The stability robustness problem of linear discrete systems with time-varying unstructured uncertainty of delayed states with time-varying delay time is considered. The proposed conditions for stability can be used for finding allowable bounds of timevarying uncertainty and delay time, which are solved by using LMI (Linear Matrix Inequality) and GEVP (Generalized Eigenvalue Problem) known as powerful computational methods. Furthermore, the conditions can imply the several previous results on the uncertainty bounds of time-invariant delayed states. Numerical examples are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.

This paper proposes a robust adaptive fuzzy backstepping control scheme for trajectory tracking of an electrically driven nonholonomic mobile robot with uncertainties and actuator dynamics. A complete model of an electrically driven nonholonomic mobile robot described in this work includes all models of the uncertain robot kinematics with a nonholonomic constraint, the uncertain robot body dynamics with uncertain frictions and unmodeled disturbances, and the uncertain actuator dynamics with disturbances. The proposed control scheme uses the backstepping control approach through a kinematic controller and a robust adaptive fuzzy velocity tracking controller. The presented control scheme has a voltage control input with an auxiliary current control input rather than a torque control input. It has two FBFNs(Fuzzy Basis Function Networks) to approximate two unknown nonlinear robot dynamic functions and a robust adaptive control input with the proposed adaptive laws to overcome the uncertainties such as parameter uncertainties and external disturbances. The proposed control scheme does not a priori require the accurate knowledge of all parameters in the robot kinematics, robot dynamics and actuator dynamics. It can also alleviate the chattering of the control input. Using the Lyapunov stability theory, the stability of the closed-loop robot control system is guaranteed. Simulation results show the validity and robustness of the proposed control scheme.

In this paper, we propose a new and cost-effective RCP (Rapid Control Prototyping) system based on Matlab/Simulink and a DAQ (Data Acquisition) unit with the high speed USB communication interface. The proposed RCP system has a feature that a computer on which Simulink is running acts as a realtime controller and a DAQ unit performs data acquisition, transmission of the data to and from a computer, and the application of control data received from the computer. For its implementation, we develop 10 communication blocks each of which is constructed by using S-function. In order to increase the data communication speed and thus to reduce the sampling period of the overall control system, we propose to use a batch transfer strategy through the USB interface. The proposed RCP system has several advantages over existing methods such as good maintainability, portability due to the USB interface, low cost, and no necessity for C-code generation even though it can only be applied to control systems with moderate sampling rates. It is expected that the proposed RCP system can be useful in teaching control-related topics to undergraduate and graduate students.

In this paper we deal with a hydraulic tilting actuator to make a diagnosis of load characteristic acting on the tilting actuator of the tilting train. Tilting actuator in the tilting train plays a role of making tilt of the train when the train runs a curve section to make the train run without deceleration. However in the process of tilt the tilting actuator is affected by the load acting on the actuator, which has a possibility to make bogie vibration. In order to figure out the effect of the load on the tilting actuator a hydraulic tilting devices that are capable of tilting the train is proposed. The proposed devices are installed in the front bogie and in the rear bogie to make tilting of the train. The devices are consist of sensors that measure the load capacity of the actuator and displacement of the hydraulic cylinder stroke, control blocks to make synchronization of the two actuators, user interface block to monitor the status of the actuators. The effectiveness of the proposed hydraulic tilting actuators is presented by the experimental evaluation using actual tilting train.

In this paper, the IR and compass sensors for the underwater system were used. The walls of the water tank have been recognized and avoided treating the walls as obstacles by the bio-mimetic underwater robot. This paper is consists of two parts: 1.The hardware part for the IR and compass sensors and 2.The software part for obstacle avoidance algorithm while the bio-mimetic robot is swimming with the obstacle recognition. Firstly, the hardware part controls through the RS-485 communications between a microcontroller and the bio-mimetic underwater robot. The software part is simulated for obstacle recognition and collision avoidance based upon the data from IR and compass sensors. Actually, the bio-mimetic underwater robot recognizes where is the obstacle as well as where is the bio-mimetic robot itself while it is moving in the water. While the underwater robot is moving at a constant speed recognizing the wall of water tank as an obstacle, an obstacle avoidance algorithm is applied for the wall following swimming based upon the IR and compass sensor data. As the results of this research, it is concluded that the bio-mimetic underwater robot can follow the wall of the water tank efficiently, while it is avoiding collision to the wall.

This paper proposes a new algorithm for ultrasonic sensors arranged on ring frame to identify obstacles surrounding itself by TOFs (time of flight). The ring frame has multiple channels consisting of a transmitter and a receiver. When the transmitter of a selected channel transmits ultrasonic signal, the TOFs of reflected signals from obstacles are acquired by the receiver of the channel. The process continues for all channels consecutively. Then, by using parabolic curve fitting of TOFs of all channel, the proposed algorithm not only calculates distances from multiple obstacles, but also identifies if the shape of obstacles are point or plane by the coefficients of the curve. By the experiment using 16 ultrasonic transceivers on the ring frame in the environment of two poles and two planes, we show the feasibility of the proposed scheme.

This paper proposes a method to predict maximum traction for unmanned robots on rough terrain in order to improve traversability. For a traction prediction, we use a friction-slip model based on modified Brixius model derived empirically in terramechanics which is a function of mobility number $B_n$ and slip ratio S. A friction-slip model includes characteristics of various rough terrains where robots are operated such as soil, sandy soil and grass-covered soil. Using a friction-slip model, we build a prediction model for terrain parameters on which we can know maximum static friction and optimal slip with respect to mobility number $B_n$. In this paper, Mobility number $B_n$ is estimated by modified Willoughby Sinkage model which is a function of sinkage z and slip ratio S. Therefore, if sinkage z and slip ratio are measured once by sensors such as a laser sensor and a velocity sensor, then mobility number $B_n$ is estimated and maximum traction is predicted through a prediction model for terrain parameters. Estimation results for maximum traction are shown on simulation using MATLAB. Prediction Performance for maximum traction of various terrains is evaluated as high accuracy by analyzing estimation errors.

Sand scorpions are nocturnal animals to mostly use tactile senses to detect their prey. It has been reported that sand scorpions have high vibration sensitivity for their prey-localizing behavior. We tested vibration experiments in the sand with microphone sensors to model the sand scorpion's behavior and a time-difference model was applied to find the direction of a vibration source. Using the information of the arrival time of the vibration signal to reach each leg position, we can find the location of the vibration source.

A mobile tour-guide robot is a very attractive tour-guide in the exhibition hall of science museums and the necessity of tour-guide robots for museums is gradually increasing. Two kinds of robots have served as tour-guide robots in an exhibition hall of the Korea National Science Museum which is a very densely populated museum of many people and exhibits. The robots move around the large exhibition area and provide guide services to lots of visitors. A robot leads the way to the exhibit that a visitor wants to find and it takes the shortest route. Robots were operated for four months from January to April 2011, and we observed behavior of visitors and collected subjective evaluation of users. The result shows that there are four stages of using a mobile tour-guide robot and some differences of subjective evaluations depending on the gender and the age of the user and we suggest several improvements on the mobile tour-guide robot.

Robot hands capable of grasping or handling various objects are important for service robots to effectively aid humans. In particular, controlling a contact force and providing a compliant motion are essential when the hand is in contact with objects. Many dexterous robot hands equipped with force/torque sensors have been developed to perform force control, but they suffer from the complexity of control and high cost. In this paper, a low-cost robot hand based on SEA (Series Elastic Actuator), which is composed of compression spring, stretch sensor, and wire, is proposed. The grasping force can be estimated by measuring the compression length of spring, which would allow the hand to perform force control. A series of experimentations are carried out to verify the performance of force control of the proposed robot hand, and it is shown that it can successfully control the contact force without any additional force/torque sensors.

In this paper, a single LRF has been used to produce a 3D map for the mobile robot navigation. The 2D laser scanners are used for mobile robots navigation, where the laser scanner is applied to detect a certain level of area by the straight beam. Therefore it is limited to the usages of 2D obstacle detection and avoidance. In this research, it is designed to complement a mobile robot system to move up and down a single LRF along the yaw axis. During the up and down motion, the 2D data are stacked and manipulated to build a 3D map. Often a single LRF data are mixed with Gaussian and impulse noises. The impulse noises are removed out by the hybrid median filter designed in this research. The 2D data which are improved by deleting the impulse noises are layered to build the 3D map. Removing impulse noises while preserving the boundary is a main advantages of the hybrid median filter which has been used widely to improve the quality of images. The effectiveness of this hybrid median filter for rejecting the impulse noises has been verified through the real experiments. The performance of the hybrid median filter is evaluated in terms of PSNR (Peak Signal to Noise Ratio) and the processing time.

One of the most significant errors in the pseudo-range measurement performance of GNSSes (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) is their multipath error for high-precision applications. Several schemes to mitigate this error have been studied. Most of them, however, have been focused on the GPS (Global Positioning System) L1 C/A (Coarse/Acquisition) signal that was designed in the 1970s and is still being used for civil navigation. Recently, several modernized signals that were especially conceived to more significantly mitigate multipath errors have been introduced, such as Time Multiplexed and Composite Binary Offset Carrier (TMBOC and CBOC, respectively) signals. Despite this advantage, however, a problem remains with the use of TMBOC and CBOC modulations: the ambiguity of BOC (Binary Offset Carrier)-modulated signal tracking. In this paper, a novel unambiguous multipath error mitigation scheme for these modernized signals is proposed. The proposed scheme has the same complexity as HRCs (High Resolution Correlators) but with low ambiguity. The simulation results showed that the proposed scheme outperformed or performed at par with the HRC in terms of their multipath error envelopes and running averages in the static and statistical channel models. The ranging error derived by the mean multipath error of the proposed scheme was below 1.8 meters in an urban area in the statistical channel model.