Over the past decade, there has been an unprecedented international focus on improved quality and availability of medical care, which has reignited interest in clinical automation and drawn researchers toward novel solutions in the field of physiological closed-loop control systems (PCLCs). Today, multidisciplinary groups of expert scientists, engineers, clinicians, mathematicians, and policy-makers are combining their knowledge and experience to develop both the next generation of PCLC-based medical equipment and a collaborative commercial/academic infrastructure to support this rapidly expanding frontier. In the following article, we provide a robust introduction to the various aspects of this growing field motivated by the recent and ongoing work supporting two leading technologies: the artificial pancreas (AP) and automated anesthesia. Following a brief high-level overview of the main concepts in automated therapy and some relevant tools from systems and control theory, we explore -separately -the developments, challenges, state-ofthe-art, and probable directions for AP and automated anesthesia systems. We then close the review with a consideration of the common lessons gleaned from these ventures and the implications they present for future investigations and adjacent research.

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In recent years, self-balancing personal transportation devices have gained significant popularity, the most popular ones being the “Hoverboard” systems. These systems utilize the dynamics of an inverted pendulum to create stable lateral motion. In this paper, the dynamic behavior of a hoverboard system with an attached flexible beam is investigated. By introducing a flexible beam, the vibrational characteristics of the system created by both the rider and the environment can be measured and accounted for. The beam is a continuous system modeled as an n degree of freedom (DOF) inverted pendulum. The resulting system becomes an n+2 DOF (n DOF for the beam, one DOF for the rotation of the beam about the wheel axis, and one DOF for the horizontal motion of the system). A mathematical model is developed to simulate the vibrations of the beam when excited by a piezoelectric actuator at the base, and to simulate the horizontal motion necessary to balance the beam as it is excited.

The vibration analysis and control of containers with heavy loaded fluid is undertaken in this paper. The problem of fluid–structure vibration is viewed and analyzed from several viewpoints including both analytical methods and numerical techniques. In order to effectively control the fluid–structure vibration, one of the side walls is made flexible where two piezoelectric patches are utilized to sense the distributed displacements resulting from fluid-structure movements, while the other one is used to actively control the vibration. For this, a boundary control technique is used to actively control the multi-modal vibration of fluid–structure. The simulation results for the analytical models are further validated using a comprehensive finite element method. Before applying the proposed controller, the results show that the fluid vibration is different in different heights and distances. However, the simulation results indicate that the piezoelectrically-excited beam is able to suppress the vibrations of all the positions very effectively and quickly. These results prove the feasibility of utilizing piezoelectrically-excited beams in vibration control of fluid–structure.