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This article is devoted to the development of an algorithm for trajectory control of a highly maneuverable four-wheeled robotic transport platform equipped with mecanum wheels, in order to organize its movement behind some moving object. The calculation of the kinematic ratios of this platform in a fixed coordinate system is presented, which is necessary to determine the angular velocities of the robot wheels depending on a given velocity vector. An algorithm has been developed for the robot to follow a mobile object on a plane without obstacles based on the use of a modified chase method using different types of control functions. The chase method consists in the fact that the velocity vector of the geometric center of the platform is co-directed with the vector connecting the geometric center of the platform and the moving object. Two types of control functions are implemented: piecewise and constant. The piecewise function means control with switching modes depending on the distance from the robot to the target. The main feature of the piecewise function is a smooth change in the robot’s speed. Also, the control functions are divided according to the nature of behavior when the robot approaches the target. When using one of the piecewise functions, the robot’s movement slows down when a certain distance between the robot and the target is reached and stops completely at a critical distance. Another type of behavior when approaching the target is to change the direction of the velocity vector to the opposite, if the distance between the platform and the object is the minimum allowable, which avoids collisions when the target moves in the direction of the robot. This type of behavior when approaching the goal is implemented for a piecewise and constant function. Numerical simulation of the robot control algorithm for various control functions in the task of chasing a target, where the target moves in a circle, is performed. The pseudocode of the control algorithm and control functions is presented. Graphs of the robot’s trajectory when moving behind the target, speed changes, changes in the angular velocities of the wheels from time to time for various control functions are shown.

The problem of active control of the mechanical equilibrium of an inhomogeneously heated fluid in a thermosyphon is studied theoretically and experimentally. The control is performed by using a feedback subsystem which inhibits convection by changing the orientation of thermosyphon in space. It is shown that excess feedback leads to the excitation of oscillations which are related to a delay in the controller work. In the presense of noise, the oscillations arise even when deterministic description predicts stationary behaviour. The experimental data and theory are in good agreement.

It is known that the sound speed in medium that contain highly compressible inclusions, e.g. air pores in an elastic medium or gas bubbles in the liquid may be significantly reduced compared to a homogeneous medium. Effective nonlinear parameter of medium, describing the manifestation of nonlinear effects, increases hundreds and thousands of times because of the large differences in the compressibility of the inclusions and the medium. Spatial change in the concentration of such inclusions leads to the variable local sound speed, which in turn calls the spatial-temporal redistribution of acoustic energy in the wave and the distortion of its temporal profiles and cross-section structure of bounded beams. In particular, focal areas can form. Under certain conditions, the sound channel is formed that provides waveguide propagation of acoustic signals in the medium with similar inclusions. Thus, it is possible to control spatial-temporal structure of acoustic waves with the introduction of highly compressible inclusions with a given spatial distribution and concentration. The aim of this work is to study the propagation of acoustic waves in a rubberlike material with non-uniform spatial air cavities. The main objective is the development of an adequate theory of such structurally inhomogeneous media, theory of propagation of nonlinear acoustic waves and beams in these media, the calculation of the acoustic fields and identify the communication parameters of the medium and inclusions with characteristics of propagating waves. In the work the evolutionary self-consistent equation with integro-differential term is obtained describing in the low-frequency approximation propagation of intense acoustic beams in a medium with highly compressible cavities. In this equation the secondary acoustic field is taken into account caused by the dynamics of the cavities oscillations. The method is developed to obtain exact analytical solutions for nonlinear acoustic field of the beam on its axis and to calculate the field in the focal areas. The obtained results are applied to theoretical modeling of a material with non-uniform distribution of strongly compressible inclusions.

Execution or violation of the principle of competitive exclusion in communities is the subject of many studies. The principle of competitive exclusion means that coexistence of species in community is impossible if the number of species exceeds the number of controlling mutually independent factors. At that time there are many examples displaying the violations of this principle in the natural systems. The explanations for this paradox vary from inexact identification of the set of factors to various types of spatial and temporal heterogeneities. One of the factors breaking the principle of competitive exclusion is intraspecific competition. This study holds the model of community with two species and one influencing factor with density-dependent mortality and spatial heterogeneity. For such models possibility of the existence of stable equilibrium is proved in case of spatial homogeneity and negative effect of the species on the factor. Our purpose is analysis of possible variants of dynamics of the system with spatial heterogeneity under the various directions of the species effect on the influencing factor. Numerical analysis showed that there is stable coexistence of the species agreed with homogenous spatial distributions of the species if the species effects on the influencing factor are negative. Density-dependent mortality and spatial heterogeneity lead to violation of the principle of competitive exclusion when equilibriums are Turing unstable. In this case stable spatial heterogeneous patterns can arise. It is shown that Turing instability is possible if at least one of the species effects is positive. Model nonlinearity and spatial heterogeneity cause violation of the principle of competitive exclusion in terms of both stable spatial homogenous states and quasistable spatial heterogeneous patterns.

The volume and structure of accumulated credit debt to the banking system depends on many factors, the most important of which is the level of interest rates. The correct assessment of borrowers’ reaction to the changes in the monetary policy allows to develop econometric models, representing the structure of the credit portfolio in the banking system by terms of lending. These models help to calculate indicators characterizing the level of interest rate risk in the whole system. In the study, we carried out the identification of four types of models: discrete linear model based on transfer functions; the state-space model; the classical econometric model ARMAX, and a nonlinear Hammerstein –Wiener model. To describe them, we employed the formal language of automatic control theory; to identify the model, we used the MATLAB software pack-age. The study revealed that the discrete linear state-space model is most suitable for short-term forecasting of both the volume and the structure of credit debt, which in turn allows to predict trends in the structure of accumulated credit debt on the forecasting horizon of 1 year. The model based on the real data has shown a high sensitivity of the structure of credit debt by pay back periods reaction to the changes in the Ñentral Bank monetary policy. Thus, a sharp increase in interest rates in response to external market shocks leads to shortening of credit terms by borrowers, at the same time the overall level of debt rises, primarily due to the increasing revaluation of nominal debt. During the stable falling trend of interest rates, the structure shifts toward long-term debts.

In this paper we consider mathematical model to control water quality. We study a system with two-level hierarchy: one environmental organization (supervisor) at the top level and a few industrial enterprises (agents) at the lower level. The main goal of the supervisor is to keep water pollution level below certain value, while enterprises pollute water, as a side effect of the manufacturing process. Supervisor achieves its goal by charging a penalty for enterprises. On the other hand, enterprises choose how much to purify their wastewater to maximize their income.The fee increases the budget of the supervisor. Moreover, effulent fees are charged for the quantity and/or quality of the discharged pollution. Unfortunately, in practice, such charges are ineffective due to the insufficient tax size. The article solves the problem of determining the optimal size of the charge for pollution discharge, which allows maintaining the quality of river water in the rear range.

We describe system members goals with target functionals, and describe water pollution level and enterprises state as system of ordinary differential equations. We consider the problem from both supervisor and enterprises sides. From agents’ point a normal-form game arises, where we search for Nash equilibrium and for the supervisor, we search for Stackelberg equilibrium. We propose numerical algorithms for finding both Nash and Stackelberg equilibrium. When we construct Nash equilibrium, we solve optimal control problem using Pontryagin’s maximum principle. We construct Hamilton’s function and solve corresponding system of partial differential equations with shooting method and finite difference method. Numerical calculations show that the low penalty for enterprises results in increasing pollution level, when relatively high penalty can result in enterprises bankruptcy. This leads to the problem of choosing optimal penalty, which requires considering problem from the supervisor point. In that case we use the method of qualitatively representative scenarios for supervisor and Pontryagin’s maximum principle for agents to find optimal control for the system. At last, we compute system consistency ratio and test algorithms for different data. The results show that a hierarchical control is required to provide system stability.

Modeling combat operations is an urgent scientific and practical task aimed at providing commanders and staffs with quantitative grounds for making decisions. The authors proposed the function of victory in combat and military operations, based on the function of the conflict by G. Tullock and taking into account the scale of combat (military) operations. On a sufficient volume of military statistics, the scale parameter was assessed and its values were found for the tactical, operational and strategic levels. The game-theoretic models «offensive – defense», in which the sides solve the immediate and subsequent tasks, having the formation of troops in one or several echelons, have been investigated. At the first stage of modeling, the solution of the immediate task is found — the breakthrough (holding) of defense points, at the second — the solution of the subsequent task — the defeat of the enemy in the depth of the defense (counterattack and restoration of defense). For the tactical level, using the Nash equilibrium, solutions were found for the closest problem (distribution of the forces of the sides by points of defense) in an antagonistic game according to three criteria: a) breakthrough of the weakest point, b) breakthrough of at least one point, and c) weighted average probability. It is shown that it is advisable for the attacking side to use the criterion of «breaking through at least one point», in which, all other things being equal, the maximum probability of breaking through the points of defense is ensured. At the second stage of modeling for a particular case (the sides are guided by the criterion of breaking through the weakest point when breaking through and holding defense points), the problem of distributing forces and facilities between tactical tasks (echelons) was solved according to two criteria: a) maximizing the probability of breaking through the defense point and the probability of defeating the enemy in depth defense, b) maximizing the minimum value of the named probabilities (the criterion of the guaranteed result). Awareness is an important aspect of combat operations. Several examples of reflexive games (games characterized by complex mutual awareness) and information management are considered. It is shown under what conditions information control increases the player’s payoff, and the optimal information control is found.

Industrial robots have made it possible for robotics to become a worldwide discipline both in economy and in science. However, their capabilities are limited, especially regarding contact tasks where it is required to regulate or at least limit contact forces. At one point, it was noticed that elasticity in the joint transmission, which was treated as a drawback previously, is actually helpful in this regard. This observation led to the introduction of elastic joint robots that are well-suited to contact tasks and cooperative behavior in particular, so they become more and more widespread nowadays. Many researchers try to implement such devices not with trivial series elastic actuators (SEA) but with more sophisticated variable stiffness actuators (VSA) that can regulate their own mechanical stiffness. All elastic actuators demonstrate shock robustness and safe interaction with external objects to some extent, but when stiffness may be varied, it provides additional benefits, e. g., in terms of energy efficiency and task adaptability. Here, we present a novel variable stiffness actuator with a magnetic coupler as an elastic element. Magnetic transmission is contactless and thus advantageous in terms of robustness to misalignment. In addition, the friction model of the transmission becomes less complex. It also has milder stiffness characteristic than typical mechanical nonlinear springs, moreover, the stiffness curve has a maximum after which it descends. Therefore, when this maximum torque is achieved, the coupler slips, and a new pair of poles defines the equilibrium position. As a result, the risk of damage is smaller for this design solution. The design of the joint is thoroughly described, along with its mathematical model. Finally, the control system is also proposed, and simulation tests confirm the design ideas.

The problem of optimal control of traffic flow in an urban road network is considered. The control is carried out by varying the duration of the working phases of traffic lights at controlled intersections. A description of the control system developed is given. The control system enables the use of three types of control: open-loop, feedback and manual. In feedback control, road infrastructure detectors, video cameras, inductive loop and radar detectors are used to determine the quantitative characteristics of current traffic flow state. The quantitative characteristics of the traffic flows are fed into a mathematical model of the traffic flow, implemented in the computer environment of an automatic traffic flow control system, in order to determine the moments for switching the working phases of the traffic lights. The model is a system of finite-difference recurrent equations and describes the change in traffic flow on each road section at each time step, based on retrived data on traffic flow characteristics in the network, capacity of maneuvers and flow distribution through alternative maneuvers at intersections. The model has scaling and aggregation properties. The structure of the model depends on the structure of the graph of the controlled road network. The number of nodes in the graph is equal to the number of road sections in the considered network. The simulation of traffic flow changes in real time makes it possible to optimally determine the duration of traffic light operating phases and to provide traffic flow control with feedback based on its current state. The system of automatic collection and processing of input data for the model is presented. In order to model the states of traffic flow in the network and to solve the problem of optimal traffic flow control, the CTraf software package has been developed, a brief description of which is given in the paper. An example of the solution of the optimal control problem of traffic flows on the basis of real data in the road network of Moscow is given.

In this paper, we propose an adaptive traffic signal control method invariant to the configuration of the traffic signal. The proposed method uses one neural network model to control traffic signals of various configurations, differing both in the number of controlled lanes and in the used traffic light control cycle (set of phases). To describe the state space, both dynamic information about the current state of the traffic flow and static data about the configuration of a controlled intersection are used. To increase the speed of model training and reduce the required amount of data required for model convergence, it is proposed to use an “expert” who provides additional data for model training. As an expert, we propose to use an adaptive control method based on maximizing the weighted flow of vehicles through an intersection. Experimental studies of the effectiveness of the developed method were carried out in a microscopic simulation software package. The obtained results confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method in different simulation scenarios. The possibility of using the developed method in a simulation scenario that is not used in the training process was shown. We provide a comparison of the proposed method with other baseline solutions, including the method used as an “expert”. In most scenarios, the developed method showed the best results by average travel time and average waiting time criteria. The advantage over the method used as an expert, depending on the scenario under study, ranged from 2% to 12% according to the criterion of average vehicle waiting time and from 1% to 7% according to the criterion of average travel time.