VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Baumann, William T."

Browsing by Author "Baumann, William T."

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Accurate Small-Signal Modeling for Resonant Converters
Hsieh, Yi-Hsun (Virginia Tech, 2020-11-24)
In comparison with PWM converters, resonant converters are gaining increasing popularity for cases in which efficiency and power density are at a premium. However, the lack of an accurate small-signal model has become an impediment to performance optimization. Many modeling attempts have been made to date. Besides the discrete time-domain modeling, most continuous-time modeling approaches are based on fundamental approximation, and are thus unable to provide sufficient accuracy for practical use. An equivalent circuit model was proposed by Yang, which works well for series resonant converters (SRCs) with high Q (quality factor), but which is inadequate for LLC resonant converters. Furthermore, the model is rather complicated, with system orders that are as high as five and seven for the SRC and LLC converter, respectively. The crux of the modeling difficulty is due to the underlying assumption based on the use of a band-pass filter for the resonant tank in conjunction with a low-pass output filter, which is not the case for most practical applications. The matter is further complicated by the presence of a rectifier, which is a nonlinearity that mixes and matches the original modulation frequency. Thus, the modulation signal becomes intractable when using a frequency-domain modeling approach. This dissertation proposes an extended describing function modeling that is based on a Fourier analysis on the continuous-time-domain waveforms. Therefore, all important contributions from harmonics are taken into account. This modeling approach is demonstrated on the frequency-controlled SRC and LLC converters. The modeling is further extended to, with great accuracy, a charge-controlled LLC converter. In the case of frequency control, a simple third-order equivalent circuit model is provided with high accuracy up to half of the switching frequency. The simplified low-frequency model consists of a double pole and a pair of right-half-plane (RHP) zeros. The double pole, when operated at a high switching frequency, manifests the property of a well-known beat frequency between the switching frequency and the resonant frequency. As the switching frequency approaches the resonant frequency of the tank, a new pair of poles is formed, representing the interaction of the resonant tank and the output filter. The pair of RHP zeros, which contributes to additional phase delay, was not recognized in earlier modeling attempts. In the case of charge control, a simple second-order equivalent circuit model is provided. With capacitor voltage feedback, the order of the system is reduced. Consequently, the resonant tank behaves as an equivalent current source and the tank property is characterized by a single pole. The other low-frequency pole represents the output capacitor and the load. However, the capacitor voltage feedback cannot eliminate the high-frequency poles and the RHP zeros. These RHP zeros may be an impediment for high-bandwidth design if not properly treated. Based on the proposed model, these unwanted RHP zeros can be mitigated by either changing the resonant tank design or by proper feedback compensation. The accurate model is essential for a high-performance high-bandwidth LLC converter.
Acoustic Transfer Functions Derived from Finite Element Modeling for Thermoacoustic Stability Predictions of Gas Turbine Engines
Black, Paul Randall (Virginia Tech, 2007-05-07)
Acoustic Transfer Functions Derived from Finite Element Modeling for Thermoacoustic Stability Predictions of Gas Turbine Engines Design and prediction of thermoacoustic instabilities is a major challenge in aerospace propulsion and the operation of power generating gas turbine engines. This is a complex problem in which multiple physical systems couple together. Traditionally, thermoacoustic models can be reduced to dominant physics which depend only on flame dynamics and acoustics. This is the general approach adopted in this research. The primary objective of this thesis is to describe how to obtain acoustic transfer functions using finite element modeling. These acoustic transfer functions can be coupled with flame transfer functions and other dynamics to predict the thermoacoustic stability of gas turbine engines. Results of this research effort can go beyond the prediction of instability and potentially can be used as a tool in the design stage. Consequently, through the use of these modeling tools, better gas turbine engine designs can be developed, enabling expanded operating conditions and efficiencies. This thesis presents the finite element (FE) methodology used to develop the acoustic transfer functions of the Combustion System Dynamics Laboratory (CSDL) gaseous combustor to support modeling and prediction of thermoacoustic instabilities. In this research, several different areas of the acoustic modeling were addressed to develop a representative acoustics model of the hot CSDL gaseous combustor. The first area was the development and validation of the cold acoustic finite element model. A large part of this development entailed finding simple but accurate means for representing complex geometries and boundary conditions. The cold-acoustic model of the laboratory combustor was refined and validated with the experimental data taken on the combustion rig. The second stage of the research involved incorporating the flame into the FE model and has been referred to in this thesis as hot-acoustic modeling. The hot-acoustic model also required the investigation and characterization of the flame as an acoustic source. The detailed mathematical development for the full reacting acoustic wave equation was investigated and simplified sufficiently to identify the appropriate source term for the flame. It was determined that the flame could be represented in the finite element formulation as a volumetric acceleration, provided that the flame region is small compared to acoustic wavelengths. For premixed gas turbine combustor flames, this approximation of a small flame region is generally a reasonable assumption. Both the high temperature effects and the flame as an acoustic source were implemented to obtain a final hot-acoustic FE model. This model was compared to experimental data where the heat release of the flame was measured along with the acoustic quantities of pressure and velocity. Using these measurements, the hot-acoustic FE model was validated and found to correlate with the experimental data very well. The thesis concludes with a discussion of how these techniques can be utilized in large industrial-size combustors. Insights into stability are also discussed. A conclusion is then presented with the key results from this research and some suggestions for future work.
Active control of flexible structures using fiber optic modal domain sensors
Cox, David E. (Virginia Tech, 1990-05-15)
The use of a modal domain fiber optic sensor for vibration control of a flexible cantilevered beam is experimentally demonstrated. The sensor utilizes mode-mode interference in a two mode elliptical core fiber. The sensor covers a major portion of the beam, and produces a measurement based on the strain distribution in the beam. A distributed-effect model is developed for the fiber optic sensor, and verified through both static and dynamic tests. This model is incorporated into a active control system employing dynamic output feedback. The control system is shown to add damping to the low order modes of the beam. Numerical simulations are presented which concur with the experimental responses, in both open and closed loop tests.
Active structural acoustic control of broadband disturbances
Baumann, William T.; Ho, Fu-Sheng; Robertshaw, Harry H. (Acoustical Society of America, 1992-09-01)
A control design technique is developed to actively suppress the acoustic power radiated from a structure, with negligible fluid loading, that is persistently excited by narrow-band or broadband disturbances. The problem is constrained by the assumption that the far-field pressure cannot be measured directly. A method for estimating the total radiated power from measurements on the structure is developed. Using this estimate as a cost function and assuming knowledge of the spectrum of the disturbance, a controller is designed using the linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) theory to minimize the cost. Computer simulations of a clamped-clamped beam show that there is a significant difference in the total radiated power between a system with a vibration-suppression controller and a system with an acoustic controller that accounts for the coupling of these vibrations to the surrounding fluid. In some cases, the acoustic controller increases the system vibration in order to minimize the radiated power.
Active suppression of acoustic radiation from impulsively excited structures
Baumann, William T.; Saunders, William R.; Robertshaw, Harry H. (Acoustical Society of America, 1991-12-01)
The objective is to use active control to suppress the acoustic energy that is radiated to the far field from a structure that has been excited by a short-duration pulse. The problem is constrained by the assumption that the far-field pressure cannot be directly measured. Therefore, a method is developed for estimating the total radiated energy from measurements on the structure. Using this estimate as a cost function, a feedback controller is designed using linear quadratic regulator theory to minimize the cost. Computer simulations of a clamped-clamped beam show that there is appreciable difference in the total radiated energy between a system with a controller designed to suppress vibrations of the structure and a system with a controller that takes into account the coupling of these vibrations to the surrounding fluid. The results of this work provide a framework for a general, model-based method for actively suppressing transient structural acoustic radiation that can also be applied to steady, narrow, or broadband disturbances.
Adaptation of Delayed Position Feedback to the Reduction of Sway of Container Cranes
Nayfeh, Nader Ali (Virginia Tech, 2002-12-04)
Cranes are increasingly used in transportation and construction. increasing demand and faster requirements necessitate better and more efficient controllers to guarantee fast turn-around time and to meet safety requirements. Container cranes are used extensively in ship-to-port and port-to-ship transfer operations. In this work, we will extend the recently developed delayed position feedback controller to container cranes. In contrast with traditional work, which models a crane as a simple pendulum consisting of a hoisting cable and a lumped mass at its end, we have modeled the crane as a four-bar mechanism. The actual configuration of the hoisting mechanism is significantly different from a simple pendulum. It consists typically of a set of four hoisting cables attached to four different points on the trolley and to four points on a spreader bar. The spreader bar is used to lift the containers. Therefore, the dynamics of hoisting assemblies of large container cranes are different from that of a simple pendulum. We found that a controller which treats the system as a four-bar mechanism has an improved response. We developed a controller to meet the following requirements: traverse an 80-ton payload 50 m in 21.5 s, including raising the payload 15 m at the beginning and lowering the payload 15 m at the end of motion, while reducing the sway to 50 mm within 5.0 s at the end of the transfer maneuver. The performance of the controller has been demonstrated theoretically using numerical simulation. Moreover, the performance of the controller has been demonstrated experimentally using a 1/10th scale model. For the 1/10th scale model, the requirements translate into: traverse an 80 kg payload 5 m in 6.8 s, including raising 1.5 m at the beginning and lowering 1.5 m at the end of motion, while reducing the sway to 5 mm in under 1.6 s. The experiments validated the controller.
Adaptive Control Methods for Non-Linear Self-Excited Systems
Vaudrey, Michael Allen (Virginia Tech, 2001-08-28)
Self-excited systems are open loop unstable plants having a nonlinearity that prevents an exponentially increasing time response. The resulting limit cycle is induced by any slight disturbance that causes the response of the system to grow to the saturation level of the nonlinearity. Because there is no external disturbance, control of these self-excited systems requires that the open loop system dynamics are altered so that any unstable open loop poles are stabilized in the closed loop. This work examines a variety of adaptive control approaches for controlling a thermoacoustic instability, a physical self-excited system. Initially, a static feedback controller loopshaping design and associated system identification method is presented. This design approach is shown to effectively stabilize an unstable Rijke tube combustor while preventing the creation of additional controller induced instabilities. The loopshaping design method is then used in conjunction with a trained artificial neural network to demonstrate stabilizing control in the presence of changing plant dynamics over a wide variety of operating conditions. However, because the ANN is designed specifically for a single combustor/actuator arrangement, its limited portability is a distinct disadvantage. Filtered-X least mean squares (LMS) adaptive feedback control approaches are examined when applied to both stable and unstable plants. An identification method for approximating the relevant plant dynamics to be modeled is proposed and shown to effectively stabilize the self-excited system in simulations and experiments. The adaptive feedback controller is further analyzed for robust performance when applied to the stable, disturbance rejection control problem. It is shown that robust stability cannot be guaranteed because arbitrarily small errors in the plant model can generate gradient divergence and unstable feedback loops. Finally, a time-averaged-gradient (TAG) algorithm is investigated for use in controlling self-excited systems such as the thermoacoustic instability. The TAG algorithm is shown to be very effective in stabilizing the unstable dynamics using a variety of controller parameterizations, without the need for plant estimation information from the system to be controlled.
Adaptive Control of a Step-Up Full-Bridge DC-DC Converter for Variable Low Input Voltage Applications
Pepa, Elton (Virginia Tech, 2004-02-06)
This thesis shows the implementation of a novel control scheme DC-DC converter. The converter is a phase-shifted full-bridge PWM converter that is designed to operate as a front stage of a power conversion system where the input is a variable low voltage high current source. The converter is designed to step-up the low voltage input to an acceptable level that can be inverted to a 120/240 VAC 60Hz voltage for residential power. A DSP based adaptive control model is developed, taking into account line variations introduced by the input source while providing very good load dynamics for the converter in both discontinuous and continuous conduction modes. The adaptive controller is implemented using two voltage sensors that read the input and the output voltages of the converter. The controller's bandwidth is comparable to current mode control, without the need for an expensive current sensor, yet providing the noise immunity seen in voltage mode controllers. The intended input source was a fuel cell but in its absence a DC supply is utilized instead. The system is simulated for both discontinuous and continuous conduction modes and implemented and demonstrated for the continuous conduction mode. The test results are shown to match the simulation results very closely.
Adaptive Control of Waveguide Modes in Two-Mode Fibers
Lu, Peng (Virginia Tech, 2016-04-04)
Few mode fibers and multimode fibers (MMFs) are traditionally regarded as unsuitable for important applications such as communications and sensing. A major challenge in using MMFs for aforementioned applications is how to precisely control the waveguide modes propagating within MMFs. In this thesis, we experimentally demonstrate a generic method for controlling the linearly polarized (LP) modes within a two-mode fiber (TMF). Our method is based on adaptive optics (AO), where one utilizes proper feedback signals to shape the wavefront of the input beam in order to achieve the desired LP mode composition. In the first part of this thesis, we demonstrate the feasibility of AO-based mode control by using the correlation between the experimentally measured field distribution and the desired mode profiles as feedback for wavefront optimization. Selectively excitation of pure LP modes or their combinations at the distal end of a TMF are shown. Furthermore, we demonstrate that selective mode excitation in the TMF can be achieved by using only 5×5 independent phase blocks. Afterwards, we extend our AO-based mode control method to more practical scenarios, where feedback signals are provided by all-fiber devices such as a directional fiber coupler or fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). Using the coupling ratio of a directional coupler as feedback, we demonstrate adaptive control of LP modes at the two output ports of the directional coupler. With feedback determined by the relative magnitude of optical power reflected by a FBG and the transmitted power, selective excitations of the LP01 and the LP11 modes are experimentally shown. As the final component of this thesis, we experimentally combine the AO-based mode control with time-division-multiplexing. By choosing reflected pulses with appropriate arrival time for mode control, we can selectively excite the LP11 mode at different FBG locations within the TMF, based on the ratio of optical signals reflected by FBGs in the TMF and the transmitted signal. Using two lasers set at the two FBG peak reflection wavelengths associated with the LP01 and the LP11 modes, we can accomplish AO-based mode control within a TMF by using only the reflection signals from the FBG. By using the ratio of the reflected signals of two lasers as feedback, we demonstrate selective excitation of almost pure LP01 or LP11 mode at the FBG location within the TMF. The method developed in this thesis is generic and can be extended to many other applications using appropriately chosen feedback signals. It is possible to generalize the AO-based mode control method to MMF as well. This method may find important applications in MMF-based communication, sensing and imaging et. al. in the future.
Adaptive Control using IIR Lattice Filters
Hevey, Stephen J. (Virginia Tech, 1998-04-24)
This work is a study of a hybrid adaptive controller that blends fixed feedback control and adaptive feedback control techniques. This type of adaptive controller removes the requirement that information about the disturbance is known apriori. Additionally, the control structure is implemented in such a way that as long as the adaptive controller is stable during adaptation, the system consisting of the controller and plant remain stable. The objective is to design and implement an adaptive controller that damps the structural vibrations induced in a multi-modal structure. The adaptive controller utilizes an adaptive infinite impulse response lattice filter for improved damping over the fixed feedback controller alone. An adaptive finite impulse response LMS filter is also implemented for comparison of the ability for both algorithms to reject harmonic, narrow bandwidth and wide bandwidth disturbances. It is demonstrated that the lattice filter algorithm performs slightly better than the LMS filter algorithm in all three disturbance cases. The lattice filter also requires less than half the order of the LMS filter to get the same performance.
Adaptive power control as a fade countermeasure on satellite links
Sweeney, Dennis G. (Virginia Tech, 1993)
Satellite systems in the 20/30 GHz band are very susceptible to outages due to rain-induced fades. In order to reduce the impact of these fades, it has been proposed that the power of the uplink station transmitter be adjusted during the fade to compensate. This dissertation will explore some of the issues involved in implementing this uplink power control (ULPC). Fade slope is examined as a parameter to predict signal strength during a fade. A fade slope model based on fade physics is presented, but it strongly suggests that fade slope is not an appropriate parameter for ULPC. Real time scaling of attenuation from the downlink to the uplink shows more promise for ULPC. Differences in drop size distributions during a rain storm will result is different scaling factors. If the downlink attenuation is limited to 6 dB at 20 GHz, real time scaling can be accomplished. A scaling type ULPC algorithm driven by downlink attenuation is tested on 66 hours of OLYMPUS 20/30 GHz fade data. A similar algorithm driven by uplink attenuation is tested and the performance of the two algorithms is presented and compared.
Adaptive power system control
Manansala, Edgardo Celestino (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1989)
This work presents a centralized control scheme applied to a power system. The scheme has adaptive characteristics which allow the controller to keep track of the changing power system operating point and to control nonlinear functions of state variables. Feedback to the controller is obtained from phasor measurements at chosen power system buses, generator field voltage measurements, and state estimators. Control effort is aimed at minimizing the oscillations and influencing the power system state trajectory through the control of linear and nonlinear functions of state variables during a power system disturbance. The main contributions of this dissertation are the simultaneous introduction and utilization of measurement based terms in the state and output equations in the derivation and implementation of the control law, the study of limits on controller performance as the state residual vector becomes very large, and the simulation of the performance of local state estimators to prove the need for faster phasor measurement systems. The test system is a hypothetical 39-Bus AC power system consisting of typical components which have been sufficiently modelled for the simulation of power system performance in a dynamic stability study.
Adaptive Predictive Feedback Techniques for Vibration Control
Eure, Kenneth W. II (Virginia Tech, 1998-02-03)
In this dissertation, adaptive predictive feedback control is used to suppress plate vibrations. The adaptive predictive controller consists of an on-line identification technique coupled with a control scheme. Various system identification techniques are investigated and implemented including batch least squares, projection algorithm, and recursive least squares. The control algorithms used include Generalized Predictive Control and Deadbeat Predictive Control. This dissertation combines system identification and control to regulate broadband disturbances in modally-dense structures. As it is assumed that the system to be regulated is unknown or time varying, the control schemes presented in this work have the ability to identify and regulate a plant with only an initial estimate of the system order. In addition, theoretical development and experimental results presented in this work confirm the fact that an adaptive controller operating in the presence of disturbances will automatically incorporate an internal noise model of the disturbance perturbing the plant if the system model order is chosen sufficiently large. It is also shown that the adaptive controller has the ability to track changes in the disturbance spectrum as well as track a time varying plant under certain conditions. This work presents a broadband multi-input multi-output control scheme which utilizes both the DSP processor and the PC processor in order to handle the computational demand of broadband regulation of a modally-dense plant. Also, the system identification technique and the control algorithm may be combined to produce a direct adaptive control scheme which estimates the control parameters directly from input and output data. Experimental results for various control techniques are presented using an acoustic plant, a rectangular plate with clamped boundary conditions, and a time varying plate.
Advances in the Use of Finite-Set Statistics for Multitarget Tracking
Jimenez, Jorge Gabriel (Virginia Tech, 2021-10-27)
In this dissertation, we seek to improve and advance the use of the finite-set statistics (FISST) approach to multitarget tracking. We consider a subsea multitarget tracking application that poses several challenges due to factors, such as, clutter/environmental noise, joint target and sensor state dependent measurement uncertainty, target-measurement association ambiguity, and sub-optimal sensor placement. The specific application that we consider is that of an underwater mobile sensor that measures the relative angle (i.e., bearing angle) to sources of acoustic noise in order to track one or more ships (targets) in a noisy environment. However, our contributions are generalizable for a variety of multitarget tracking applications. We build upon existing algorithms and address the problem of improving tracking performance for multiple maneuvering targets by incorporation several target motion models into a FISST tracking algorithm known as the probability hypothesis density filter. Moreover, we develop a novel method for associating measurements to targets using the Bayes factor, which improves tracking performance for FISST methods as well as other approaches to multitarget tracking. Further, we derive a novel formulation of Bayes risk for use with set-valued random variables and develop a real-time planner for sensor motion that avoids local minima that arise in myopic approaches to sensor motion planning. The effectiveness of our contributions are evaluated through a mixture of real-world and simulated data.
An Algorithm and System for Measuring Impedance in D-Q Coordinates
Francis, Gerald (Virginia Tech, 2010-01-25)
This dissertation presents work conducted at the Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES) at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Chapter 1 introduces the concept of impedance measurement, and discusses previous work on this topic. This chapter also addresses issues associated with impedance measurement. Chapter 2 introduces the analyzer architecture and the proposed algorithm. The algorithm involves locking on to the voltage vector at the point of common coupling between the analyzer and the system via a PLL to establish a D-Q frame. A series of sweeps are performed, injecting at least two independent angles in the D-Q plane, acquiring D- and Q-axis voltages and currents for each axis of injection at the point of interest. Chapter 3 discusses the analyzer hardware and the criteria for selection. The hardware built ranges from large-scale power level hardware to communication hardware implementing a universal serial bus. An eight-layer PCB was constructed implementing analog signal conditioning and conversion to and from digital signals with high resolution. The PCB interfaces with the existing Universal Controller hardware. Chapter 4 discusses the analyzer software. Software was written in C++, VHDL, and Matlab to implement the measurement process. This chapter also provides a description of the software architecture and individual components. Chapter 5 discusses the application of the analyzer to various examples. A dynamic model of the analyzer is constructed, considering all components of the measurement system. Congruence with predicted results is demonstrated for three-phase balanced linear impedance networks, which can be directly derived based on stationary impedance measurements. Other impedances measured include a voltage source inverter, Vienna rectifier, six-pulse rectifier and an autotransformer-rectifier unit.
An Analysis of EcoRouting Using a Variable Acceleration Rate Synthesis Model
Warpe, Hrusheekesh Sunil (Virginia Tech, 2017-08-07)
Automotive manufacturers are facing increasing pressure from legislative bodies and consumers to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of vehicles. This has led to many automotive manufacturers starting production of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV's) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV's). Another method that helps to reduce the environmental effect of transportation is EcoRouting. The standard Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation offers route alternatives between user specified origin and destination. This technology provides multiple routes to the user and focuses on reducing the travel time to reach to the destination. EcoRouting is the method to determine a route that minimizes vehicle energy consumption, unlike traditional routing methods that minimize travel time. An EcoRouting system has been developed as a part of this thesis that takes in information such as speed limits, the number of stop lights, and the road grade to calculate the energy consumption of a vehicle along a route. A synthesis methodology is introduced that takes into consideration the distance between the origin and destination, the acceleration rate of the vehicle, cruise speed and jerk rate as inputs to simulate driver behavior on a given route. A new approach is presented in this thesis that weighs the energy consumption for different routes and chooses the route with the least energy consumption, subject to a constraint on travel time. A cost function for quantifying the effect of travel time is introduced that assists in choosing the EcoRoute with an acceptable limit on the travel time required to reach the destination. The analysis of the EcoRouting system with minimum number of conditional stops and maximum number of conditional stops is done in this thesis. The effect on energy consumption with the presence and absence of road-grade information along a route is also studied. A sensitivity study is performed to observe the change in energy consumption of the vehicle with a change in acceleration rates and road grade. Three routing scenarios are presented in this thesis to demonstrate the functionality of EcoRouting. The EcoRouting model presented in this thesis is also validated against an external EcoRouting research paper and the energy consumption along three routes is calculated. The EcoRoute solution is found to vary with the information given to the variable acceleration rate model. The synthesis and the results that are obtained show that parameters such as acceleration, deceleration, and road grade affect the overall energy consumption of a vehicle and are helpful in determining the EcoRoute.
Application Benchmarks for SCMP: Single Chip Message-Passing Computer
Shah, Jignesh (Virginia Tech, 2004-05-12)
As transistor feature sizes continue to shrink, it will become feasible, and for a number of reasons more efficient, to include multiple processors on a single chip. The SCMP system being developed at Virginia Tech includes up to 64 processors on a chip, connected in a 2-D mesh. On-chip memory is included with each processor, and the architecture includes support for communication and the execution of parallel threads. As with any new computer architecture, benchmark kernels and applications are needed to guide the design and development, as well as to quantify the system performance. This thesis presents several benchmarks that have been developed for or ported to SCMP. Discussion of the benchmark algorithms and their implementations is included, as well as an analysis of the system performance. The thesis also includes discussion of the programming environment available for developing parallel applications for SCMP.
Application of adaptive trusses to vibration isolation in flexible structures
Clark, William Walker (Virginia Tech, 1991-12-05)
This dissertation presents techniques for using adaptive trusses for active vibration isolation in flexible structures. Passive methods have been used almost exclusively in the past for vibration isolation, although in the more recent literature active techniques have been proposed in an attempt to achieve greater isolation performance. Most of the active techniques, however, require either detailed knowledge of the system or of the disturbance to be isolated. This work focuses on techniques in which knowledge of the disturbance is minimal, and in some cases, knowledge of the system is not necessary. Two new active vibration isolation methods are presented which are based on feedback of transmitted forces in the system. The methods include force feedback through a high gain, and state feedback using the LQR method with disturbance modelling. A third method which has been demonstrated in the literature, force feedback through a classical compensator, is also presented for comparison. For the purpose of discussion, each of the methods is applied to a system which includes a single active mount. The methods are then applied analytically to an adaptive truss, which essentially contains multiple mounts, to demonstrate multi-degree-of-freedom active vibration isolation. It is shown that force feedback provides two-way isolation, and its effects are independent of the type of active mount used (whether it is a force- or displacement-commanded mount). The most promising technique proves to be the simplest, the high-gain feedback method. This technique is a stable, model-free method of vibration isolation which places no restrictions on the type of system disturbance, other than that it must be within the actuator’s bandwidth. The high-gain approach is applied experimentally and shown to agree with the simulated results.
The Application of the Expectation-Maximization Algorithm to the Identification of Biological Models
Chen, Shuo (Virginia Tech, 2006-12-11)
With the onset of large-scale gene expression profiling, many researchers have turned their attention toward biological process modeling and system identification. The abundance of data available, while inspiring, is also daunting to interpret. Following the initial work of Rangel et al., we propose a linear model for identifying the biological model behind the data and utilize a modification of the Expectation-Maximization algorithm for training it. With our model, we explore some commonly accepted assumptions concerning sampling, discretization, and state transformations. Also, we illuminate the model complexities and interpretation difficulties caused by unknown state transformations and propose some solutions for resolving these problems. Finally, we elucidate the advantages and limitations of our linear state-space model with simulated data from several nonlinear networks.
An approach to a robust speaker recognition system
Tran, Michael (Virginia Tech, 1994)
This dissertation presents a design of a robust, automatic speaker recognition (ASR) system. The ASR system is designed to work with both text-independent and text-dependent speaker recognition. Several speaker spectral features are studied to determine their contribution in term of accuracy to the system. A new algorithm is designed to label a speaker voice as either male-type voice or female-type voice. Following this division, the processing time of the speaker identification for the ASR system will be reduced by about half. Rectangular window, Hamming window, first order preemphasis filter, and many proposed spectral distances are also investigated. The principal components analysis is used to achieve high degree of female-type and male-type separation as well as the speaker recognition accuracy. Spectral features are combined to improve the recognition performance of the system. In addition, many other system components such as speech endpoint detection, automatic noise thresholds, etc. are required to build correctly in order to achieve high speaker recognition accuracy. Multi-stage decision process is used both to improve and to speed up the decision if certain criteria are met. Finally, TIMIT acoustic continuous speech corpus is used to evaluate the speaker recognition performance and the robustness of the system.

Browsing by Author "Baumann, William T."

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