Automated Guided Vehicles

The virtual testing and validation of advanced driver assistance system and automated driving (ADAS/AD) functions require efficient and realistic perception sensor models. In particular, the limitations and measurement errors of real perception sensors need to be simulated realistically in order to generate useful sensor data for the ADAS/AD function under test. In this paper, a novel sensor modeling approach for automotive perception sensors is introduced. The novel approach combines kernel density estimation with regression modeling and puts the main focus on the position measurement errors. The modeling approach is designed for any automotive perception sensor that provides position estimations at the object level. To demonstrate and evaluate the new approach, a common state-of-the-art automotive camera (Mobileye 630) was considered. Both sensor measurements (Mobileye position estimations) and ground-truth data (DGPS positions of all attending vehicles) were collected during a la...

The autonomous vehicle (AV) appears to be very much on the minds and screens of the motoring public, if not yet in automobile dealership showrooms or on the roadways in large numbers. A great deal of funding is being made available to develop AV technologies by government and within industries associated with such technologies. The AV is also receiving unprecedented, often uncritical--if not confused, attention in the mass media around the globe. The latest technological advance--or setback, is becoming front page material in print media and receiving prominent coverage in the broadcast media. This article will explore the history, various types and promotion of this curious invention’s trajectory as well as evaluating the claims made on its behalf and possible limitations for its adoption on a grand scale. The goal of this article is not a technological or technical evaluation of automated vehicles but rather a review of some of the claims made on its behalf by its promoters in ord...

This research paper focuses on the development of a robust and versatile industrial guidance system used to guide Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) for industrial purpose. Generally, most of wireless guidance systems follows path tracking and other navigation methods to follow a certain route. This paper focuses on how robustness is achieved and implemented in Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) so that they can perform with high accuracy, repeatability and reliability. Moreover not only high accuracy is required but proper navigation system should be implemented so that more accurate position estimates can be taken. Robustness of absolute positioning is also crucial in industrial applications. Two experiments are presented to verify the effectiveness of the developed industrial guidance system and better optimization of robust design in AGVs. Numerous complications in the movement and guidance of AGVs were encountered which will be discussed further therefore to overcome these obstacles one of the most successful methods had to be chosen. Various methods of functioning of AGV are considered and further one of the method is considered which is the laser navigation system was selected, the flaws in this system affecting the robustness were identified and above mentioned experiments were performed. Conclusions were derived and further solutions were provided to overcome the flaws detected in the AGV system for achieving maximum optimisation.

The word hydroponics has its derivation from the combination of two Greek words, hydro meaning water and ponos meaning labour, i.e., working water. Hydroponics used to be considered a system where there was no growing media at all, such as the nutrient film technique in vegetables. But today it's accepted that a soil-less growing medium is often used to support the plant root system physically and provide for a favourable buffer of solution around the root system. The system that is used will be automated to prevent many disadvantages that we have in a manual system.

In this chapter, a survey of the current state of research on autonomous driving is given and is set in the context of the requirements of an autonomous vehicle following the vision of an automated taxi. The overview is based on (scientific) publications and self-reports of the developing teams. Aspects of interest for this summary are approaches on environmental perception, self-perception, mission accomplishment, localization, cooperation, map usage, and functional safety. Typically, emphasis is given to reliance on global satellite systems (e.g., GPS) and map data. Only a few approaches focus on environmental perception and scene understanding. Even though impressive demonstrations of autonomous driving have been presented in recent decades, this overview concludes that many aspects still remain only partially solved or even unsolved, especially when driving autonomously in public road traffic.

Till today chilli seeds are separated manually and there is no specific machine designed to separate seed from its pulp. The manual process is carried out by hammering chilli fruits with wooden stick, separating the husk using hand separator. This manual method is quite tiresome mainly due to the inhalation of fine particles of chilli fruits by labours. Its pungency results in continuous sneezing and irritation for labours. Hence, it is necessary to eliminate laborious work and time consumption. The automated process of chilli seed extraction will be the better solution for this problem, which helps farmers. This automated method can also be adopted by food industries for large scale extraction of chilli seed, as well.

In this paper, we analyse the structure of evolving moral dilemmas with an eye of regard for the increasing importance of the role of artificial intelligence in such context. Starting with the analysis of the famous trolley problem experiment as formulated by Philippa Foot, we consider subsequent variants of this moral dilemma conceived throughout the years, culminating with formulations of the trolley problem concerning artificial intelligence, in which self-driving vehicles will have to make life or death decisions autonomously. In doing so, we investigate the basis for the construction of dilemmatic questions both for humans and machines by considering the problem from a philosophical, social and neuroscientific perspective. After considering and analysing the trolley problem in utilitarian and deontological terms, we follow Rittel and Webber’s footsteps, by highlighting the fallacies of the deontological and utilitarian traditional ‘one-right-answer’ approach, where a solution i...

The paper presents an advanced control strategy that uses the neural network predictive controller and the fuzzy controller in the complex control structure with an auxiliary manipulated variable. The controlled tubular heat exchanger is used for pre-heating of petroleum by hot water. The heat exchanger is modelled as a nonlinear system with the interval parametric uncertainty. The set point tracking and the disturbance rejection using intelligent control strategies are investigated. The control objective is to keep the outlet temperature of the pre-heated petroleum at a reference value. Simulations of control of the tubular heat exchanger are done in the Matlab/Stimulant environment. The complex control structure with two controllers is compared with the conventional PID control, fuzzy control and NNPC. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness and superiority of the complex control structure combining the NNPC with the auxiliary fuzzy controller.

Automated guided vehicle (AGV) is widely used in industries as parts / material handling at warehouse, or from warehouse to production assembly line. In this project, the AGV is designed to potentially replace traditional factory's conveyor, whether floor or overhead conveyor. The main advantages of AGV as conveyor are path flexibility - easy to program if the path is required to change (only minor cost incurred), and the path can be shared with others (forklift, operators..etc).

Vehicle automation has been one of the fundamental applications within the field of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) since the start of ITS research in the mid-1980s. For most of this time, it has been generally viewed as a futuristic concept that is not close to being ready for deployment. However, recent development of “self-driving” cars and the announcement by car manufacturers of their deployment by 2020 show that this is becoming a reality. The ITS industry has already been focusing much of its attention on the concepts of “connected vehicles” (United States) or “cooperative ITS” (Europe). These concepts are based on communication of data among vehicles (V2V) and/or between vehicles and the infrastructure (V2I/I2V) to provide the information needed to implement ITS applications. The separate threads of automated vehicles and cooperative ITS have not yet been thoroughly woven together, but this will be a necessary step in the near future because the cooperative exchange of data will provide vital inputs to improve the performance and safety of the automation systems. Thus, it is important to start thinking about the cybersecurity implications of cooperative automated vehicle systems. In this paper, we investigate the potential cyberattacks specific to automated vehicles, with their special needs and vulnerabilities. We analyze the threats on autonomous automated vehicles and cooperative automated vehicles. This analysis shows the need for considerably more redundancy than many have been expecting. We also raise awareness to generate discussion about these threats at this early stage in the development of vehicle automation systems.

UAV testbeds are of immense importance when it comes to flight and performance testing. Stanford University was one of the initial schools to have developed a testbed on their own known as the Stanford Dragonfly testbed [4]. Over the years of engineering many concepts have been brought in to action and improvements are been added overtime to make these simulation testbeds accurate as possible to field testing.
“Developing an advanced UAV flight simulation test rig using hardware in the loop interfacing with X-Plane” – as the title suggests this report focuses on the feasibility study of carrying out the development of a UAV testbed within a proposed time frame. The report gives insight onto the literature review carried out as well as the various work stages including proposed project time plans and resource analysis along with an estimated cost projection.

In the recent years there has been a tremendous advancement in the automobile sector resulting in electric vehicles, hybrid energy source management, storage of kinetic energy for electric vehicle, development of autonomous car or driverless cars and so on. The present paper is aimed to focus on such advancement in automobile engineering sector.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) offer the possibility of helping drivers to fulfill their driving tasks. Automated vehicles are capable of communicating with surrounding vehicles (V2V) and infrastructure (V2I) in order to collect and provide essential information about driving environment.
Studies have proved that automated vehicles have a potential to decrease traffic congestion on road networks by reducing the time headway, enhancing the traffic capacity and improving the safety margins in car following. Furthermore, vehicle movement and driver’s behavior of conventional vehicles will be affected by the presence of automated vehicles in traffic networks. Despite different encouraging factors, automated driving raises some concerns such as possible loss of situation awareness, overreliance on automation and degrading driving skills in absence of practice. Moreover, coping with complex scenarios, such as merging at ramps and overtaking, in terms of interaction between automated vehicles and conventional vehicles need more research.
This thesis work aims to investigate the effects of automated vehicles on driver’s behavior and traffic performance. A broad literature review in the area of driving simulators and psychological studies was performed to examine the automated vehicle effects on driver’s behavior. Findings from the literature survey, which has been served as setup values in the simulation study of the current work, reveal that the conventional vehicles, which are driving close to the platoon of automated vehicles with short time headway, tend to reduce their time headway and spend more time under their critical time headway. Additionally, driving highly automated vehicles is tedious in a long run, reduce situation awareness and can intensify driver drowsiness, exclusively in light traffic. In order to investigate the influences of automated vehicles on traffic performance, a microscopic simulation case study consisting of different penetration rates of automated vehicles (0, 50 and 100 percentages) was conducted in VISSIM software. The scenario network is a three-lane autobahn segment of 2.9 kilometers including an off-ramp, on-ramp and a roundabout with some surrounding urban roads.
Outputs of the microscopic simulation in this study reveal that the positive effects of automated vehicles on roads are especially highlighted when the network is crowded (e.g. peak hours). This can definitely count as a constructive point for the future of road networks with higher demands. In details, average density of autobahn segment remarkably decreased by 8.09% during p.m. peak hours in scenario with automated vehicles. Besides, Smoother traffic flow with less queue in the weaving segment was observed. Result of the scenario with 50% share of automated vehicles moreover shows a feasible interaction between conventional vehicles and automated vehicles. Meaningful outputs of this case study, based on the input data from literature review, demonstrate the capability of VISSIM software to simulate the presence of automated vehicles in great extent, not only as an automated vehicle scenario but also a share of them, in traffic network. The validity of the output values nonetheless needs future research work on urban and rural roads with different traffic conditions.

Calculation of boiler efficiency is essential if its parameters need to be controlled for either maintaining or enhancing its efficiency. But determination of boiler efficiency using conventional method is time consuming and very expensive. Hence, it is not recommended to find boiler efficiency frequently. The work presented in this paper deals with establishing the statistical model for boiler efficiency using major boiler losses. Collected data from an eminent industry shows that the loss due to dry flue gas, loss due to hydrogen content in fuel and loss due to moisture content in fuel are the major losses. The boiler efficiency depends mainly on these losses. Multiple regression analysis is used for building the model.

This paper present new approach in robust indirect rotor field oriented (IRFOC) induction motor (IM) control. The introduction of new exponential reaching law (ERL) based sliding mode control (SMC) improve significantly the performances compared to the conventional SMC which are well known susceptible to the annoying chattering phenomenon, so, the elimination of the chattering is achieved while simplicity and high performance speed and position tracking are maintained. Simulation results are given to discuss the performances of the proposed control method.

International Journal of Instrumentation and Control Systems (IJICS) is a Quarterly open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles which contribute new results in all areas of Instrumentation Engineering and Control Systems. The journal focuses on all technical and practical aspects of Instrumentation Engineering and Control Systems. The goal of this journal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on advanced instrumentation engineering, control systems and automation concepts and establishing new collaborations in these areas. Authors are solicited to contribute to this journal by submitting articles that illustrate research results, projects, surveying works and industrial experiences that describe significant advances in the Instrumentation Engineering

International Journal of Instrumentation and Control Systems (IJICS) is a Quarterly open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles which contribute new results in all areas of Instrumentation Engineering and Control Systems. The journal focuses on all technical and practical aspects of Instrumentation Engineering and Control Systems. The goal of this journal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on advanced instrumentation engineering, control systems and automation concepts and establishing new collaborations in these areas. Authors are solicited to contribute to this journal by submitting articles that illustrate research results, projects, surveying works and industrial experiences that describe significant advances in the Instrumentation Engineering

The paper presents an advanced control strategy that uses the neural network predictive controller and the fuzzy controller in the complex control structure with an auxiliary control variable. The controlled tubular heat exchanger was used for pre-heating of petroleum by hot water. The heat exchanger was modelled as a nonlinear system with interval parametric uncertainty. The set point tracking and the disturbance rejection using intelligent control strategies were investigated. The control objective was to keep the outlet temperature of the pre-heated petroleum at a reference value. Simulations of control of the tubular heat exchanger were done in the Matlab/Simulink environment. The neural network predictive control (NNPC) with fuzzy controller was compared with classical PID control. Simulation results obtained using NNPC with fuzzy controller and those obtained by classical PID control confirmed the effectiveness and superiority of the presented advanced control approach.

In this paper, we analyse the structure of evolving moral dilemmas with an eye of regard for the increasing importance of the role of artificial intelligence in such context. Starting with the analysis of the famous trolley problem experiment as formulated by Philippa Foot, we consider subsequent variants of this moral dilemma conceived throughout the years, culminating with formulations of the trolley problem concerning artificial intelligence, in which self-driving vehicles will have to make life or death decisions autonomously. In doing so, we investigate the basis for the construction of dilemmatic questions both for humans and machines by considering the problem from a philosophical, social and neuroscientific perspective. After considering and analysing the trolley problem in utilitarian and deontological terms, we follow Rittel and Webber's footsteps, by highlighting the fallacies of the deontological and utilitarian traditional 'one-right-answer' approach, where a solution is undoubtedly right or wrong, and claim that moral problems are not, due to their intrinsic dilemmatic nature, resolvable. By rejecting an aut-aut approach, we find ourselves contemplating the possibility of neither approach being right in an absolute sense. Given these premises, we present a different approach on the matter, arguing for the central and creative role of the tragic as a new tool for enhancing both human and autonomous vehicles' approach to moral problems.

International Journal of Instrumentation and Control Systems (IJICS) is a Quarterly open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles which contribute new results in all areas of Instrumentation Engineering and Control Systems. The journal focuses on all technical and practical aspects of Instrumentation Engineering and Control Systems. The goal of this journal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on advanced instrumentation engineering, control systems and automation concepts and establishing new collaborations in these areas. Authors are solicited to contribute to this journal by submitting articles that illustrate research results, projects, surveying works and industrial experiences that describe significant advances in the Instrumentation Engineering

With the introduction of autonomous LHD vehicles in underground mining operations, feedback from operators on road conditions no longer drives road maintenance. Where autonomous LHDs are used, one experience has been that roads can degraded to an unacceptably poor state before the need for maintenance has been identified. In this paper we describe a system developed to monitor the quality of underground haul roads for autotram operations. The system exploits the fact the LHD traverses the road with a high level of repeatability both in wheel track-position and vehicle speed. This allows changes in statistics of measurements accelerometers mounted on the vehicle chassis to be used to quantify road degradation. The system has been successfully trialled on the DAS autotram system at Olympic Dam Mine. The paper will detail results from those trials.

International Journal of Instrumentation and Control Systems (IJICS) is a Quarterly open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles which contribute new results in all areas of Instrumentation Engineering and Control Systems. The journal focuses on all technical and practical aspects of Instrumentation Engineering and Control Systems. The goal of this journal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on advanced instrumentation engineering, control systems and automation concepts and establishing new collaborations in these areas. Authors are solicited to contribute to this journal by submitting articles that illustrate research results, projects, surveying works and industrial experiences that describe significant advances in the Instrumentation Engineering

The purpose of this dissertation is to suggest a new approach to face the trolley problem in light of AI developments concerning automated vehicles, in order to provide a shared framework for computer scientists and jurists to enhance the implementation of decision algorithms and legal regulations of AI, respectively.
In order to do so, we move from an example of the difficulty in leading with dilemmatic scenarios from a legal standpoint to a descriptive analysis of the trolley problem as a particularly relevant instance of moral dilemmas, by considering it both from an ethical-philosophical and neuroscientific point of view, and highlighting the criticism that can be moved from the current approach to the issue.
Subsequently, we consider the impact of AI and self-driving cars in particular on the approach to this dilemma from a philosophical as well as a legal perspective and present the main regulations that have been put in place to govern such scenarios.
Lastly, setting aside all preconceptions, we consider once again the trolley problem from a purely logical perspective and avail ourselves of computational logic to propose a new approach which can be fruitfully implemented on self- driving vehicles, while also aligning with legal principles and judicial reasoning and having the potential to enhance the current regulatory landscape.

Although the use of AVs has the potential to diversify into various industries, there are also unintended consequences with the implementations. Governments are also working on how to use AVs for social benefits. These include improvements in road safety, public transportation, freight services, cleaner and greener spaces in cities reducing congestion. We aim to
a) Provide background on the importance of AVs
b) Outline the risks or obstacles associated with land-based AVs in the public and private transportation sector.
Finally, we try to ascertain AVs as a future competitive alternative to traditional motorized transportation systems. The conclusion contrasts past insights with current policy options.

In this paper, we apply adaptive control method to derive new results for the global chaos synchronization of identical hyperchaotic Lorenz systems (Jia, 2007), identical hyperchaotic Lü systems (Chen, et al., 2006) and non-identical hyperchaotic Lorenz and hyperchaotic Lü systems. In this paper, we shall assume that the parameters of both master and slave systems are unknown and we devise adaptive synchronizing schemes using the estimates of parameters for both master and slave systems. Our adaptive synchronization schemes derived in this paper are established using Lyapunov stability theory. Since the Lyapunov exponents are not required for these calculations, the adaptive control method is very effective and convenient to synchronize identical and non-identical hyperchaotic Lorenz and hyperchaotic Lü systems. Numerical simulations are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive synchronization schemes for the uncertain hyperchaotic systems addressed in this paper.

The virtual testing and validation of advanced driver assistance system and automated driving (ADAS/AD) functions require efficient and realistic perception sensor models. In particular, the limitations and measurement errors of real perception sensors need to be simulated realistically in order to generate useful sensor data for the ADAS/AD function under test. In this paper, a novel sensor modeling approach for automotive perception sensors is introduced. The novel approach combines kernel density estimation with regression modeling and puts the main focus on the position measurement errors. The modeling approach is designed for any automotive perception sensor that provides position estimations at the object level. To demonstrate and evaluate the new approach, a common state-of-the-art automotive camera (Mobileye 630) was considered. Both sensor measurements (Mobileye position estimations) and ground-truth data (DGPS positions of all attending vehicles) were collected during a large measurement campaign on a Hungarian highway to support the development and experimental validation of the new approach. The quality of the model was tested and compared to reference measurements, leading to a pointwise position error of 9.60% in the lateral and 1.57% in the longitudinal direction. Additionally, the modeling of the natural scattering of the sensor model output was satisfying. In particular, the deviations of the position measurements were well modeled with this approach.

In order to ensure safe placing on the market of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, a European „Code of Practice" has been established in the EU Project RESPONSE 3.

The hesitant introduction of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems in the market was the motivation for this project. The application of the Code of Practice helps the manufacturer to ensure that evaluation of the basic aspects of safe market introduction of ADAS  has been observed, and the documentation provides proof of duty of care during development. As a development guideline the Code of Practice also incorporates recommendations for the analysis and evaluation of complex human-machine interactions as they occur in ADAS in regular use and also in case of errors. The developer is supported by means of checklists and method descriptions starting with the definition phase to final proof and start of production. These are assigned to the relevant development phase. When  applying the Code of Practise the developer will receive detailed information to systematically identify possible risks and also to evaluate these risks. Furthermore, the Code of Practise assists in evaluating these risks by means of the controllability concept, and also by giving advice, which measures should be applied to ensure a safe ADAS design. For this purpose, the Code of Practise corresponds to the ISO WD 26262 working draft on requirements for functional safety as weil as the European Statement of Principles on the Design of Human Machine lnteraction (ESoP).

The following constitute the partner companies of the RESPONSE 3 consortium: AUDI AG, BMW Group, Bosch, CRF, DaimlerChrysler, ERTICO, Ford, PSA, TNO, TRL and Volkswagen AG. The EU Project RESPONSE 3 ends with the publication of the Code of Practise research report. The RESPONSE 3 partner companies successfully applied the Code of Practise in Driver Assistance Systems under development. In the next step experience gathered in the actual application of the Code of Practise shall be compiled.
The follow-up activities will be coordinated by the ACEA Task Force "Active Safety".

A novel parallel mechanism of two translations and one rotation freedom degrees twoprismatic
joint-cylindrical joint one-cylindrical joint-prismatic joint-revolute joint (2T-1R) is
proposed. The mechanism can be applied to write Indian characters and to classify productions
with the appropriated control. In this article, the kinematics and dynamics analysis are
systematically conducted with the following procedure. First of all, the 2T-1R parallel
mechanism is designed by GF set and the freedom degree of the mechanism is calculated using
screw theory. Then the formula for solving the inverse/forward displacement, velocity, and
acceleration is derived based on the geometrical constraints. The dynamics model is established
by using virtual work principle. Finally, kinematics SimMechanics model is created by the cosimulation
of SolidWorks and MATLAB software, and its workspace is analysed.

This paper describes the design and implementation of a real-time autonomous mobile robot aimed at navigating in real farms with no operator intervention. The agricultural environment being targeted consists of an irregular terrain supporting crops or sparsely populated with objects which gives rise to complex problems of identification, monitoring and control. In this paper we introduce a fuzzy hierarchical controller for such agricultural robots. The controller utilises co-operating behaviours (obstacle avoidance, edge following, goal seeking) to navigate in tight spaces and navigate towards its target (bales of hay, boxes of fruit/vegetables). It can also be used to follow crop edge (for purposes of crop cultivation, irrigation, etc.). The work advances the subject by providing a novel hierarchical architecture that simplifies fuzzy controller design and provides a control architecture with a fast response, robust performance, and the ability to deal with dynamic outdoor environments.

A recent innovation in underground mining operations is the use of automated Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) vehicles. These vehicles are able to transport ore from a stope to an ore-pass and return without the direct in involvement of a human operator. An interesting, and unexpected, problem that has arisen with the introduction of these vehicles is that the haul road on which they operate can become heavily degraded due to a lack of feedback on road condition. This results in increased maintenance and downtime. On non-automated LHD vehicles, the problem is circumvented by the on-board operator who senses road condition by ride quality and reports back to his or her supervisor when the road becomes unacceptably degraded. This thesis develops a simple tool, called the Road Surface Quality (RSQ) monitor, that aims to report road condition to the automated vehicle’s supervisory control system. The monitor is intended to provide feedback on road condition analogous to that provided by an on-board operator. This feedback can in turn be used to guide decisions such as the operating speed over different sections of road and when to perform road-maintenance such as re-grading. The methodology used to determine road condition is to capture the vertical acceleration of the vehicle chassis and derive a measure of the “bounce energy” of the vehicle as it traverses the road to serve as a proxy for the “quality of ride”. The approach exploits the fact that automated LHD vehicles make repeatable passes from run-to-run. In particular, the wheel tracks and speed are consistent during each transit from the stope to the ore-pass and back again. This makes possible the direct comparison of signals measured from run-to-run. The main conclusion of the thesis is that it is possible to differentiate between roads of different condition using measurements of vertical acceleration on auto-
mated LHDs. This conclusion is supported by several case studies based on installation of the monitor on the Dynamic Automation Systems (DAS) Autotram LHD in operation at Olympic Dam Mine. Data collected from the monitor shows the
system is also capable of detecting abnormally rough operation of the vehicle, e.g. unnecessarily heavy collisions of the bucket with the environment. A detailed plan for further testing of the monitor is also proposed.

Efficient conflict-free routing scheduling of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in automated logistic systems can improve delivery time, prevent delays, and decrease handling cost. Once potential conflicts present themselves on their road ahead, AGVs may wait for a while until the potential conflicts disappear besides altering their routes. Therefore, AGV conflict-free routing scheduling involves making routing and waiting time decisions simultaneously. This work constructs a conflict-free routing scheduling model for AGVs with consideration of waiting time. The process of the model is based on calculation of the travel time and conflict analysis at the links and nodes. A guided ant colony optimization (GACO) algorithm, in which ants are guided to avoid conflicts by adding a guidance factor to the state transition rule, is developed to solve the model. Simulations are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the model and the solution method.

Synergetic Control and synchronization of two different chaotic systems is presented in this paper and simulation results are given illustrating the effectiveness of the robust control technique applied. Similar to the sliding mode approach but without damaging chattering, synergetic control is a robust approach which doesn't require linearization and should be suitable for real-time implementation for not requiring a discontinuous term in its control law.

America is at a historic turning point for automotive travel. Motor vehicles and drivers’ relationships with them are likely to change significantly in the next ten to twenty years, perhaps more than they have changed in the last one hundred years. Recent and continuing advances in automotive technology and current research on and testing of exciting vehicle innovations have created completely new possibilities for improving highway safety, increasing environmental benefits, expanding mobility, and creating new economic opportunities for jobs and investment. The United States is on the threshold of a period of dramatic change in the capabilities of, and expectations for, the vehicles we drive. In fact, many are inspired by the vision that the vehicles will do the driving for us.

The design and realization of an on line control system for automated guided vehicles (AGV) is addressed. A synthesis method is proposed based on the use of the model checking tool for timed automata UPPAAL. This system has to route the vehicles while ensuring the system safeness, a good coordination between vehicles and the optimization of performance criteria. This problem is like synthesizing a Ramadge and Wonham supervisor combined with routing and optimizing functions, that is an ongoing problem within the supervisory control theory. The proposed concepts are validated through a software tool suite based on UPPAAL in order to generate optimal traces and interact with an AGV system emulated with Arena.

International Journal of Instrumentation and Control Systems (IJICS) is a Quarterly open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles which contribute new results in all areas of Instrumentation Engineering and Control Systems. The journal focuses on all technical and practical aspects of Instrumentation Engineering and Control Systems. The goal of this journal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on advanced instrumentation engineering, control systems and automation concepts and establishing new collaborations in these areas. Authors are solicited to contribute to this journal by submitting articles that illustrate research results, projects, surveying works and industrial experiences that describe significant advances in the Instrumentation Engineering. Topics Of Interest  Instrumentation and control components  Transducer principles  Measurement techniques  Analytical and virtual instrumentation  Biomedical instrumentation and applications  Process control and instrumentation  Industrial automation  Network based systems  Recent developments in automation and control  Recent trends in control systems  Linear and nonlinear control systems  Optimization and optimal control  Robust control  Neuro-fuzzy control  Adaptive control  Systems and automation  Sampled-data control systems and digital control  Advanced control techniques  Automated guided vehicles  Fault detection and isolation  System identification and control  Mathematical control theory  Stochastic control and filtering  Neural networks and fuzzy logic  Genetic algorithms and evolutionary computing  Mathematical and computer modelling  Agriculture, environment, health applications  Industry, military, space applications  Applications of control theory in industry Paper Submission Authors are invited to submit papers for this journal through

In order to evaluate side-effect of power limitation due to the Fast Automated Demand Response (FastADR) for building airconditioning facilities, a prediction model on short time change of average room temperature has been developed. A room temperature indexis defined as a weighted average of the entire building for room temperature deviations from the setpoints. The index is assumed to be used to divide total FastADRrequest to distribute power limitation commands to each building.In order to predict five-minute-change of the index, our combined mathematical model of an auto regression (AR) and a neural network (NN) is proposed.In the experimental results, the combined model showedthe root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.23 degrees, in comparison with 0.37 and 0.26 for conventional single NN and AR models, respectively. This result is satisfactory prediction for required comfort of approximately 1 degree Celsius allowance.

In this essay I explore the development of autonomous vehicles and possible approaches to the ethical decisions they may have to make. If a self-driving car has to choose between hurting two pedestrians or the driver, what is the right answer? I examine both possible outlines for a consequentialist system of ethics and the implications of this, and a deontological system of hard rules rooted in Kant.  I come to the conclusion that the deontological one is much more viable for a number of reasons, the main ones being predictability, and reduction of possible bugs. I conclude by exploring the social effects of these systems and possible responsibility models if one of these vehicles does happen to get into an accident. This involved looking at legal precedent and insurance studies to determine if responsibility lies with the manufacturer or the operator.

The purpose of this work is to control all AGVs through wireless communication system, here the vehicle will be able to communicate via wireless static control central mode(WSCCM) as each vehicle employed as node so that the data processed more efficiently. Now, AGV system adopts the WSCCM , in this method vehicles are controlled as well as conducted by a main control unit center but they can't communicate with each other. AGV is now used with the improvement of logistic tech in modern automatic warehouses for its features of auto guidance, accurate positioning, optimal route and safety. The main goal of AGV is to travel between various manufacturing stations to improve productivity, increase automation and reduced labor cost in warehouses. Therefore, the design of the AGV is determined and all the tests in the station have been completed. Observation proved that after testing in each part of the program, AGV can obtain the order for following line, find the right route, detecting the station, stoppage , and informing its location. Comparing the conventional center control way(CCW) there is all the advantage of distributed processing capability of AGV and improve the capacity of main server.

ABSTRACT: The objective of the paper is to validate in a landborne, waterborne, and airborne environment, a prototype of a software-linked navigation system, comprising the Differential Global Positioning System DGPS and the Low-Cost Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) MotionPak The paper is divided into two distinct parts. The introductory section  discusses the software combination of the satellite sensor and the inertial sensor. It briefly delineates the specific realisation of the DGPS/(Low-Cost IMU MotionPak) design describing the hardware and Kalman filter based software components with special emphasis on vehicular and waterborne real-time positioning.
The second part of the paper demonstrates an actual performance of the prototype mounted on a dedicated land vehicle, a research ship, a research boat and a research aircraft. For each of the land-/ water-/ and air mediums used, the section characterises the objectives, methodology and most representative results of the experiments.
The section dealing with the landborne tests is the most comprehensive, and characterises the geographical distribution and the physical properties of the test beds, as well as describing the DGPS reference stations preparations. It concentrates on the internal and external accuracy determination results at Poznañ Racing Car Track. The section dealing with the waterborne medium places special emphasis on the DGPS/IMU tests with the Maritime Institute DGPS hydrographic equipment backup. The section dealing with the airborne satellite/inertial tests specifically describes  the behaviour of the DGPS/(Inertial Navigation System INS) and GPS/IMU during different flight dynamics. The paper closes with a summary.