanism because the performance of conventional DOBs is severely degraded as the disk rotational frequency increases. This paper proposes a new DOB structure for effective rejection of the disturbance in optical disk drives with a very high rotation speed. Asymptotic disturbance rejection is achieved by adopting a band-pass filter in the DOB structure, which is tuned based on the information on the disturbance frequency. In addition, performance sensitivity of the proposed DOB to changes in disk rotational frequency is analyzed. The effectiveness of the proposed DOB is verified through simulations and experiments using a DVD-ROM drive.

In this paper, a power controller and 3 phase voltage source inverter are proposed for the improvement of weldability of large scaler Mash seam welder. The welder system is designed for the low cost and the improvement of weldability. For this system, the thyristor convertor has performed constant current controlling in the output terminal by using PAM type inverter. We have simulated our algorithm and made a prototype welder for experiment. Through the experiment, we have confirmed the improvement of weldability of our system.

We present a new algorithm for the calibration of a camera and the recovery of 3D scene structure up to a scale from image sequences using known angles between lines in the scene. Traditional method for calibration using scene constraints requires various scene constraints due to the stratified approach. Proposed method requires only one type of scene constraint of known angle and also it directly recovers metric structure up to an unknown scale from projective structure. Specifically, we recover the matrix that is the homography between the projective structure and the Euclidean structure using angles. Since this matrix is a unique one in the given set of image sequences, we can easily deal with the problem of varying intrinsic parameters of the camera. Experimental results on the synthetic and real images demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed algorithm.

In order to exploit underwater resources successfully, the first step would be a marine environmental research and exploration in the seafloor. Generally one sets up a long-term underwater experimental unit in the seafloor and retrieves the unit later after a certain period time. Essential to these applications is the reliable teleoperation and telemetering of the unit. In this paper we presents a robust underwater sound recognition algorithm by which we can identify the sound signal without the influence of disturbances due to underwater environmental changes. The proposed method provides a means suitable for the acoustic releaser which requires low power dissipation and long-time underwater operation. We demonstrate its ability of securing stability and fast sound recognition through simulation methods.

In this paper, we developed a multi-protocol controller based on SoC and embedded Linux and applied it to integrate with BAS in a unified TCP/IP socket communication. The multi-protocol controller integrates control networks of RS-485 and LonWorks devices to BAS. The system consists of three-tier architecture, such as a BAS, a multi-protocol converter, and control devices. By using UML, we modeled the system architecture. In order to show the feasibility of system architecture, it was applied to a small BAS system. The experimental results show that the multi-protocol controller using embedded Linux is flexible and effective way to develop a building control system.

In this paper, an exoskeleton-type motion capturing system is designed and implemented. The device is designed to have 12 degree-of-freedom entirely to represent human arm motions. Forward and inverse kinematics of the device are analyzed to make sure of its singular positions. With the designed model parameters, simulation studies are conducted to verify that the designed motion capturing system is effective to represent human motions within the workspace. As a counterpart of the exoskeleton system, a mobile robot is built to follow human motion restrictively. Experimental studies of teleoperation from the exoskeleton device to control the mobile robot are carried out to show feasible application of wireless man-machine interface.

As underwater robotic vehicles (URVs) become attractive for more sophisticated underwater tasks, the demand of high performance in terms of accuracy and dexterity has been increased. An autonomous underwater robotic vehicle, ODIN (Omni-Directional Intelligent Navigator) was designed and built at the Autonomous Systems Laboratory of the University of Hawaii in 1991. Since 1991, various studies were conducted on ODIN and have contributed to the advancement in underwater robotics. Its refurbished model ODIN II was based on VxWorks in VMEbus. Recently, ODIN was born again as a PC based system, ODIN III with unique features such as new vehicle system software architecture with an objective-oriented concept, a graphical user interface, and an independent and modular structure using a Dynamic Linking Library (DLL) based on the Windows operating system. ODIN III software architecture offers an ideal environment where various studies for advanced URV technology can be conducted. This paper describes software architecture of ODIN III and presents initial experimental results of fine motion control on ODIN III.

In this research, the automatic synthesis of knowledge models is proposed. which are the basis of the methods using qualitative models adapted widely in fault diagnosis and hazard evaluation of chemical processes. To provide an easy and fast way to construct accurate causal model of the target process, the Role-Behavior modeling method is developed to represent the knowledge of modularized process units. In this modeling method, Fault-Behavior model and Structure-Role model present the relationship of the internal behaviors and faults in the process units and the relationship between process units respectively. Through the multiple modeling techniques, the knowledge is separated into what is independent of process and dependent on process to provide the extensibility and portability in model building, and possibility in the automatic synthesis. By taking advantage of the Role-Behavior Model, an algorithm is proposed to synthesize the plant-wide causal model, Fault-Causality Graph (FCG) from specific Fault-Behavior models of the each unit process, which are derived from generic Fault-Behavior models and Structure-Role model. To validate the proposed modeling method and algorithm, a system for building FCG model is developed on G2, an expert system development tool. Case study such as CSTR with recycle using the developed system showed that the proposed method and algorithm were remarkably effective in synthesizing the causal knowledge models for diagnosis of chemical processes.

This paper presents a fast IA(integer ambiguity) resolution method that determines the IA within short epochs with guaranteed reliability. Based on the fact that the search volume and the cost function are influenced by the selection of primary IAs in the plane intersection method, an IA resolution method is proposed that evaluates IA candidates repeatedly in an epoch with different combinations of primary IAs. In order to guarantee the reliability of the resolved IA with a certain probability, an inequality condition for selecting differencing operator is derived. Experiment results show that the proposed method consistently provides the true IA estimates within short time.

This paper proposes a middleware structure for the module-based personal robot, which can run on heterogeneous network interfaces and provides users easy interface-method regardless of underlying heterogeneous interfaces and convenient exchange of modules. The proposed middleware is divided into three layers of a streaming layer (SL), a network adaptation layer (NAL) and a network interface layer (NIL). The streaming layer manages application transactions using middleware services and provides user a uniform interfaces to the proposed middleware. The network adaptation layer manages a message-routing and provides naming service and it is a core of the proposed middleware. And the network interfaces layer manages dependent parts of heterogeneous network interfaces such as IEEE1394, USB, Ethernet, and CAN (Control Area Network). This paper implements the proposed middleware structure, where 3 types of interfaces of IEEE 1394, USB and Ethernet are used, and measures response times among those interfaces.