This paper proposes an input-constrained reference tracking control of a converter model. To this end, first it is shown that the bilinear converter model can be equivalently represented by a linear uncertain model belonging to a polytopic set. Then, an input-constrained tracking control scheme for the linear uncertain model is designed based on recently proposed tracking control scheme. The control scheme yields not only a stabilizing control gain but also a feasible and invariant set for the converter model. Finally, simulation results show that the state trajectory always stays in the feasible and invariant set and that the output tracks the given reference while satisfying the input constraint.

This paper presents a stabilization method for NCS (Networked Control Systems) with two additive time-varying delays. Each time delay component between the plant and the controller has different characteristics depending on communication network, and has the upper and lower bounds. The time delay occurring from the controller to the plant has an effect on the time delay occurring from the plant to the controller, and the relationship between two delays is taken into account on the stability analysis. Based on the two additive delay components and the bound conditions, the appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and the LMI (Linear Matrix Inequality) method derive the stability condition and the $H_{\infty}$ norm constraint for time-varying delayed NCS. Simulation results are finally given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

This paper presents experimental results of the attitude control for a two-rotor system with 3-DOF(degree-of-freedom). Two DC motors are equipped at the two ends of a rectangular beam to generate lift force and the relation between motor voltage and lift force is found experimentally. And inertial sensors are mounted at the center of the beam to measure the roll angle and a complementary filter is designed to get the angle during DC motors driving. A controller with nonlinear compensation, integrator and state feedback to achieve asymptotic tracking for a step input and reject input disturbance is designed and experimented.

In this paper, we present optimization technique for the response time of DVR (Dynamic Voltage Restorer) and the possible compensation range of voltage dip by the DVR system. To protect 3-phase phase-controlled rectifier from voltage dip, DVR system needs to have optimum response time as an important design factor. Although the fast response time of DVR ensures wider range of voltage dip, DVR controller has so high cost and poor stability. This paper proposes DVR system with optimum response time required for certain intensity of voltage dips and good stability to support possible compensation range of voltage dip. Proposed technique showed optimum response time and good stability for overall system. We believe that proposed technique is reliable and useful in DVR design.

In the image processing for VS (Video Surveillance), the detection of moving entities in a monitored scene is an important step. A background subtraction technique has been widely employed to find the moving entities. However, the extracted foreground regions often include not only real entities but also their cast shadows, and this can cause errors in following image processing steps, such as tracking, recognition, and analysis. In this paper, a novel technique is proposed to determine the shadow pixels of moving objects in the foreground image of a VS camera. Compared to existing techniques where the same decision criteria are applied to all moving pixels, the proposed technique determines shadow pixels using local features based on two facts: First, the amount of pixel intensity drop due to a shadow depends on the intensity level of background. Second, the distribution pattern of pixel intensities remains even if a shadow is cast. The proposed method has been tested at various situations with different backgrounds and moving humans in different colors.

Military surveillance systems with electro-optical sensors can be used to track a number of targets efficiently and reliably. In MTT (Multi-Target Tracking), joint events in which different tracks share the same measurements may occur. Measurement-to-track assignment are computationally challenging because of the number of operations increases exponentially with number of tracks and number of measurements. IHPDA (Integrated Highest Probability Data Association) based on a 2D-Assignment technique can find an optimal solution for measurement to track one-to-one assignments for complex environments. In this paper, LM-IHPDA (Linear Multi-Target IHPDA) which does not need to form all feasible joint events of association and thus the computational load is linear in the number of tracks and the number of measurements. Simulation studies illustrate the effectiveness of this approach in an infrared image environment.

A distortion correction technique is presented to enhance the 3D scanning performance of a micro-size camera-projector system. Recently, several types of micro-size digital projectors and cameras are available. However, there have been few effort to develop a micro-size 3D scanning system. We develop a micro-sized 3D scanning system which is based on the structured light technique. Three images of phase-shifted sinusoidal patterns are projected, captured, and analyzed by the system to reconstruct 3D shapes of very small objects. To overcome inherent optical imperfection of the micro 3D sensor, we correct the vignetting and blooming effects which cause distortions in the phase image. Error analysis and 3D scanning results on small real objects are presented to show the performance of the developed 3D scanning system.

BCI (Brain Computer Interface) is technology to control external devices by measuring the brain activity, such as electroencephalogram (EEG), so that handicapped people communicate with environment physically using the technology. Among them, EEG is widely used in various fields, especially robot agent control by using several signal response characteristics, such as P300, SSVEP (Steady-State Visually Evoked Potential) and motor imagery. However, in order to control the robot agent without any constraint and precisely, it should take advantage of not only a signal response characteristic, but also combination. In this paper, we try to use the fusion of motor imagery and P300 from EEG for practical use of robot control in BCI environment. The results of experiments are confirmed that the recognition rate decreases compared with the case of using one kind of features, whereas it is able to classify each both characteristics and the practical use technology based on mobile robot and wireless BCI measurement system is implemented.

This paper presents the analysis and control of the position of the COG (Center of Gravity) for a two-wheel balancing robot. The two-wheel balancing robot is required to maintain balance by driving two wheels only. Since the robot is not exactly symmetrical and its dynamics is changing with respect to moving parts, robust balancing control is difficult. Balancing performance becomes difficult when two arms hold a heavy object since the center of gravity is shifted out of the wheel axis. Novel design of a sliding waist mechanism allows the robot to react against the shift of the COG by moving the whole upper body to compensate for the imbalance of the mass as a counter balancer. To relocate the COG position accurately, the COG is analyzed by force data measured from two force sensors. Then the sliding COG mechanism is utilized to control the sliding waist position. Experimental studies are conducted to confirm the proposed design and method.

This paper proposes an optimal three-dimensional coordinate implementation of the vision sensor using two CCD cameras. The PBVS (Position based visual servoing) is implemented using the positional information obtained from images. Stereo vision by PBVS method that has enhanced every frame using calibration parameters is effective in the distance calculation. The IBVS (Image based visual servoing) is also implemented using the difference between reference and obtained images. Stereo vision by IBVS method calculates the distance using rotation angle of motors that correspond eyes and neck without enhanced images. The PBVS method is compared with the IBVS method in terms of advantages, disadvantages, computing time, and performances. Finally, the IBVS method is applied for the dual arm manipulator on the mobile inverted pendulum. The autonomous mobile inverted pendulum is successfully demonstrated using the center of the manipulator's mass.

This paper proposes the architecture of the RILS (Robot-in-the-Loop-Simulation) consisting of the robot, the virtual robot, and the avatar robot which is the type of virtual robots operating according to the robot status and behavior. And the synchronization algorithm for mobilization part of the avatar robot is suggested, which reduces the difference between behaviors of the robot and those of the avatar robot. This difference occurs due to the environmental and mechanical mismatches between the robot and avatar robot. In order to reduce this difference in robots behaviors, the synchronization algorithm controls the avatar robot based on the data observed from the robot's behavior. The proposed architecture and the synchronization algorithm are validated from some simulation results.

In the steel manufacturing area, researches for defect inspection receive a big attention for quality control. This paper proposes an algorithm to detect a scratch defect on steel billets. This algorithm takes ROIs (Regions of Interest), and extracts 11 features which represent properties of defect on a ROI. SVM (Support Vector Machine) is used to classify defect and normal ROIs. The algorithm classifies a frame image of a Billet as a defect image if there is one or more defect ROIs. In the experiments, the proposed algorithm had reliable classifying accuracy.

This paper describes a vision based automation case study for the tire tread extruder line. To accurately measure the thread widths, two cameras with laser line illumination have been installed near the takeaway conveyer. The overall tread extruder line is then automated by controlling the speeds of take away conveyor and screw motor such that a difference between measured widths and the targeted data is minimized. By doing this, the conventional tread extruder line has been replaced by the developed automated computer system and with only one operator, increasing the production efficiency and reducing safety accidents.

In this paper, the performance analysis of optics-based sensor node localization using ToF (Time of Flight) scheme is conducted. Generally, the position of the sensor node is calculated on the base station. And the base station scans neighboring sensor nodes with a laser. The laser which is reflected from one sensor node, however, can be reached to the base station at different angles according to the scanning resolution. This means that the error of the reached angle can increase and one node may be recognized as different nodes. Also the power of laser can decrease because the laser signal spread. Thus the sensor node which is located at a long distance from the base station cannot be detected. In order to overcome these problems which can be occurred in localization using ToF, the beam spot, the scanning resolution, the size of reflector and the power of laser at the sensor node were analyzed. It can be expected that the consequence of analysis can be provided in acquisition of accurate position of sensor node and construction of optics-based sensor node localization system.

Conventional proportional navigation guidance law is not adequate for missiles with a strapdown seeker, because the strapdown seeker cannot measure line-of-sight rate directly. This paper suggests a guidance loop design method, in which the look angle, measured by the strapdown seeker directly, is controlled to deliver a missile to a target. Basically, the look angle control loop is regarded as an attitude control loop. By using the proposed method, it is possible to shape the midcourse trajectory by choosing the reference look angle properly. The look angle control loop can robustly maintain target lock-on against disturbances because the target is always captured in the field of view of the seeker. The performance of the proposed method is verified via 6-DOF simulations of a true short range tactical missile model.