Fuzzy linguistic controllers applied to decouple control loop effects

A fuzzy linguistic controller has been developed and implemented with the aim to cope with interactions between control loops due to coupling effects. To access the performance of the proposed approach several experiments have also been conducted using the classical PID controllers in the control loops. A mixing process has been used as test bed of all controllers experimented and the corresponding dynamic model has been derived. The successful results achieved with the fuzzy linguistic controllers suggests that they can be an alternative to classical controllers when in the presence of process plants where automatic control as to cope with coupling effects between control loops. © 2014 IEEE.

Logarithmically proportional objective function for planar surfaces recognition in 3D point cloud

3D laser scanning is becoming a standard technology to generate building models of a facility's as-is condition. Since most constructions are constructed upon planar surfaces, recognition of them paves the way for automation of generating building models. This paper introduces a new logarithmically proportional objective function that can be used in both heuristic and metaheuristic (MH) algorithms to discover planar surfaces in a point cloud without exploiting any prior knowledge about those surfaces. It can also adopt itself to the structural density of a scanned construction. In this paper, a metaheuristic method, genetic algorithm (GA), is used to test this introduced objective function on a synthetic point cloud. The results obtained show the proposed method is capable to find all plane configurations of planar surfaces (with a wide variety of sizes) in the point cloud with a minor distance to the actual configurations. © 2014 IEEE.

Optimal location of supports in beam structures using genetic algorithms

Real structures can be thought as an assembly of components, as for instances plates, shells and beams. This later type of component is very commonly found in structures like frames which can involve a significant degree of complexity or as a reinforcement element of plates or shells. To obtain the desired mechanical behavior of these components or to improve their operating conditions when rehabilitating structures, one of the eventual parameters to consider for that purpose, when possible, is the location of the supports. In the present work, a beam-type structure is considered, and for a set of cases concerning different number and types of supports, as well as different load cases, the authors optimize the location of the supports in order to obtain minimum values of the maximum transverse deflection. The optimization processes are carried out using genetic algorithms. The results obtained, clearly show a good performance of the approach proposed. © 2014 IEEE.

Optimization of structures modeled with a Meshfree approach

Radial basis functions are being used in different scientific areas in order to reproduce the geometrical modeling of an object/structure, as well as to predict its behavior. Due to its characteristics, these functions are well suited for meshfree modeling of physical quantities, which for instances can be associated to the data sets of 3D laser scanning point clouds. In the present work the geometry of a structure is modeled by using multiquadric radial basis functions, and its configuration is further optimized in order to obtain better performances concerning to its static and dynamic behavior. For this purpose the authors consider the particle swarm optimization technique. A set of case studies is presented to illustrate the adequacy of the meshfree model used, as well as its link to particle swarm optimization technique. © 2014 IEEE.

Minimal anomaly-free chiral fermion sets and gauce coupling unification

We look for minimal chiral sets of fermions beyond the standard model that are anomaly free and, simultaneously, vectorlike particles with respect to color SU(3) and electromagnetic U(1). We then study whether the addition of such particles to the standard model particle content allows for the unification of gauge couplings at a high energy scale, above 5.0 x 10(15) GeV so as to be safely consistent with proton decay bounds. The possibility to have unification at the string scale is also considered. Inspired in grand unified theories, we also search for minimal chiral fermion sets that belong to SU(5) multiplets, restricted to representations up to dimension 50. It is shown that, in various cases, it is possible to achieve gauge unification provided that some of the extra fermions decouple at relatively high intermediate scales.

O estranho caso do romancista e dos livros pretos que ele escreveu: a propósito da obra de Gonçalo M. Tavares e dos espectáculos "Sobreviver" e "Jerusalém"

Trazer a matéria romanesca para o palco tem sido uma das mais dilectas tentações do drama contemporâneo. Em Portugal, há um universo de um romancista em particular que tem despertado o interesse de alguns criadores teatrais: Gonçalo M. Tavares (n.1970). Sendo também um dramaturgo, é no romance que a excelência superlativa da sua escrita se tem afirmado e tem sido reconhecida. Neste artigo abordo dois espectáculos que partiram de romances de Gonçalo M. Tavares que fazem parte do ciclo “O Reino-Livros Pretos”: Sobreviver, encenado por Lúcia Sigalho /Sensurround, apresentado no S. Luiz Teatro Municipal (Lisboa), em Fevereiro de 2006; e Jerusalém, encenado por João Brites / Teatro o bando, apresentado no Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisboa), em Outubro de 2008. Sobreviver, de Sigalho, foi o resultado de um trabalho de escrita cénica, realizado pela encenadora e pelo colectivo de actores, sobre os livros pretos de Gonçalo M. Tavares Um homem: Klaus Klump, A máquina de Joseph Walser e Jerusalém (e também um excerto de O senhor Brecht). Jerusalém, de Brites partia da obra homónima de M. Tavares, estando a sua matriz performativa mais próxima da narrativa original. A dramaturgia do espectáculo construía-se sobre a mesma cartografia de horror e mal que o romance habitava. Havia, contudo, um ímpeto no sentido de poder expandir os significados do texto e encontrar ecos de guerra e violência noutras latitudes.

Death cabaret: porque os mortos viajam depressa

Projecto do Mestrado de Teatro especialização em Artes Performativas

ECG biometrics using a dissimilarity space representation

Electrocardiogram (ECG) biometrics are a relatively recent trend in biometric recognition, with at least 13 years of development in peer-reviewed literature. Most of the proposed biometric techniques perform classifi-cation on features extracted from either heartbeats or from ECG based transformed signals. The best representation is yet to be decided. This paper studies an alternative representation, a dissimilarity space, based on the pairwise dissimilarity between templates and subjects' signals. Additionally, this representation can make use of ECG signals sourced from multiple leads. Configurations of three leads will be tested and contrasted with single-lead experiments. Using the same k-NN classifier the results proved superior to those obtained through a similar algorithm which does not employ a dissimilarity representation. The best Authentication EER went as low as 1:53% for a database employing 503 subjects. However, the employment of extra leads did not prove itself advantageous.