No abstract

No abstract

This article discusses the problem of ensuring the curricula quality. The aim of the theoretical research carried out by the authors is to clarify the perception of “curriculum design” with reference to international and domestic requirements for the curriculum development and quality assessment. During the research process, the “curriculum design” definition was given and curricula quality assessment criteria were selected. The authors conducted a comparative analysis of innovative, for different institutions, curricula which are implemented in the system of professional education: secondary, higher and vocational. In the article the authors focus on interactivity as the main criterion of the curriculum quality assessment. One of the results of implemented interactive working forms in education is to increase the level of students learning motivation. Involving not only teachers, but also students to the process of curriculum quality assessment promotes curriculum design development. This article covers the results of students’ satisfaction level assessment with curriculum quality in the vocational education system. In conclusion, it is pointed out that curriculum design is a dynamic process which ensures the quality of specialists’ training in the system of professional education

No abstract

Modern heavy-duty vehicles are equipped with compression braking mechanisms that augment their braking capability and reduce wear of the conventional friction brakes. In this paper we consider a heavy-duty vehicle equipped with a continuously variable compression braking mechanism. The variability of the compression braking torque is achieved through controlling a secondary opening of the exhaust valve of the vehicle’s turbocharged diesel engine using a variable valve timing actuator. A model reference adaptive controller is designed to ensure good vehicle speed tracking performance in brake-by-wire driving scenarios in presence of large payload and road grade variations. The adaptive controller is integrated with backstepping procedure to account for compression braking actuator dynamics, with observers for various unmeasured quantities and with compensation schemes for actuator saturation. In addition to speed tracking, the vehicle mass and road grade are simultaneously estimated if persistence of excitation-type conditions hold. The final version of the controller is successfully evaluated on a high order crank angle model of a vehicle with a six-cylinder engine.

This paper considers a longitudinal speed control problem for heavy-duty vehicles equipped with variable compression brake. The use of compression brake reduces the wear of the conventional friction brakes, and it is, thus, a preferred way of controlling the vehicle speed during a steady descent or noncritical braking maneuvers. To perform more aggressive (critical) braking maneuvers or control vehicle speed during large changes in the grade, the compression brake must be coordinated with gear ratio adjustments and friction brakes. In this paper we develop nonlinear controllers that accomplish both noncritical and critical maneuvers. We also show how distance constraints from other vehicles in traffic may be included. The design technique is based on the speed-gradient (SG) approach, whereby the control action is chosen in the maximum descent direction for a scalar goal function. The nominal goal function is selected to address the speed regulation objective and, then, it is appropriately modified by barrier functions to handle the critical maneuver requirements. Two ways to handle the uncertainty in the road grade are discussed: through the use of an integral action of the SG controller for constant (but unknown) grades, and through the use of an added differential action for varying grades.

No abstract

No abstract