Section: New Results

Applications

• A fault detection method for an automatic detection of spawning in oysters [13]:

  Using measurements of valve activity (i.e. the distance between the two valves) in populations of bivalves under natural environmental condition (16 oysters in the Bay of Arcachon, France, in 2007, 2013 and 2014), an algorithm for an automatic detection of the spawning period of oysters is proposed in this paper. Spawning observations are important in aquaculture and biological studies, and until now, such a detection is done through visual analysis by an expert. The algorithm is based on the fault detection approach and it works through the estimation of velocity of valve movement activity, that can be obtained by calculating the time derivative of the valve distance. A summarized description of the methods used for the derivative estimation is provided, followed by the associated signal processing and decision making algorithm to determine spawning from the velocity signal. A protection from false spawning detection is also considered by analyzing the simultaneity in spawning. Through this study, it is shown that spawning in a population of oysters living in their natural habitat (i.e. in the sea) can be automatically detected without any human expertise saving time and resources. The fault detection method presented in the paper can also be used to detect complex oscillatory behavior which is of interest to control engineering community.

• Robust synchronization of genetic oscillators [52]:

  Cell division introduces discontinuities in the dynamics of genetic oscillators (circadian clocks, synthetic oscillators, etc.) causing phase drift. This paper considers the problem of phase synchronization for a population of genetic oscillators that undergoes cell division and with a common entraining input in the population. Inspired by stochastic simulation, this paper proposes analytical conditions that guarantee phase synchronization. This analytical conditions are derived based on Phase Response Curve (PRC) model of an oscillator (the first order reduced model obtained for the linearized system and inputs with sufficiently small amplitude). Cell division introduces state resetting in the model (or phase resetting in the case of phase model), placing it in the class of hybrid systems. It is shown through numerical experiments for a motivating example that without common entraining input in all oscillators, the cell division acts as a disturbance causing phase drift, while the presence of entrainment guarantees boundedness of synchronization phase errors in the population. Theoretical developments proposed in the paper are demonstrated through numerical simulations for two different genetic oscillator models (Goodwin oscillator and Van der Pol oscillator).

• Modeling pointing tasks in mouse-based human-computer interactions [54]:

  Pointing is a basic gesture performed by any user during human-computer interaction. It consists in covering a distance to select a target via the cursor in a graphical user interface (e.g. a computer mouse movement to select a menu element). In this work, a dynamic model is proposed to describe the cursor motion during the pointing task. The model design is based on experimental data for pointing with a mouse. The obtained model has switched dynamics, which corresponds well to the state of the art accepted in the human-computer interaction community. The conditions of the model stability are established. The presented model can be further used for the improvement of user performance during pointing tasks.

• Modeling and control of turbulent flows [64]:

  The model-based closed-loop control of a separated flow can be studied based on the model described by Navier-Stokes equation. However, such a model still rises difficult issues for control practice. An alternative bilinear and delayed model has been developed tested on the experiments allowing its identification. The identification technique combines least-square technique with a Mesh Adaptive Direct Search (MADS) algorithm. 

• Practical design considerations for successful industrial application of model-based fault detection techniques to aircraft systems [47]:

  This paper discusses some key factors which may arise for successful application of model-based Fault Detection(FD) techniques to aircraft systems. The paper reports on the results and the lessons learned during flight V & V(Validation & Verification) activities, implementation in the A380 Flight Control Computer(FCC) and A380 flight tests at Airbus(Toulouse, France).The paper does not focus on new theoretical materials, but rather on a number of practical design considerations to provide viable technological solutions and mechanization schemes. The selected case studies are taken from past and on-going research actions between Airbus and the University of Bordeaux (France). One of the presented solutions has received final certification on new generation Airbus A350 aircraft and is flying (first commercial flight: January 15,2015)

• Finite-time obstacle avoidance for unicycle-like robot [26]:

  The problem of avoiding obstacles while navigating within an environment for a Unicycle-like Wheeled Mobile Robot (WMR) is of prime importance in robotics; the aim of this work is to solve such a problem proposing a perturbed version of the standard kinematic model able to compensate for the neglected dynamics of the robot. The disturbances are considered additive on the inputs and the solution is based on the supervisory control framework, finite-time stability and a robust multi-output regulation. The effectiveness of the solution is proved, supported by experiments and finally compared with the Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) to show how the proposed method can perform better than standard methods.

• Almost global attractivity of a synchronous generator connected to an infinite bus [56]:

  The problem of deriving verifiable conditions for stability of the equilibria of a realistic model of a synchronous generator with constant field current connected to an infinite bus is studied in the paper. Necessary and sufficient conditions for existence and uniqueness of equilibrium points are provided. Furthermore, sufficient conditions for almost global attractivity are given. To carry out this analysis a new Lyapunov–like function is proposed to establish convergence of bounded trajectories, while the latter is proven using the powerful theoretical framework of cell structures pioneered by Leonov and Noldus.