Energy consumption of conventional hydraulic excavators controlled by MCV is considerable when negative load is applied because the meter orifice and meter-out orifice are machined in one spool. Therefore, IMV is introduced to save energy use of hydraulic excavators, but existing hydraulic excavators have various advantages so it is difficult to make a clear comparison. In this study, we compare the use of an existing MCV excavator that has many advantages such as negative control, and IMV for boom up and down operation, and if IMV is used to save energy, we will examine the cause. If possible, for comparability under the same conditions, both systems use pressure balance valves to minimize power consumption when not using power in the actuator. The orifice area at each notch of each valve is calculated, and energy saving is verified by comparing the two systems through simulation.

With automobiles sharply increasing in numbers worldwide, we are faced with critical social issues such as traffic accidents, traffic jams, environmental pollution, and economic inefficiency. In response, research on ITS is promoted mainly by regions with advanced automotive industry such as the U.S., Europe, and Japan. While Korea is working on moving forward in the global market through developing and turning to global standards systems related to ASV (Advanced Safety Vehicle), the country is not fully prepared for such projects. The purpose of ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) is to control a vehicle's longitudinal speed and distance and minimize driver workload. Such a system should be valuable in preventing accidents, as it reduces driver workload in the 21st-century world of telematics created by development of the automobile culture industry. In this light, the thesis presents a method to test and evaluate ACC system and a mathematical method to assess distance. For the proposed test and evaluation, theoretical values are tested with vehicle test and a database is acquired, by using vehicles equipped with an ACC system. Theoretical evaluation criteria for developing ACC system may be used and scenario-specific evaluation methods may find useful application through testing the formula proposed by comparing the database and mathematical method.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a new submersible fish cage operated by a pneumatic system for offshore aquaculture. Although some researchers have investigated modeling and control of fish cages, such cages consist of variable ballast tanks that with closed cylinders and thus present a maintenance issue. In solving the issue the new submersible fish cage investigated consists of bottom-opening cylinders. Accordingly, we designed a mathematical model of the concept and applied Sliding Mode Control for nonlinear angle control. Some experiments conducted under assumed conditions indicate that the angle of the system converges to zero under all conditions and the control has the stability to balance the fish cage.

This study presents a methodology for simulating a unified approach that controls interaction force between tool and objective by using a synthesis method of robot interacting control law for stabilizing the transient process of motion. Root locus is used to analyze stabilization of motion deviation characteristics. Based on responses of motion deviation, contact force is derived to satisfy exponential stability and we generate control input with respect to motion trajectories and interaction force. Moreover, simulation is applied to experimental application of a Cartesian robot driven by two stepper motors, and the noise of feedback signals is considered as presence of system inaccuracies, and the unified approach of interaction force control is examined precisely.

In this study, a mathematical model of the pneumatic part in a gas blow-down system is proposed. The mathematical model consists of four major parts: pressure vessel, reservoir, pressure regulator and pipe-line. To ensure accuracy in long-time simulations, heat transfer between gas and pressure vessel is considered. The model is validated by comparing simulation results with experimental data. Experiments are conducted on the ground, where free convection can be assumed. Simulation results indicate the proposed model can accurately describe behavior of a gas blow-down system. Therefore, it may be used for design and analysis of similar systems with a slight modification.

This study presents an online estimation of an excavator's rotational inertia by using recursive least square with forgetting. It is difficult to measure rotational inertia in real systems. Against this background, online estimation of rotational inertia is essential for improving safety and automation of construction equipment such as excavators because changes in inertial parameter impact dynamic characteristics. Regarding an excavator, rotational inertia for swing motion may change significantly according to working posture and digging conditions. Hence, rotational inertia estimation by predicting swing motion is critical for enhancing working safety and automation. Swing velocity and damping coefficient were used for rotational inertia estimation in this study. Updating rules are proposed for enhancing convergence performance by using the damping coefficient and forgetting factors. The proposed estimation algorithm uses three forgetting factors to estimate time-varying rotational inertia, damping coefficient, and torque with different variation rates. Rotational inertia in a typical working scenario was considered for reasonable performance evaluation. Three simulations were conducted by considering several digging conditions. Presented estimation results reveal the proposed estimation scheme is effective for estimating varying rotational inertia of the excavator.

Recently, methods of verification for electro-hydraulic servo controllers are various and the required number of testing controllers is continuously increasing in some specific systems. In this study, a PCB-based electronic simulator of hydraulic actuators is designed and developed to simplify test set-up for controllers and to facilitate alteration for characteristics of the simulator. Several features to reduce required time and manpower for verifying controllers are described. Especially, the simulator is considerably efficient to examine some controllers for different hydraulic actuators in a test. Response characteristics of the simulator are compared with those of real actuators to demonstrate validity of this method. Results reveal utilizing the designed simulator for inspecting controllers is equally effective as using hydraulic actuators.