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At least 361 records · Page 20

Decoupling and observation theory applied to control of a long flexible beam in orbit

Techniques which use decoupling theory and state variable feedback to control the pitch attitude and the flexible mode amplitudes of a long, thin beam are discussed. An observer based on the steady state Kalman filter was incorporated into the control design procedure in order to estimate the values of the modal state variables required for the feedback control law.

Hamer, H. A.↗

Robust Kalman filter design for predictive wind shear detection

Severe, low-altitude wind shear is a threat to aviation safety. Airborne sensors under development measure the radial component of wind along a line directly in front of an aircraft. In this paper, optimal estimation theory is used to define a detection algorithm to warn of hazardous wind shear from these sensors. To achieve robustness, a wind shear detection algorithm must distinguish threatening wind shear from less hazardous gustiness, despite variations in wind shear structure. This paper presents statistical analysis methods to refine wind shear detection algorithm robustness. Computational methods predict the ability to warn of severe wind shear and avoid false warning. Comparative capability of the detection algorithm as a function of its design parameters is determined, identifying designs that provide robust detection of severe wind shear.

Stratton, Alexander D.↗

Rao-Blackwellization for Adaptive Gaussian Sum Nonlinear Model Propagation

When dealing with imperfect data and general models of dynamic systems, the best estimate is always sought in the presence of uncertainty or unknown parameters. In many cases, as the first attempt, the Extended Kalman filter (EKF) provides sufficient solutions to handling issues arising from nonlinear and non-Gaussian estimation problems. But these issues may lead unacceptable performance and even divergence. In order to accurately capture the nonlinearities of most real-world dynamic systems, advanced filtering methods have been created to reduce filter divergence while enhancing performance. Approaches, such as Gaussian sum filtering, grid based Bayesian methods and particle filters are well-known examples of advanced methods used to represent and recursively reproduce an approximation to the state probability density function (pdf). Some of these filtering methods were conceptually developed years before their widespread uses were realized. Advanced nonlinear filtering methods currently benefit from the computing advancements in computational speeds, memory, and parallel processing. Grid based methods, multiple-model approaches and Gaussian sum filtering are numerical solutions that take advantage of different state coordinates or multiple-model methods that reduced the amount of approximations used. Choosing an efficient grid is very difficult for multi-dimensional state spaces, and oftentimes expensive computations must be done at each point. For the original Gaussian sum filter, a weighted sum of Gaussian density functions approximates the pdf but suffers at the update step for the individual component weight selections. In order to improve upon the original Gaussian sum filter, Ref. [2] introduces a weight update approach at the filter propagation stage instead of the measurement update stage. This weight update is performed by minimizing the integral square difference between the true forecast pdf and its Gaussian sum approximation. By adaptively updating each component weight during the nonlinear propagation stage an approximation of the true pdf can be successfully reconstructed. Particle filtering (PF) methods have gained popularity recently for solving nonlinear estimation problems due to their straightforward approach and the processing capabilities mentioned above. The basic concept behind PF is to represent any pdf as a set of random samples. As the number of samples increases, they will theoretically converge to the exact, equivalent representation of the desired pdf. When the estimated qth moment is needed, the samples are used for its construction allowing further analysis of the pdf characteristics. However, filter performance deteriorates as the dimension of the state vector increases. To overcome this problem Ref. [5] applies a marginalization technique for PF methods, decreasing complexity of the system to one linear and another nonlinear state estimation problem. The marginalization theory was originally developed by Rao and Blackwell independently. According to Ref. [6] it improves any given estimator under every convex loss function. The improvement comes from calculating a conditional expected value, often involving integrating out a supportive statistic. In other words, Rao-Blackwellization allows for smaller but separate computations to be carried out while reaching the main objective of the estimator. In the case of improving an estimator's variance, any supporting statistic can be removed and its variance determined. Next, any other information that dependents on the supporting statistic is found along with its respective variance. A new approach is developed here by utilizing the strengths of the adaptive Gaussian sum propagation in Ref. [2] and a marginalization approach used for PF methods found in Ref. [7]. In the following sections a modified filtering approach is presented based on a special state-space model within nonlinear systems to reduce the dimensionality of the optimization problem in Ref. [2]. First, the adaptive Gaussian sum propagation is explained and then the new marginalized adaptive Gaussian sum propagation is derived. Finally, an example simulation is presented.

state estimation↗

Field-level reconstruction from foreground-contaminated 21-cm maps

Current and upcoming 21-cm experiments will soon be able to map 21-cm spatial fluctuations in three dimensions for a wide range of redshifts. However, bright foreground contamination and the nature of radio interferometry create significant challenges, making it difficult to access rich cosmological information from the Fourier modes that lie within the “foreground wedge”. Here, in this work, we introduce two approaches aiming to reconstruct the full 21-cm density field, including the missing modes in the wedge: (a) a field-level inference under an effective field theory (EFT) framework; (b) a diffusion-based deep generative model trained on simulations. Under the EFT framework, we implement a fully differentiable forward model that maps the initial conditions of matter fluctuations to the observed, foreground-filtered 21-cm maps. This enables a gradient-based sampler to simultaneously sample the initial conditions and bias parameters, allowing a physically motivated mode reconstruction. Alternatively, we apply a variational diffusion model to perform 21-cm density reconstruction at the map level. Our model is trained on semi-numerical simulations over a wide range of astrophysical parameters. Our results from both approaches should provide improved cosmological constraints from the field level and also enable cross-correlation between experiments that have little or no overlapping modes.

cosmological perturbation theory↗

WRLES: Wave Resolving Large-Eddy Simulation Code, Theory and Usage

A computational fluid dynamics code has been developed for large-eddy simulations (LES) of turbulent flow. The code uses high-order of accuracy and high-resolution numerical methods to minimize solution error and maximize the resolution of the turbulent structures. Spatial discretization is performed using explicit central differencing. The central differencing schemes in the code include 2nd- to 12th-order standard central difference methods as well as 7-, 9-, 11- and 13-point dispersion relation preserving schemes. Solution filtering and high-order shock capturing are included for stability. Time discretization is performed using multistage Runge-Kutta methods that are up to 4th order accurate. Several options are available to model turbulence including: Baldwin-Lomax and Spalart-Allmaras Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes turbulence models, and Smagorinsky, Dynamic Smagorinsky and Vreman sub-grid scale models for LES. This report presents the theory behind the numerical and physical models used in the code and provides a user's manual to the operation of the code.

High-Order↗

Direct Detection Doppler Lidar for Spaceborne Wind Measurement

Aerosol and molecular based versions of the double-edge technique can be used for direct detection Doppler lidar spaceborne wind measurement. The edge technique utilizes the edge of a high spectral resolution filter for high accuracy wind measurement using direct detection lidar. The signal is split between an edge filter channel and a broadband energy monitor channel. The energy monitor channel is used for signal normalization. The edge measurement is made as a differential frequency measurement between the outgoing laser signal and the atmospheric backscattered return for each pulse. As a result the measurement is insensitive to laser and edge filter frequency jitter and drift at a level less than a few parts in 10(exp 10). We have developed double edge versions of the edge technique for aerosol and molecular-based lidar measurement of the wind. Aerosol-based wind measurements have been made at Goddard Space Flight Center and molecular-based wind measurements at the University of Geneva. We have demonstrated atmospheric measurements using these techniques for altitudes from 1 to more than 10 km. Measurement accuracies of better than 1.25 m/s have been obtained with integration times from 5 to 30 seconds. The measurements can be scaled to space and agree, within a factor of two, with satellite-based simulations of performance based on Poisson statistics. The theory of the double edge aerosol technique is described by a generalized formulation which substantially extends the capabilities of the edge technique. It uses two edges with opposite slopes located about the laser frequency at approximately the half-width of each edge filter. This doubles the signal change for a given Doppler shift and yields a factor of 1.6 improvement in the measurement accuracy compared to the single edge technique. The use of two high resolution edge filters substantially reduces the effects of Rayleigh scattering on the measurement, as much as order of magnitude, and allows the signal to noise ratio to be substantially improved in areas of low aerosol backscatter. We describe a method that allows the Rayleigh and aerosol components of the signal to be independently determined using the two edge channels and an energy monitor channel. The effects of Rayleigh scattering may then subtracted from the measurement and we show that the correction process does not significantly increase the measurement noise for Rayleigh to aerosol ratios up to 10. We show that for small Doppler shifts a measurement accuracy of 0.4 m/s can be obtained for 5000 detected photon, 1.2 m/s for 1000 detected photons, and 3.7 m/s for 50 detected photons for a Rayleigh to aerosol ratio of 5. Methods for increasing the dynamic range of the aerosol-based system to more than +/- 100 m/s are given.

Korb, C. Laurence↗

Altimetry, Orbits and Tides

The nature of the orbit error and its effect on the sea surface heights calculated with satellite altimetry are explained. The elementary concepts of celestial mechanics required to follow a general discussion of the problem are included. Consideration of errors in the orbits of satellites with precisely repeating ground tracks (SEASAT, TOPEX, ERS-1, POSEIDON, amongst past and future altimeter satellites) are detailed. The theoretical conclusions are illustrated with the numerical results of computer simulations. The nature of the errors in this type of orbits is such that this error can be filtered out by using height differences along repeating (overlapping) passes. This makes them particularly valuable for the study and monitoring of changes in the sea surface, such as tides. Elements of tidal theory, showing how these principles can be combined with those pertinent to the orbit error to make direct maps of the tides using altimetry are presented.

Colombo, O. L.↗

Solving the electronic structure problem for over 100000 atoms in real space

Using a real-space high-order finite-difference approach, we investigate the electronic structure of large spherical silicon nanoclusters. Within Kohn-Sham density functional theory and using pseudopotentials, we report the self-consistent field convergence of a system with over 100000 atoms: a Si 107,641 ⁢H 9,084 nanocluster with a diameter of 16 nm. Our approach uses Chebyshev-filtered subspace iteration to speed up the convergence of the eigenspace, and blockwise Hilbert space-filling curves to speed up sparse matrix-vector multiplications, all of which are implemented in the parsec code. For the largest system, we utilized 2048 nodes (114 688 cores) on the Frontera machine in the Texas Advanced Computing Center. Our quantitative analysis of the electronic structure shows how it gradually approaches its bulk counterpart as a function of nanocluster size. The band gap is enlarged due to quantum confinement in nanoclusters, but decreases as the system size increases, as expected. In conclusion, our work serves as a proof of concept for the capacity of the real-space approach in efficiently parallelizing very large calculations using high-performance computer platforms, which can straightforwardly be replicated in other systems with more than 10 5 atoms.

0-dimensional systems↗

A linear voltage-tunable distributed null device.

A linear voltage-tunable null device was predicted, fabricated, and tested. This filter is conceptually a distributed parameter RC representation of the channel of a MOSFET in a network configuration with a second MOSFET that is treated as a variable resistor. Classical transmission-line theory is used to predict a linear tuning curve with applied bias for the device. This concept was used to design a null device having a null that is linearly tunable in the range of 100 kHz. Such devices were fabricated and tested. Typical MOS processing steps were used and the resulting structures are compatible with the planar technology. The compatibility leads towards extension of this work to different frequency ranges for other specific applications.

Benz, H. F.↗

Digital detection and processing of laser beacon signals for aircraft collision hazard warning

A low-cost collision hazard warning system suitable for implementation in both general and commercial aviation is presented. Laser beacon systems are used as sources of accurate relative position information that are not dependent on communication between aircraft or with the ground. The beacon system consists of a rotating low-power laser beacon, detector arrays with special optics for wide angle acceptance and filtering of solar background light, microprocessors for proximity and relative trajectory computation, and pilot displays of potential hazards. The laser beacon system provides direct measurements of relative aircraft positions; using optimal nonlinear estimation theory, the measurements resulting from the current beacon sweep are combined with previous data to provide the best estimate of aircraft proximity, heading, minimium passing distance, and time to closest approach.

Sweet, L. M.↗

Reliability issues in active control of large flexible space structures

Efforts in this reporting period were centered on four research tasks: design of failure detection filters for robust performance in the presence of modeling errors, design of generalized parity relations for robust performance in the presence of modeling errors, design of failure sensitive observers using the geometric system theory of Wonham, and computational techniques for evaluation of the performance of control systems with fault tolerance and redundancy management

Vandervelde, W. E.↗

Pneumatic distortion compensation for aircraft surface pressure sensing devices

In this paper a technique of compensating for pneumatic distortion in aircraft surface pressure sensing devices is developed. The compensation allows conventional pressure sensing technology to obtain improved unsteady pressure measurements. Pressure distortion caused by frictional attenuation and pneumatic resonance within the sensing system makes obtaining unsteady pressure measurements by conventional sensors difficult. Typically, most of the distortion occurs within the pneumatic tubing used to transmit pressure impulses from the surface of the aircraft to the measurement transducer. This paper develops a second-order distortion model that accurately describes the behavior of the primary wave harmonic of the pneumatic tubing. The model is expressed in state-variable form and is coupled with standard results from minimum-variance estimation theory to develop an algorithm to compensate for the effects of pneumatic distortion. Both postflight and real-time algorithms are developed and evaluated using simulated and flight data. Covariance selection and filter-tuning examples are presented. Results presented verify that, given appropriate covariance magnitudes, the algorithms accurately reconstruct surface pressure values from remotely sensed pressure measurements.

Whitmore, Stephen A.↗

Post Kalman progress

In a paper here last year, an idea was put forward that much greater performance could be obtained from an observer, relative to a Kalman filter if more general performance indices were adopted, and the full power spectra of all the noises were employed. The considerable progress since then is reported here. Included are an extension of the theory to regulators, direct calculation of the theory's fundamental quantities - the noise effect integrals - for several theoretical spectra, and direct derivations of the Riccati equations of LQG (Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian) and Kalman theory yielding new insights.

Sonnabend, David↗

Rotating Reverse Osmosis for Wastewater Reuse

Our previous work established the concept of a low-pressure rotating reverse osmosis membrane system. The rotation of the cylindrical RO filter produces shear and Taylor vortices in the annulus of the device that decrease the concentration polarization and fouling commonly seen with conventional RO filtration techniques. A mathematical model based on the film theory and the solution-diffusion model agrees well with the experimental results obtained using this first generation prototype. However, based on the model, the filtrate flux and contaminant rejection depend strongly on the transmembrane pressure. Therefore, the goal of our current work is to improve the flux of the device by increasing the transmembrane pressure by a factor of 3 to 4. In addition, the rejections for a wider variety of inorganic and organic compounds typically found in space mission wastewater are measured.

Lueptow, Richard M.↗

Dynamic signal recovery in distribution grids using compressive lossy measurements

Distribution system state estimation requires reliable aggregation of the measured data. However, the large volume of the measured data imposes a significant stress on the underlying communication infrastructure. With the challenges associated with measurement availability, current distribution systems are typically unobservable. To cope with the unobservability issue, compressive sensing theory allows us to recover system state information from a small number of measurements provided the states of the distribution system exhibit sparsity. In this paper, we evaluate the robustness of an updated Kalman filtered modified compressive sensing (KF-ModCS) technique that dynamically estimates the grid states using a small fraction of measured data. In practice, measurements used for sparsity based state estimation may also be intermittent due to communication network induced losses. Further, to understand the effect of packet losses on KF-ModCS, we provide an upper bound for the expected variances of the state estimation error for a given rate of information loss. This upper bound is further improved if the support set of the sparse signal that characterizes the state dynamics does not change over time and/or the reduced model is observable. Simulations based on two practical data sets collected from actual customers in a distribution grid validate the theoretical results.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Control of the maneuvering SCOLE structure

This paper is concerned with the vibration control of the SCOLE structure while it undergoes a slewing maneuver. The control law is designed according to the linear quadratic regulator theory. In view of saturation limits on the actuators, the actual implementation is modified so as to observe these limits, resulting in suboptimal control. State estimation is carried out by means of a Kalman filter. The control and state estimation are carried out in discrete time. Numerical simulations for several cases of interest are presented.

Lim, S.↗

Two-channel Costas loop tracking performance for UQPSK signals with arbitrary data formats

Previous results on the tracking performance of two-channel Costas-type carrier synchronization loops are generalized and corrected, in order that they may be applied to several mixed-format cases. In particular, the mean-square phase jitter performance of these loops with active arm filters, synchronous or asynchronous symbol clocks, and arbitrary data formats on the two channels is examined. It is demonstrated that for each case, selection of the channel gain ratio, as motivated by the MAP estimation theory, does not guarantee optimum loop tracking performance: in some instances, a conventional single-channel Costas loop would outperform the two-channel version with the MAP choice of gain ratio. It is suggested that the gain ratio be chosen to directly minimize the mean-square phase tracking jitter which is equivalent to minimizing the loop's 'squaring loss'. This can, in some cases, improve the performance measure, although in all cases, the two-channel loop will still outperform the single-channel version.

Simon, M. K.↗

Classification and equivalence in estimation theory

A method is proposed for classifying estimation problems based on the Lie algebra generated by the operators which appear in the conditional density equation. A natural class of automorphisms of this algebra is examined and a systematic method of generating equivalent problems is developed. Finally, a new class of nonlinear filtering problems with essentially nonlinear filtering equations are presented.

Brockett, R. W.↗