Sharif Digital Repository

One of the most critical issues in manufacturing systems is the operator management. In this paper, the operator assignment problem is studied within a cellular manufacturing system. The most important novelty of this research is the consideration of operator learning and forgetting effects simultaneously. The skill level of an operator can be increased/decreased based on the time spent on a machine. Moreover, the issues related to operators like hiring, firing, and salaries are considered in the proposed model. The parameters are considered to be uncertain in this model, and a robust optimization approach is developed to handle it. Using this approach, the model solution remains feasible... 

A Bandgap circuit capable of generating a reference voltage of less than 1 V with high PSRR and low temperature sensitivity is proposed. High PSRR achieved by means of an improved current mode regulator which isolates the bandgap voltage from the variations and the noise of the power supply. A vigorous analytical approach is presented to provide a universal design guideline. The analysis unveils the sensitivity of the circuit characteristic to device parameters. The proposed circuit is fabricated in a 0.18μm CMOS technology and operates down to a supply voltage of 1.2 V. The circuit yields 20 ppm/°C of temperature coefficient in typical case and 50 ppm/°C of temperature coefficient in worst... 

This paper proposes a fuzzy-based speed controller for the doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind turbines with the rotor speed and wind speed inputs. The controller parameters are optimized using the particle swarm optimization algorithm. To accelerate tracking the maximum power point trajectory, the conventional controller is augmented with a feed-forward compensator, which uses the wind speed input and includes a high-pass filter. The proposed combined speed controller is robust against wind measurement errors and as the accuracy of anemometers increases the speed regulation tends toward the ideal controller. The cutoff frequency of the applied filter is determined considering a... 

Nonlinearity characteristics, such as backlash, in various mechanisms, limit the performance of feedback systems by causing delays, undesired oscillations and inaccuracy. Backlash influence analysis and modeling is necessary to design a precision controller for this nonlinearity. Backlash between meshing gears in an electromechanical system is modeled by the use of differential equations and a nonlinear spring-damper. According to this model, the paper shows that oscillations and delays cannot be compensated by a state feedback controller. Therefore, an adaptive algorithm is designed, based on different regions of the system angular position error. Since this controller needs an estimation... 

The IEEE 802.11 contention-based distributed coordination function has been used in ad hoc networks, and so far, a comprehensive mathematical analysis of such multihop systems has not been reported in the literature due to complicating factors such as hidden terminals and the unreachability problem. In this paper, we propose a new analytical model based on the parallel space-time Markov chain for IEEE 802.11 medium access control (MAC) in multihop ad hoc networks. The proposed scheme is able to model the hidden-terminal and unreachability phenomena. Extensive evaluation is conducted to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed framework. © 2009 IEEE  

The stability issue of mobile manipulators, particularly when the end-effector and the vehicle have to follow a predefined trajectory (for some special duties like painting a plane or carrying a light load), is a crucial subject and needs special attention. In this paper, by utilizing the manipulator compensation motions, the instantaneous proper configuration for a redundant mobile robot is determined. A fast methodology taking into account the dynamic interaction between the manipulator and the vehicle is proposed for enhancing the tipover stability (i.e. stability against overturning) of the mobile manipulator by employing the soft computing approach including a genetic algorithm, neural... 

In this paper, a modified frequency control model is proposed, where the demand response (DR) control loop is added to the traditional load frequency control (LFC) model to improve the frequency regulation of the power system. One of the main obstacles for using DR in the frequency regulation is communication delay which exists in transferring data from control center to appliances. To overcome this issue, an adaptive delay compensator (ADC) is used in order to compensate the communication delay in the control loop. In this regard, a weighted combination of several vertex compensators, whose weights are updated according to the measured delay, is employed. Generating the phase lead is the... 

This paper discusses the application of unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) for improving power quality of a system supplying an electric arc furnace (EAF). The UPQC includes combined series and shunt active filters sharing a common DC link. It is used to mitigate voltage disturbances and compensate for reactive power, harmonics and interharmonics. A novel control strategy for the UPQC is presented. As voltages at the point of common coupling contain low-frequency interharmonics, conventional methods cannot be used for extracting voltage reference signals. In the proposed method, voltage references are extracted using a phase-locked loop to generate sinusoidal waveforms. Current... 

In many medical applications, it is necessary to precisely control a robot to achieve exact positioning. In such cases, some components of robot which had been considered rigid should be modeled with visco-elastic elements to present more exact model of robot, and hence controllers designed under the assumption of rigidity may not accurately control them, especially when time-delay and disturbances have been appeared in the closed-loop system. In this study, we present a new control approach to force such robots to have rigid and exact motions, while they have visco-elastic components. Time-delay in the feedback path defects transient state response, while disturbances change the steady... 

A detection technique for extraction of total harmonics, individual harmonics, and reactive current components is introduced and its performance is evaluated. The detection algorithm is then adopted as part of the control system of a single-phase active power filter (APF) to provide the required signals for harmonic filtering and reactive power compensation. Performance of the overall system is evaluated based on digital time-domain simulation studies. The APF control system including the signal processing algorithms are implemented in Matlab/Simulink Fixed-Point Blockset to accommodate bit-length limitation which is a crucial factor in digital implementation. The power system including the... 

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the biomechanical impact of laminectomy on cervical intersegmental motion and load sharing using a parametric patient-specific finite element (FE) model towards providing clinicians with a viable quantitative tool for informed decision-making and improved surgical planning. Methods: Ten subject-specific nonlinear osteo-ligamentous cervical spine (C3–C7) FE models were developed using X-ray image-based algorithms. The models were used to evaluate the effect of laminectomy on lower cervical spine biomechanics for two-level (C3–C4) and three-level (C3–C5) laminectomy procedures. Results: The average cervical spine ranges of motion (ROM) for the pre-op... 

Introduction: Some tinnitus subjects habituate to their tinnitus but some others do not and complain of its annoyance tremendously. Normal sensory memory and change detection processes are needed for detecting the tinnitus signal as a prediction error and habituation to tinnitus. The purpose of this study was to compare auditory mismatch negativity as the index of sensory memory and change detection among the studied groups to search for the factors involving in the perception of tinnitus and preventing habituation in decompensated tinnitus subjects. Methods: Electroencephalography was recorded from scalp electrodes in compensated tinnitus, decompensated tinnitus, and no tinnitus control... 

Background: Autonomous grasping of soft tissues can facilitate the robotic surgery procedures. The previous attempts for implementing auto-grasping have been based on a simplistic representation of the actual surgery maneuvers. Method: A generalized three-zone grasp model was introduced to consider the effect of the pull force angulation on the grasp mode, that is, damage, slip, or safe grasp. Also, an extended auto-grasping algorithm was proposed in which the trigger force is automatically controlled against the pull force magnitude and direction, to achieve a safe and secure grasp. Results: The autonomous grasping experiments against a varying pull force in a phantom study indicated a good...