Stability and Limit Oscillations of a Control Event-Based Sampling Criterion

This paper investigates the presence of limit oscillations in an adaptive sampling system. The basic sampling criterion operates in the sense that each next sampling occurs when the absolute difference of the signal amplitude with respect to its currently sampled signal equalizes a prescribed threshold amplitude. The sampling criterion is extended involving a prescribed set of amplitudes. The limit oscillations might be interpreted through the equivalence of the adaptive sampling and hold device with a nonlinear one consisting of a relay with multiple hysteresis whose parameterization is, in general, dependent on the initial conditions of the dynamic system. The performed study is performed on the time domain.

Stability of Switched Feedback Time-Varying Dynamic Systems Based on the Properties of the Gap Metric for Operators

The stabilization of dynamic switched control systems is focused on and based on an operator-based formulation. It is assumed that the controlled object and the controller are described by sequences of closed operator pairs (L, C) on a Hilbert space H of the input and output spaces and it is related to the existence of the inverse of the resulting input-output operator being admissible and bounded. The technical mechanism addressed to get the results is the appropriate use of the fact that closed operators being sufficiently close to bounded operators, in terms of the gap metric, are also bounded. That philosophy is followed for the operators describing the input-output relations in switched feedback control systems so as to guarantee the closed-loop stabilization.

Robust Sliding Mode Control for Tokamaks

Nuclear fusion has arisen as an alternative energy to avoid carbon dioxide emissions, being the tokamak a promising nuclear fusion reactor that uses a magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. However, different kinds of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities may affect tokamak plasma equilibrium, causing severe reduction of particle confinement and leading to plasma disruptions. In this sense, numerous efforts and resources have been devoted to seeking solutions for the different plasma control problems so as to avoid energy confinement time decrements in these devices. In particular, since the growth rate of the vertical instability increases with the internal inductance, lowering the internal inductance is a fundamental issue to address for the elongated plasmas employed within the advanced tokamaks currently under development. In this sense, this paper introduces a lumped parameter numerical model of the tokamak in order to design a novel robust sliding mode controller for the internal inductance using the transformer primary coil as actuator.

Sistemas de contabilidad de gestión y desempeño de joint ventures internacionales: rol positivo de la experiencia de los directivos

[ES] Este trabajo explora el rol de los sistemas de la contabilidad de gestión en el desempeño de Joint Ventures (JV) del tipo 50/50 en la industria autopartista. Se investiga el impacto que la experiencia previa de los directivos tiene sobre la intensidad y propósito de uso de los sistemas de la contabilidad de gestión y como ellos afectan el desempeño de JVs. El estudio de este fenómeno surge a partir de los resultados reportados en tres estudios de campo exploratorios en JVs (Groot y Merchant 2000) y de otros tres casos de JVs internacionales en la industria autopartista (Porporato 2013) en donde se sugieren que el efecto de los sistemas de control de gestión en el desempeño organizacional es secundario. Los resultados aquí reportados se basan en una encuesta efectuada a 35 JV internacionales y ofrece resultados alineados con la literatura existente. Los resultados muestran que el desempeño organizacional mejora cuando se reduce la incertidumbre de factores percibidos como controlables por los directivos; un factor se percibe como controlable cuando mayor es la experiencia que el directivo tiene con el mismo. La incertidumbre, según la define Galbraith (1973), se reduce vía un uso intensivo de los sistemas de contabilidad de gestión, lo que su vez impacta positivamente en el desempeño organizacional.