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In this paper, we discuss the procedure for finding nominal trajectories of the planar five-link bipedal robot with point contact. To this end we use a virtual constraints method that transforms robot’s dynamics to a lowdimensional zero manifold; we also use a nonlinear optimization algorithms to find virtual constraints parameters that minimize robot’s cost of transportation. We analyzed the effect of the degree of Bezier polynomials that approximate the virtual constraints and continuity of the torques on the cost of transportation. Based on numerical results we found that it is sufficient to consider polynomials with degrees between five and six, as further increase in the degree of polynomial results in increased computation time while it does not guarantee reduction of the cost of transportation. Moreover, it was shown that introduction of torque continuity constraints does not lead to significant increase of the objective function and makes the gait more implementable on a real robot.

We propose a two step procedure for finding minimum of the considered optimization problem with objective function in the form of cost of transportation and with high number of constraints. During the first step we solve a feasibility problem: remove cost function (set it to zero) and search for feasible solution in the parameter space. During the second step we introduce the objective function and use the solution found in the first step as initial guess. For the first step we put forward an algorithm for finding initial guess that considerably reduced optimization time of the first step (down to 3–4 seconds) compared to random initialization. Comparison of the objective function of the solutions found during the first and second steps showed that on average during the second step objective function was reduced twofold, even though overall computation time increased significantly.

In this paper, we address the mathematical modeling of robots based on tensegrity structures. The pivotal property of such structures is the forming elements working only for compression or tension, which allows the use of materials and structural solutions that minimize the weight of the structure while maintaining its strength.

Tensegrity structures hold several properties important for collaborative robotics, exploration and motion tasks in non-deterministic environments: natural compliance, compactness for transportation, low weight with significant impact resistance and rigidity. The control of such structures remains an open research problem, which is associated with the complexity of describing the dynamics of such structures.

We formulate an approach for describing the dynamics of such structures, based on second-order dynamics of the Cartesian coordinates of structure elements (rods), first-order dynamics for angular velocities of rods, and first-order dynamics for quaternions that are used to describe the orientation of rods. We propose a numerical method for solving these dynamic equations. The proposed methods are implemented in the form of a freely distributed mathematical package with open source code.

Further, we show how the provided software package can be used for modeling the dynamics and determining the operating modes of tensegrity structures. We present an example of a tensegrity structure moving in zero gravity with three rigid rods and nine elastic elements working in tension (cables), showing the features of the dynamics of the structure in reaching the equilibrium position. The range of initial conditions for which the structure operates in the normal mode is determined. The results can be directly used to analyze the nature of passive dynamic movements of the robots based on a three-link tensegrity structure, considered in the paper; the proposed modeling methods and the developed software are suitable for modeling a significant variety of tensegrity robots.

This article solves the problem of developing a technology for collecting initial data for building models for assessing the functional state of a person. This condition is assessed by the pupil response of a person to a change in illumination based on the pupillometry method. This method involves the collection and analysis of initial data (pupillograms), presented in the form of time series characterizing the dynamics of changes in the human pupils to a light impulse effect. The drawbacks of the traditional approach to the collection of initial data using the methods of computer vision and smoothing of time series are analyzed. Attention is focused on the importance of the quality of the initial data for the construction of adequate mathematical models. The need for manual marking of the iris and pupil circles is updated to improve the accuracy and quality of the initial data. The stages of the proposed technology for collecting initial data are described. An example of the obtained pupillogram is given, which has a smooth shape and does not contain outliers, noise, anomalies and missing values. Based on the presented technology, a software and hardware complex has been developed, which is a collection of special software with two main modules, and hardware implemented on the basis of a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B microcomputer, with peripheral equipment that implements the specified functionality. To evaluate the effectiveness of the developed technology, models of a single-layer perspetron and a collective of neural networks are used, for the construction of which the initial data on the functional state of intoxication of a person were used. The studies have shown that the use of manual marking of the initial data (in comparison with automatic methods of computer vision) leads to a decrease in the number of errors of the 1st and 2nd years of the kind and, accordingly, to an increase in the accuracy of assessing the functional state of a person. Thus, the presented technology for collecting initial data can be effectively used to build adequate models for assessing the functional state of a person by pupillary response to changes in illumination. The use of such models is relevant in solving individual problems of ensuring transport security, in particular, monitoring the functional state of drivers.

A simple model based on a kinetic-type equation is proposed to describe the spread of a virus in space through the migration of virus carriers from a certain center. The consideration is carried out on the example of three countries for which such a one-dimensional model is applicable: Russia, Italy and Chile. The geographical location of these countries and their elongation in the direction from the centers of infection (Moscow, Milan and Lombardia in general, as well as Santiago, respectively) makes it possible to use such an approximation. The aim is to determine the dynamic density of the infected in time and space. The model is two-parameter. The first parameter is the value of the average spreading rate associated with the transfer of infected moving by transport vehicles. The second parameter is the frequency of the decrease of the infected as they move through the country, which is associated with the passengers reaching their destination, as well as with quarantine measures. The parameters are determined from the actual known data for the first days of the spatial spread of the epidemic. An analytical solution is being built; simple numerical methods are also used to obtain a series of calculations. The geographical spread of the disease is a factor taken into account in the model, the second important factor is that contact infection in the field is not taken into account. Therefore, the comparison of the calculated values with the actual data in the initial period of infection coincides with the real data, then these data become higher than the model data. Those no less model calculations allow us to make some predictions. In addition to the speed of infection, a similar “speed of recovery” is possible. When such a speed is found for the majority of the country's population, a conclusion is made about the beginning of a global recovery, which coincides with real data.

A previously developed model that describes the dynamics of social tension in a society divided into two groups: the elite and the people was considered. This model took into account the impact of economic situation changes and the elite–people interaction. The model has been modified by including in the equation describing the tension of the people, a term that takes into account the adaptation of the people to the current situation.

The model coefficients estimation is an important task, the solution of which allows obtaining information about the nature of the interaction between elite and people. We believe that the solution of the system of model equations with optimal coefficients is closest to the values of the indicator characterizing social tension. We used the normalized level of homicide rate as an indicator of social tension.

The model contains seven coefficients. Two coefficients characterizing the influence of economic situation changes on elite and people are taken equal to each other and the same for all countries. We obtained their estimations using a simplified model that takes into account only the change in the economic situation and allows an analytical solution.

The Bayesian approach was used to estimate the remaining five coefficients of model for post-Soviet countries. The prior probability densities of the four coefficients for all countries under consideration were taken to be the same. The prior probability density of fifth coefficient was considered to depend on the regime of government (authoritarian or «transitional»). We assumed that the calculated tension matches with the corresponding indicator of tension in cases where the difference between them does not exceed 5%.

The calculations showed that for the post-Soviet countries, a good coincidence was obtained between the calculated values of the people tension and the normalized level of homicide rate. The coincidence is satisfactory only on average.

The following main results was obtained at the work: under the influence of some «significant» events in 40% of post-Soviet countries, there was a rapid change in the nature of interaction between the elite and the people; regional feature have some influence on the elite–people interaction; the type of government does not significantly affect the elite–people interaction; the method for assessing the stability of the country by the value of the model coefficients is proposed.

The background social strain of a society can be quantitatively estimated using various statistical indicators. Mathematical models, allowing to forecast the dynamics of social strain, are successful in describing various social processes. If the number of interacting groups is small, the dynamics of the corresponding indicators can be modelled with a system of ordinary differential equations. The increase in the number of interacting components leads to the growth of complexity, which makes the analysis of such models a challenging task. A continuous social stratification model can be considered as a result of the transition from a discrete number of interacting social groups to their continuous distribution in some finite interval. In such a model, social strain naturally spreads locally between neighbouring groups, while in reality, the social elite influences the whole society via news media, and the Internet allows non-local interaction between social groups. These factors, however, can be taken into account to some extent using the term of the model, describing negative external influence on the society. In this paper, we develop a continuous social stratification model, describing the dynamics of two societies connected through migration. We assume that people migrate from the social group of donor society with the highest strain level to poorer social layers of the acceptor society, transferring the social strain at the same time. We assume that all model parameters are constants, which is a realistic assumption for small societies only. By using the finite volume method, we construct the spatial discretization for the problem, capable of reproducing finite propagation speed of social strain. We verify the discretization by comparing the results of numerical simulations with the exact solutions of the auxiliary non-linear diffusion equation. We perform the numerical analysis of the proposed model for different values of model parameters, study the impact of migration intensity on the stability of acceptor society, and find the destabilization conditions. The results, obtained in this work, can be used in further analysis of the model in the more realistic case of inhomogeneous coefficients.

In this paper, the system of equations of magnetic hydrodynamics (MHD) is considered. The exact solutions found describe fluid flows in a porous medium and are related to the development of a core simulator and are aimed at creating a domestic technology «digital deposit» and the tasks of controlling the parameters of incompressible fluid. The central problem associated with the use of computer technology is large-dimensional grid approximations and high-performance supercomputers with a large number of parallel microprocessors. Kinetic methods for solving differential equations and methods for «gluing» exact solutions on coarse grids are being developed as possible alternatives to large-dimensional grid approximations. A comparative analysis of the efficiency of computing systems allows us to conclude that it is necessary to develop the organization of calculations based on integer arithmetic in combination with universal approximate methods. A class of exact solutions of the Navier – Stokes system is proposed, describing three-dimensional flows for an incompressible fluid, as well as exact solutions of nonstationary three-dimensional magnetic hydrodynamics. These solutions are important for practical problems of controlled dynamics of mineralized fluids, as well as for creating test libraries for verification of approximate methods. A number of phenomena associated with the formation of macroscopic structures due to the high intensity of interaction of elements of spatially homogeneous systems, as well as their occurrence due to linear spatial transfer in spatially inhomogeneous systems, are highlighted. It is fundamental that the emergence of structures is a consequence of the discontinuity of operators in the norms of conservation laws. The most developed and universal is the theory of computational methods for linear problems. Therefore, from this point of view, the procedures of «immersion» of nonlinear problems into general linear classes by changing the initial dimension of the description and expanding the functional spaces are important. Identification of functional solutions with functions makes it possible to calculate integral averages of an unknown, but at the same time its nonlinear superpositions, generally speaking, are not weak limits of nonlinear superpositions of approximations of the method, i.e. there are functional solutions that are not generalized in the sense of S. L. Sobolev.

A promising method of increasing precipitation in arid climates is the method of creating a vertical high-temperature jet seeded by hygroscopic aerosol. Such an installation makes it possible to create artificial clouds with the possibility of precipitation formation in a cloudless atmosphere, unlike traditional methods of artificial precipitation enhancement, which provide for increasing the efficiency of precipitation formation only in natural clouds by seeding them with nuclei of crystallization and condensation. To increase the power of the jet, calcium chloride, carbamide, salt in the form of a coarse aerosol, as well as NaCl/TiO₂ core/shell novel nanopowder, which is capable of condensing much more water vapor than the listed types of aerosols, are added. Dispersed inclusions in the jet are also centers of crystallization and condensation in the created cloud to increase the possibility of precipitation. To simulate convective flows in the atmosphere, a mathematical model of FlowVision large-scale atmospheric flows is used, the solution of the equations of motion, energy and mass transfer is carried out in relative variables. The statement of the problem is divided into two parts: the initial jet model and the FlowVision large-scale atmospheric model. The lower region, where the initial high-speed jet flows, is calculated using a compressible formulation with the solution of the energy equation with respect to the total enthalpy. This division of the problem into two separate subdomains is necessary in order to correctly carry out the numerical calculation of the initial turbulent jet at high velocity (M > 0.3). The main mathematical dependencies of the model are given. Numerical experiments were carried out using the presented model, experimental data from field tests of the installation for creating artificial clouds were taken for the initial data. A good agreement with the experiment is obtained: in 55% of the calculations carried out, the value of the vertical velocity at a height of 400 m (more than 2 m/s) and the height of the jet rise (more than 600 m) is within an deviation of 30% of the experimental characteristics, and in 30% of the calculations it is completely consistent with the experiment. The results of numerical simulation allow evaluating the possibility of using the high-speed jet method to stimulate artificial updrafts and to create precipitation. The calculations were carried out using FlowVision CFD software on SUSU Tornado supercomputer.

This paper demonstrates the advantages of using artificial intelligence algorithms for the design of experiment theory, which makes possible to improve the accuracy of parameter identification for an elastostatic robot model. Design of experiment for a robot consists of the optimal configuration-external force pairs for the identification algorithms and can be described by several main stages. At the first stage, an elastostatic model of the robot is created, taking into account all possible mechanical compliances. The second stage selects the objective function, which can be represented by both classical optimality criteria and criteria defined by the desired application of the robot. At the third stage the optimal measurement configurations are found using numerical optimization. The fourth stage measures the position of the robot body in the obtained configurations under the influence of an external force. At the last, fifth stage, the elastostatic parameters of the manipulator are identified based on the measured data.

The objective function required to finding the optimal configurations for industrial robot calibration is constrained by mechanical limits both on the part of the possible angles of rotation of the robot’s joints and on the part of the possible applied forces. The solution of this multidimensional and constrained problem is not simple, therefore it is proposed to use approaches based on artificial intelligence. To find the minimum of the objective function, the following methods, also sometimes called heuristics, were used: genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, simulated annealing algorithm, etc. The obtained results were analyzed in terms of the time required to obtain the configurations, the optimal value, as well as the final accuracy after applying the calibration. The comparison showed the advantages of the considered optimization techniques based on artificial intelligence over the classical methods of finding the optimal value. The results of this work allow us to reduce the time spent on calibration and increase the positioning accuracy of the robot’s end-effector after calibration for contact operations with high loads, such as machining and incremental forming.

The viscoelastic fluid flow model across a porous medium has captivated the interest of many contemporary researchers due to its industrial and technical uses, such as food processing, paper and textile coating, packed bed reactors, the cooling effect of transpiration and the dispersion of pollutants through aquifers. This article focuses on the influence of variable viscosity and viscoelasticity on the magnetohydrodynamic oscillatory flow of second-order fluid through thermally radiating wavy walls. A mathematical model for this fluid flow, including governing equations and boundary conditions, is developed using the usual Boussinesq approximation. The governing equations are transformed into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations using non-similarity transformations. The numerical results obtained by applying finite-difference code based on the Lobatto IIIa formula generated by bvp4c solver are compared to the semi-analytical solutions for the velocity, temperature and concentration profiles obtained using the homotopy perturbation method (HPM). The effect of flow parameters on velocity, temperature, concentration profiles, skin friction coefficient, heat and mass transfer rate, and skin friction coefficient is examined and illustrated graphically. The physical parameters governing the fluid flow profoundly affected the resultant flow profiles except in a few cases. By using the slope linear regression method, the importance of considering the viscosity variation parameter and its interaction with the Lorentz force in determining the velocity behavior of the viscoelastic fluid model is highlighted. The percentage increase in the velocity profile of the viscoelastic model has been calculated for different ranges of viscosity variation parameters. Finally, the results are validated numerically for the skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number profiles.