Dynamic modelling of the brushless doubly fed machine

A coupled-circuit model for the brushless doubly fed machine (BDFM) has been developed. The transformation of the model into the d-q axis form, ultimately in a synchronous reference frame in which machine currents and voltages have constant values in the steady state, has been carried out. A model-reduction technique is presented, which gives a concise representation of the 'nested-loop' rotor design using a single d-q pair. These models have been experimentally verified and give a convenient and accurate way of calculating the dynamic behaviour of a BDFM. The ability to represent the BDFM with a single d-q pair considerably simplifies the design of suitable controllers. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2013.

Design and market considerations for axial flux superconducting electric machine design

In this paper, the authors investigate a number of design and market considerations for an axial flux superconducting electric machine design that uses high temperature superconductors. The axial flux machine design is assumed to utilise high temperature superconductors in both wire (stator winding) and bulk (rotor field) forms, to operate over a temperature range of 65-77 K, and to have a power output in the range from 10s of kW up to 1 MW (typical for axial flux machines), with approximately 2-3 T as the peak trapped field in the bulk superconductors. The authors firstly investigate the applicability of this type of machine as a generator in small- and medium-sized wind turbines, including the current and forecasted market and pricing for conventional turbines. Next, a study is also carried out on the machine's applicability as an in-wheel hub motor for electric vehicles. Some recommendations for future applications are made based on the outcome of these two studies. Finally, the cost of YBCO-based superconducting (2G HTS) wire is analysed with respect to competing wire technologies and compared with current conventional material costs and current wire costs for both 1G and 2G HTS are still too great to be economically feasible for such superconducting devices.

High-performance bowing machine tests of bowed-string transients

The development is described of a computer-controlled bowing machine that can bow a string with a range of gestures that match or exceed the capabilities of a human violinist. Example measurements of string vibration under controlled bowing conditions are shown, including a Schelleng diagram and a set of Guettler diagrams, for the open D string of a cello. For some results a rosin-coated rod was used in place of a conventional bow, to provide quantitative data for comparison with theoretical predictions. The results show qualitative consistency with the predictions of Schelleng and Guettler, but details are revealed that go beyond the limitations of existing models. © S. Hirzel Verlag · EAA.

Decoupling method for vector control of the brushless doubly-fed machine

The brushless doubly-fed machine exhibits rotor-speed-dependent, cross-coupling effects between inputs and outputs when vector control is implemented. Manipulation of the model equations shows that these effects are represented by rotation angles. A parameter-independent decoupling method is presented which reduces these cross-coupling disturbances by estimating the rotation angle and applying it back to the controller. © 2013 IEEE.

Reference frame re-alignment for vector control of the brushless doubly-fed machine

Vector control provides stability and performance when applied to the brushless doubly-fed machine, however cross-coupling effects can arise between inputs and outputs. To address these effects, a procedure is proposed to both visualize and minimize the cross-coupling by means of steady-state mapping and a re-alignment of the dq reference frame. With this method implemented, gain-response tests show improved decoupling across the operating region. © 2013 EUCA.

Noise and vibration in brushless doubly fed machine and brushless doubly fed reluctance machine

This study investigates modes of vibration in brushless doubly fed machine and brushless doubly fed reluctance machine due to the interaction of its fundamental magnetic fields, via the bending forces they set up in the back iron. It is shown that the presence of two field components of different pole numbers leads to vibration components in addition to those that would be expected in single field machines such as the induction motor. Formulations for the frequencies and magnitudes of the expected vibration components are given and verified experimentally. It is shown that the strength of the vibration components is highly dependent on the choice of pole numbers in the machine, with some much worse than equivalent induction machines and some very similar. The methodology presented enables designers to determine whether their machines are likely to suffer from vibration problems in advance of construction, and to apply remedies where appropriate. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2014.

Developing ISO 14649-based conversational programming system for multi-channel complex machine tools

A multi-channel complex machine tool (MCCM) is a versatile machining system equipped with more than two spindles and turrets for both turning and milling operations. Despite the potential of such a tool, the value of the hardware is largely dependent on how the machine tools are effectively programmed for machining. In this paper we consider a shop-floor programming system based on ISO 14649 (called e-CAM), the international standard for the interface between computer-aided manufacture (CAM) and computer numerical control (CNC). To be deployed in practical industrial usage a great deal of research has to be carried out. In this paper we present: 1) Design consideration for an e-CAM system, 2) The architecture design of e-CAM, 3) Major algorithms to fulfill the modules defined in the architecture, and 4) Implementation details.

Achievements and challenges in machine vision-based inspection of large concrete structures

Large concrete structures need to be inspected in order to assess their current physical and functional state, to predict future conditions, to support investment planning and decision making, and to allocate limited maintenance and rehabilitation resources. Current procedures in condition and safety assessment of large concrete structures are performed manually leading to subjective and unreliable results, costly and time-consuming data collection, and safety issues. To address these limitations, automated machine vision-based inspection procedures have increasingly been proposed by the research community. This paper presents current achievements and open challenges in vision-based inspection of large concrete structures. First, the general concept of Building Information Modeling is introduced. Then, vision-based 3D reconstruction and as-built spatial modeling of concrete civil infrastructure are presented. Following that, the focus is set on structural member recognition as well as on concrete damage detection and assessment exemplified for concrete columns. Although some challenges are still under investigation, it can be concluded that vision-based inspection methods have significantly improved over the last 10 years, and now, as-built spatial modeling as well as damage detection and assessment of large concrete structures have the potential to be fully automated.

Optical properties of semiconductor quantum-well material using photonic crystal fabricated by micro-fabrication machine

Two-dimensional photonic crystals in near infrared region were fabricated by using the focused ion beam ( FIB) method and the method of electron-beam lithography (EBL) combined with dry etching. Both methods can fabricate perfect crystals, the method of FIB is simple,the other is more complicated. It is shown that the material with the photonic crystal fabricated by FIB has no fluorescence,on the other hand, the small-lattice photonic crystal made by EBL combined with dry etching can enhance the extraction efficiency two folds, though the photonic crystal has some disorder. The mechanisms of the enhanced-emission and the absence of emission are also discussed.

A Structured Prediction Approach for Statistical Machine Translation

We propose a new formally syntax-based method for statistical machine translation. Transductions between parsing trees are transformed into a problem of sequence tagging, which is then tackled by a search- based structured prediction method. This allows us to automatically acquire transla- tion knowledge from a parallel corpus without the need of complex linguistic parsing. This method can achieve compa- rable results with phrase-based method (like Pharaoh), however, only about ten percent number of translation table is used. Experiments show that the structured pre- diction approach for SMT is promising for its strong ability at combining words.

An Operating Environment for the Jellybean Machine

The Jellybean Machine is a scalable MIMD concurrent processor consisting of special purpose RISC processors loosely coupled into a low latency network. I have developed an operating system to provide the supportive environment required to efficiently coordinate the collective power of the distributed processing elements. The system services are developed in detail, and may be of interest to other designers of fine grain, distributed memory processing networks.

Parallel Networks for Machine Vision

The amount of computation required to solve many early vision problems is prodigious, and so it has long been thought that systems that operate in a reasonable amount of time will only become feasible when parallel systems become available. Such systems now exist in digital form, but most are large and expensive. These machines constitute an invaluable test-bed for the development of new algorithms, but they can probably not be scaled down rapidly in both physical size and cost, despite continued advances in semiconductor technology and machine architecture. Simple analog networks can perform interesting computations, as has been known for a long time. We have reached the point where it is feasible to experiment with implementation of these ideas in VLSI form, particularly if we focus on networks composed of locally interconnected passive elements, linear amplifiers, and simple nonlinear components. While there have been excursions into the development of ideas in this area since the very beginnings of work on machine vision, much work remains to be done. Progress will depend on careful attention to matching of the capabilities of simple networks to the needs of early vision. Note that this is not at all intended to be anything like a review of the field, but merely a collection of some ideas that seem to be interesting.